Wednesday 1st October

 Apologies for this late blog. Yesterday was mainly overcast with a southerly and still quite warm.

Dan Brown kicked things off with 5+ Bottlenose Dolphins feeding in Kilnaughton Bay first thing in the morning, also seeing an Otter, but not long afterwards was at Loch Gorm watching a juvenile Buff-breasted Sandpiper with a Golden Plover flock on the north side of the loch at Ballinaby (see first photograph), the seventh record for Islay and the first since 2013. Very soon after, he saw a second American wader, as a juvenile Pectoral Sandpiper (Islay's 20th record and see second photograph) flew over the flock calling and headed out to the coast. A Hen Harrier and 2 adult WTEs were also in the area. The sandpiper was still present at lunchtime and seen by Marc Eden.

Mid-afternoon, Dan was back at Loch Gorm and Machir Bay in the afternoon seeing 17 Barnacle Geese and 4 Pinkfeet with Greylags just south of Coull Farm, 84 Ringed Plovers on the field by Machir Bay car park plus 20 on the beach with Sanderling and Turnstone. There were 4 Wheatears at Smaull, a female Golden Eagle was flying over An Carnan and 3 Little Egrets were on the Gruinart Flats. Teresa Morris watched 7 Pale-bellied Brent flying south past Killinallan Point, while David Hunter saw 2 Ruff from the Gruinart north hide. James How found the Buff-breasted Sandpiper later on in the afternoon, plus a Golden Eagle nearby, while at Gruinart he counted 7 Ruff, 1 Curlew Sandpiper, a Peregrine, 2 Greenshank, and 3 Hen Harriers, while there were no less than 5 WTEs at Ardnave.

Finally, Dan was at Kintra in the late afternoon seeing Kintra Beach seeing a 1st-winter Arctic Tern, 3 juvenile Long-tailed Ducks, 14 Red-throated Divers, 1 Great Northern Diver, 6 Razorbills, 15 Swallows heading south, and a single Wheatear, with another at Kilnaughton.

Fiona McG kindly commented on the Canoe Shell, saying that they were quite regular on Kilnaughton Beach and reported from other south coast sites.