Saturday 30th & Sunday 31st August

 Two days of very blustery, rainy weather with intermittent sunny spells. The rain heavy at times and the wind strong enough to cause ferry cancellations.

Unsurprisingly, there has not been a great deal of birding done:

Yesterday Billy Stitchell was on the Sorn below Bridgend and found the Kingfisher still in residence and took a photograph of a Grey Wagtail (see below).

Today Gary T. was up at Carnain at high tide and found 7 Ruff among the many other waders present being harassed by a Sparrowhawk.

Thursday 28th & Friday 29th August

Two further days of blustery weather with moderate southerly and south-westerly winds and rain showers between sunny spells.

Yesterday all attention was on Loch Indaal again with Gary T. returning to the Gartmain area finding 4 Black-tailed Godwits, 15 Wigeon and 3 Sandwich Terns. David W. watching from Bowmore found a Great Crested Grebe - a scarce species on Islay.

Today Gary T. watched an adult White-tailed Eagle perched up and feeding in Loch Indaal up at Bridgend, the Kingfisher still on the Sorn nearby and 7 Whimbrel off Whin Park. Clive McK. had an Arctic Skua, 5 Pintail, a Wigeon, 10 Black-tailed Godwit, 3 Knot and 8 Lesser Black-backed Gulls moving through at Loch Gruinart. 

Angela & Roger Hissett watched a White-tailed Eagle flying from Jura across to Islay south of Port Askaig in the afternoon, while up at Kildalton Mary-Ann Featherstone commented that Mistle Thrushes have been common in small flocks recently and counted 50 today - the highest on record for Islay.

I was on Machir Bay between the squally rain showers where large numbers of Ringed Plover (75+) and Sanderling (25+) were joined by a few Dunlin and 3 Whimbrel.

Clive McK. spotted the change to stronger SW winds this afternoon and did a 3 hour sea watch at Frenchman's Rocks with good results. Best bird was a Sabine's Gull, plus 5 Storm Petrels and 6 Arctic Skuas. Other counts included 1,369 Manxies, 2 Red-throated Divers and 97 Kittiwakes.

Wednesday 27th August

The day started blustery with rain and cloud but did brighten into some sunny spells by late afternoon.

Thanks to Gary T. for the only sightings today - a ring-tailed Hen Harrier near Gartbreck, 2 Little Egrets at Bridgend, a few Black-tailed Godwits at Crosshouses and 20 Turnstone on the beach near Uiskentuie.

Monday 25th & Tuesday 26th August

The weather is becoming more unpredictable and changeable with slightly breezier, cloudy conditions and occasional rain, sometimes quite heavy, brief downpours as lows come in from the Atlantic.

Yesterday Clive McK. took a look at Carnain finding a similar array of waders present as seen on Sunday - 4 Black-tailed Godwits, 1 Bar-tailed Godwit, 3 Ruff, 2 Snipe, plus plenty of Ringed Plovers, Oystercatchers and a few Knot and Dunlin. Also present were single Sandwich Tern and 17 Teal. Later he found 4 Little Egrets on Loch Gruinart.

Today Angela and Roger Hissett were also watching at Carnain finding 10 Black-tailed Godwits, 5 Snipe  and a Ruff. Gary Turnbull popped by Carnain a little later finding an increase to 9 Ruff, a couple of White Wagtails and 7 Black-tailed Godwits remaining. This was clearly a popular birding spot today with Clive McK. checking it out this evening getting a tally of 6 Ruff and 7 each of Black-tailed Godwit and Sandwich Terns. 

Down in the Claddach area Mary Redman watched a juvenile White-tailed Eagle over her house and later was out at Frenchman's Rocks where she found a fairly early arrival of a single Purple Sandpiper (photo below).

Sunday 24th August

 A much greyer, cooler day with light SE winds and very occasional light rain between sunny spells.

Bird notes today are from the top of Loch Indaal on a morning visit made by myself and Roger Broad. At Carnain there was a good mix of waders feeding across the low tide. 265 Oystercatchers and 245 Ringed Plover were accompanied by smaller numbers of Dunlin plus 5 Ruff, 5-10 Knot, 8 Black-tailed Godwits, 5 Turnstone and a single Curlew Sandpiper. Up on the Sorn at Bridgend the Kingfisher put in another brief appearance. There were 2 White-tailed Eagles near Uiskentuiie in the afternoon.

Over the past couple of days there have been numerous sightings of dolphins and porpoises - and possible Thresher Sharks - from the CalMac ferry, with dolphins also coming well up into Loch Indaal. 

Saturday 23rd August

 Dry, mostly sunny and warm, slightly breezier than yesterday.

