A slight improvement in the weather with only very occasional and lighter rain showers and sunny conditions with light winds mostly from a southerly direction.
Yesterday Clive McK. did a sea-watch from Frenchman's Rocks between 4pm-7.30pm with further good results. Highlights were a total of 183 Brent Geese passed by, along with 2,411 Kittiwakes, 15 Arctic Skuas, 3 Little Gulls, 3 Great Skuas, 42 Fulmars, 543 Manx Shearwaters and 453 Gannets. The Arctic Skua count is the second highest day count ever - and in one of the shorter sea-watch periods. It is also noteworthy that the count of 3 Little Gulls in one day is a record for a species that is far from annual (noted in 24 years since 1973). All previous records are of single birds except for 2 on 31 October 1976 and 2 seen by Clive on 13 September this year.
Today's only recording comes again from Clive McK. with an excellent record of a Black Tern at the mouth of Loch Gruinart this late afternoon. There have been only six previous records for Islay, the last in 2009 and four of those in September.
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