Saturday 11th October 2025

High pressure is settling in, giving a quieter, overcast and dry day with lighter winds, still mainly from the west.

Gary T. was out and about round the head of Loch Indaal in the morning, seeing Turnstones, Knots and Bar-tailed Godwits by the Gartmain burn before finding a total of no less than 85 Scaup in several small flocks offshore from the Carrabus burn. This is many more than have been seen here in the last few years, so one hopes that they stay and are not just passing through. Teresa Morris spotted the Glossy Ibis which had moved back to Craigens, and Gary now at Loch Gruinart saw 11 Little Egrets on the west side - the most seen together so far this autumn.

Mid-morning, Theo found a Canada Goose among the Barnacles on the Gruinart flats which led to a long discussion on WhatsApp as to its subspecies and how one ID'd it as such. The consensus was that it was B.c.interior, aka Todd's, though it was noted that the BB Rarities Committee currently don't separate this from B.c.parvipes (Lesser), the two races having also been known to interbreed. Earlier on, Theo had seen a Carrion Crow with Hooded Crows at Ballinaby, and also 22 Golden Plover. He then saw the Glossy Ibis back below the visitor centre at Gruinart. I suppose there is only 1 and not 2? A little later, Theo saw a Curlew Sandpiper with Dunlin on the Gruinart flats, as well as 13 Black-tailed Godwits and a Ruff from the hides. He also saw a female Merlin along the Ardnave road.

Around lunchtime, Mike Taylor saw 10 Brent Geese near the mouth of Loch Gruinart which flew towards the head of the loch and also had a Greenshank in the south-east corner. Then, at Killinallan in the early afternoon, he found 5 more Greenshanks, 1 ringtail Hen Harrier, 4 White-tailed Eagles, 2 perched on top of the highest sand dune and 2 out on a sandbar in the middle of loch, while there were 4 Little Egrets near the Oyster Shed. Meanwhile, Teresa had made her way to Claggain Bay where she saw 3 Great Northern and 2 Red-throated Divers, and 1 Red-breasted Merganser. 

Later in the afternoon, Mary McR. watched a Wheatear feeding on the road outside Bowmore, having earlier been on the Big Strand where she found that there had been a huge wreck of thousands of by-the-wind-sailors (Velella velella), which, sadly, won't provide food for the birds there as they are apparently quite toxic and so not eaten. Around the same time, Theo counted 78 Tufted Duck on Loch Gorm and saw a domestic Chinese Goose among the Greylags at Rock Mountain, which George J. had reported earlier in the day. The origin of the Chinese Goose is unknown, but back in the summer it spent some time with Greylags south of Bruichladdich.

Here's a photo taken by Theo of the much-discussed Canada Goose - taken at a considerable distance, hence not completely sharp.