Visitor James Moreland sent in some records from earlier in the week: an unusual sighting of a Corn Crake on  the grounds of the Machrie Hotel on Thursday and on Friday a summer plumage Slavonian Grebe from the Loch Indaal north shore and 3 summer plumage Black-throated Divers, 2 winter plumage Great Northern Divers and 3+ Red-throated Divers in mixed plumage at Laggan Bay, from the middle of the Strand near the airport.

Today I was out with Clive McK., Val P. and Roger Broad on the Killinallan side of Loch Gruinart and, amongst other things saw a juvenile White-tailed Eagle and a Peregrine perched on the saltings, a group of 7 Greenshank, 2 juvenile Black-tailed Godwits, 10 Knot, 3 Little Egret plus Sparrowhawk and Whinchat nearby.

Friday 22nd August

A fairly overcast and cool day with light winds.

Clive McK. found a perched Osprey near Crag Mhor on Gruinart bearing a blue colour ring - not seen close enough to get any more detail, but likely to be a British bird.

I was out with Roger Broad who is visiting for a few days. At Blackrock there was a count of 36 Common Scoter and up at the mouth of the river Sorn at Bridgend was a Kingfisher and a couple of White-tailed Eagles overhead and soaring high with an entourage of 5 accompanying Buzzards.

Billy Stitchell was out with his camera and sent in some great shots of the local birds:

A juvenile Stonechat - 

A Reed Bunting - 

Young Starlings moulting out of their juvenile plumage - 

A Meadow Pipit, one of our most abundant breeding species - 

Thursday 21st August

Cloudy in the morning becoming sunnier by afternoon. Dry and warm with light winds.

Clive McK. found a migrant Ruff at Carnain with one White and 11 Pied Wagtails. Later back at Gruinart he noted a couple of Sandwich Terns roosting near Creag Mhor and another fledged Common Tern and 2 Little Egrets. James H. found another Ruff, 2 White Wagtails and 2 White-tailed Eagles at Gruinart in the evening.

Wednesday 20th August

An overcast day with cooler temperatures, but still light winds and dry.

Gary T. was out on the Big Strand at Knockangle Point this morning where he counted 100+ Eiders (presumably a moulting flock?) plus 7 Red-throated Divers and, intriguingly, an adult and young Black-throated Diver (see the back-of-camera photo below). The species is not known to definitely breed on Islay or Jura nowadays, if ever, so it is anybody's guess where these came from. Back at the Sorn where it flows into Loch Indaal, Gary noted two Kingfishers, 4 White-tailed Eagles and a total of 5 Little Egrets - the post-breeding influx has started! Amidst good numbers of Bar-tailed Godwits, Curlews and Oystercatchers were 15 Black-tailed Godwits.

Elsewhere, Malcolm O. counted a flock of c.30 Whimbrel flying over the shore close to Port Ban this morning - a traditional place for this species on spring and autumn migration.

Tuesday 19th August

The day started dry, with light winds. There was more sunshine and warmth in the morning, but clouded over by afternoon and became a little cooler.

The only bird notes for today so far comes from Val Peacock who saw a Merlin over the Port Charlotte allotments this evening and from Martin Armstrong who found a Kingfisher on the River Sorn at Bridgend - the spot where this species most often shows up on the rare occasions it occurs on Islay.

Billy Stitchell was out with his camera at Ballygrant Loch today and sends in the photos below of the resident Long-tailed Tits.

Monday 18th August

Hot sunny summer days continue.

A note for yesterday from Clive McK. starts off the blog today: 18 Pied and 1 White Wagtail on the beach at Killinallan, plus a very high, soaring White-tailed Eagle - higher up than a passing small aircraft!

Bird notes today are from Mary-Ann Featherstone of Mistle Thrushes on Rowan berries over at Kildalton and some photos of a Great Spotted Woodpecker up at Lily Loch from Billy Stitchell. David D. found a White Wagtail at Lower Killeyan, while Clive McK. had an Osprey and 3 White-tailed Eagles at Loch Gruinart where some large wader counts included 320 Ringed Plovers. 60 Dunlin and 20 Sanderling. Later, on Loch Indaal he had a White Wagtail and juv Water Rail at Carnain and a big tally of 800 Greylags being spooked by another White-tailed Eagle.

There was some excitement on the botanical front with a record from Clive McK. of Tubular Water Dropwort, apparently only recorded twice before on Islay in the 1950s and 1971.

Sunday 17th August

A hot, sunny, fairly calm day.

Notes today from Martin Armstrong and David D. Martin was birding on the Sorn as it enters Loch Indaal at Bridgend where he watched a Little Egret, a Little Grebe and a presumed family of 4 White-tailed Eagles comprising 2 adults and 2 fledged young. David D. noted another (or the same as a few days ago?) Greenshank at Loch Cornabus.

