Wednesday 23rd to Saturday 26th July 

The mixed weather has continued, with a bit of rain, a bit of sun, a lot of cloud, and sometimes breezy, sometimes calm.

Bird records have been few and far between. Mary R has been seeing a pair of adult White-tailed Eagles around the Claddach to Frenchman's Rocks area in the last couple of days, and also a ringtail Hen Harrier in the area on Friday, while on Saturday a (the) Osprey flew over Gary T's house just outside Ballygrant heading for Loch Finlaggan.

On Friday, Gary saw thrushes and Starlings checking out berry bushes, but commented that the berries were not yet ripe, though that didn't stop a Song Thrush and a Blackbird from eating some of my gooseberries. Do birds get indigestion? Another report on Friday came from David D who saw a juvenile Cuckoo on The Oa.

Yesterday, Martin A. found a dead adult Puffin on the Big Strand. These are usually casualties of storms, but this must have died from some other cause. Puffins apparently bred in some numbers on The Oa in the 19th century, but have long since died out there. One or two pairs possibly breed round our coasts, but they don't seem to be a regular breeder.

Late last night, Fiona McG saw two Barn Owls on the Rhinns, either side of Craigfad, so here's a Gordon Langsbury photograph of one.