Billy Stitchell kindly sent in some fine photos to brighten up the blog - taken at Bowmore yesterday of young and migrant birds - I particularly like the Robin in plumage halfway between spotty juvenile and red breasted adult.

Friday 15th & Saturday 16th August

Two further days of pleasant, dry, mainly sunny weather with light winds.

There were no sightings sent in for Friday, but today an Osprey was seen by Gary T. flying south over Loch Gorm, followed by a Golden Eagle mobbed by Buzzards over Sunderland Farm.

Clive McK. was watching and counting on Loch Gruinart and tallied 93 Redshank, 3 Greenshank, a Peregrine over Creag Mhor and 2 adult White-tailed Eagles on the sand flats close to 270 Greylag Geese. Best sighting was an almost fledged Common Tern chick (possibly more) with 4 adults where he had seen a number of nests flooded out by high tides and winds earlier in the spring - so the breeding season for the terns here was not a complete disaster after all.

Wednesday 13th & Thursday 14th August

One of the hottest, sunniest days on Islay on Wednesday, with sunshine and light winds, strengthening a little in the evening. Thursday was fairly calm, but overcast and much cooler.

Despite the lovely sunny weather on Wednesday, there was just one note of a pair of adult White-tailed Eagles down at Currie Sands from Mary R. Today White-tailed Eagles featured again and were seen in several locations. Gary T. watched one up sat on the sand and little islands  at the top of Loch Indaal, followed by 2 later on the sand at the mouth of the Sorn where 2 Little Egrets, 5 Wigeon and 3 Teal, with larger numbers of Mallard were present. Gary T. also recorded a flock of 32 Collared Doves on power lines at the turning into the Woollen Mill - always good to get counts of this somewhat under-recorded species. Greenshanks were also in evidence today - Gary T. noted one up at Bridgend, I saw two fly over Port Charlotte and Ed B. had another on Loch Cornabus.

Tuesday 12th August

A hot sunny day with light winds.

Fiona McG. sent in a record of a flock of over 200 Linnets at Inver on Jura yesterday.

Gary T. started off today's records with yet another sighting of an Osprey up at Bridgend where he also spotted a couple of Wigeon on the outflow of the Sorn. A little later he noted 2 Golden Eagles, 4 Buzzards  and a Kestrel near Carrabus. He later did a WeBS count from Bowmore to Gartbreck finding a high count of 10 Greenshanks and a calling Water Rail.

Mary R. counted 5 Mistle Thrushes at Gearach and Clive McK. was also noting raptor activity up at Creag Mhor on Loch Gruinart with 2 adult and 3 juvenile Buzzards and a Peregrine circling on thermals overhead.

Sunday 10th & Monday 11th August

Weather for the last two days has been a mix of sunshine and showers with a moderate breeze at times.

Yesterday Steve & Lyn Rogers did a WeBS count at Loch an t-Sealain near Ardbeg finding 14 Curlews, 32 Greylags, 3 Herring Gulls, a Grey Heron, 3 Oystercatcher, 2 Common Gull, Great Black-backed Gull 2, 12 Shags, 1 Red-breasted Merganser with 3 young, and a White-tailed Eagle.

On my return from the festivities for the 200th anniversary of the lighthouse on Orsay, I watched a pair of adult White-tailed Eagles gliding along the coast at Easter Ellister.

Today, Gary T. had 2 Little Egrets at the top of Loch Indaal near Bridgend while Clive McK. watched another near Traigh an Luig  towards the Bruichladdich end of the Uiskentuie strand.

Friday 8th & Saturday 9th August

Mostly sunny, but a few blustery showers with a westerly airstream.

Yesterday Gary T. commented on the first flocks of finches gathering for the autumn - a mix of over 100 around Gartbreck including Goldfinches, Linnets and Chaffinches. He also counted along the shore at Gartbreck from the dump to the farm: 79 Shags, 11 Cormorants, 80 Greylags, 3 Eider, 17 Curlew, 4 Whimbrel, 10 Redshank, 4 Greenshank, 83 Ringed Plovers, 21 Dunlin, 30 Sanderling and 7 Turnstone, 6 Greater Black-backed, 1 Lesser Black-backed, 19 Herring and 23 Common Gulls.

A later count at Machir Bay by Clive McK. produced 70 more Ringed Plovers and 40 Sanderlings. He also had a group of 8 Choughs (commenting that these didn't include any young fledged this year) couple of Sparrowhawks and a female Marsh Harrier over the Gruinart/Loch Gorm road. Earlier there were 18 Arctic Terns up at Loch Gruinart along with a single Golden Plover and 2 Knot.

Down at Cladville, Alistair Hart watched a ring-tail Hen Harrier braving the windy conditions.

Today Gary T. reported a male Hen Harrier near Finlaggan and 2 Golden Eagles on the Glen Road below Beinn Dubh and Clive McK. did an afternoon sea-watch from Frenchman's Rocks for a little over 3 hours from about 3pm. The more interesting observations were 40 Whimbrel and 16 Lesser Black-backed Gulls passing by and 12 Storm Petrels with 693 Manxies too.

Wednesday 6th & Thursday 7th August

Two more days of moderately blustery westerly weather with a mix of sunshine and showers.

There was some additional news from Tuesday from Clive McK. who noted the beginnings of the autumn passage of Lesser Black-backed Gulls with 61 passing through Loch Gruinart plus a dark phase Arctic Skua and some Kittiwakes and Gannets coming up the loch and turning back to sea again. Counts of waders on Loch Gruinart are also building up, with Clive counting 155 Oystercatchers and 32 Redshank, while in his garden there was a family of newly fledged Redpolls.

Wednesday produced observations from Gary T. of Mistle Thrush on berries at Ballygrant and Bullfinches much in evidence between Ardnahoe and Bunnahabhain, where he saw a White-tailed Eagle.

No observations for today, but a lovely photo to brighten up the blog, sent in by Christine Menzies of a Hummingbird Hawkmoth seen in her garden.

Tuesday 5th August

Strong winds from the WNW continued today in the aftermath of Storm Floris. There were blustery showers in the morning that gave way to brighter, sunny conditions later.

After Clive McK's successful seawatch yesterday, I tried my luck at Frenchman's Rocks from 0815 for 3 hours until 1115, joined by Alistair Hart for the last hour. Conditions in the first half weren't great, with stormy showers blowing in at times, But it was the first hour that held any interest - c.1,000-1,200 Manx Shearwaters zooming by, and 6 European Storm Petrels and 3 Arctic Skuas seen. After that the Manxies tailed off, and left a steady, small trickle of Kittiwakes (c.75), Fulmars (c.20) and auks (just c.15) passing through along with 3 Arctic Terns, and a few small flocks of waders - 20 Redshank, a couple of flocks of Sanderling totalling c.30 birds and the same for Oystercatchers.

Meanwhile, the possibility of a few seabirds inspired Jim Dickson to do a seawatch from the Kennacraig to Port Askaig ferry and back, He noted c.70 Manxies, 12 Kittiwakrs, 1 Fulmar, 2 Puffins, 2 Sandwich Terns plenty of Guillemots and Razorbills, with star attractions being 5 Storm Petrels, and singles of Great, Arctic and Pomarine Skua.

Sunday 3rd & Monday 4th August

A reasonable day's weather on Sunday but no bird sightings sent in. Today it was Storm Floris with very strong winds, though still mostly bright and sunny after rain during the night. The worst of the storm seems to have been to our north, but there were strong westerly winds here that inspired Clive McK to try sea-watching off Frenchman's Rocks for 5 hours this morning from 11.15am. This brave and windswept venture produced some good results: 2 adult Sabine's Gulls together was the highlight along with a total of 68 Storm Petrels, a Sooty Shearwater and 13 Arctic Terns.

The Storm-petrel count is in the top 10 highest day counts recorded for Islay, and many of the other high counts were over longer periods of watching. There have only been about 50 previous Sabine's Gulls recorded.

Thursday 31st July, Friday 1st & Saturday 2nd August

Many thanks to Malcolm O. for writing the blog in my absence. Here are a few notes from the last few days:

On Thursday David D. recorded a juvenile Cuckoo at Lower Cragabus and Karim Labib watched a Golden Eagle on the Killinallan side of Loch Gruinart. Down at Cladville Alistair H. had several sightings of a ring-tailed Hen Harrier.

On Friday Gary T. was out and about finding a couple of Red-throated Divers near Blackrock in Loch Indaal, where, further up at the merse towards Bridgend he saw an Osprey sat on the sand, then heading towards Loch Skerrols. Later he watched a Hen Harrier hunting near Carnain and a White-tailed Eagle over Whin Park and then two perched up at Coullabus. Mary-Ann F. counted 10 House Martins over at Kildalton and Mary R. had a Great Spotted Woodpecker (harassed by a Buzzard) at Easter Ellister - there are few if any records of the woodpecker from that neck of the woods.

Today Gary had a Wigeon on the River Sorn at Bridgend - a slightly unseasonal record, hopefully not the start yet of the autumn/winter arrival! He also had a breeding-plumaged Black-tailed Godwit and 2 Greenshank in the same area.