Saturday 4th October 2025

A windy day, 50-55 mph W to NW all day as Storm Amy moved slowly away, with mainly sunny spells and a few showers.

My suggestion yesterday that there would be movement from Iceland was amply fulfilled, as this long account will show. Clive McK. kicked things off at 08.54 with 2 + 10 Barnacle Geese, 13 Brent Geese, 2 Great Skuas, 1 Arctic Skua and several Gannets moving up Loch Gruinart in the previous half hour. An hour later he reported 2 more Great Skuas and 2 small skuas, too brief to identify, while 100 Kittiwakes had just headed up the loch. Then, at 10.36. James counted 670 Barnacle Geese on the sand, new arrivals from Iceland, while by 10.45, Clive had recorded 7 Great Skuas, 3 Arctic Skuas, 66 Barnacle Geese, 13 Brent Geese, 155 Kittiwakes, 7 Gannets and a Sparrowhawk flying into Loch Gruinart from the north.

Moving away (very briefly) from arriving migrants, just after 11.00 Teresa Morris counted 6 Little Egrets on the Gruinart Flats, while, soon after, David Hunter, in the South Hide, saw the first Greenland White-fronted Geese of the autumn,  6 of them, plus 2 Greenshank and a Merlin. Then, at 12:06, Clive had a "fantastic view" of a Leach's Petrel flying south low over his house on the west side of Loch Gruinart. Clive had planned to do a seawatch at Frenchman's Rocks in the morning but a broken down vehicle meant he was instead, and frustratingly, confined to the Gruinart area. But, as Dan Brown pointed out, at least he was at home to see this lovely addition to his garden list!

Dan Brown was down the Rhinns in the morning and reported a Grey Phalarope flying between the islands at Portnahaven, four small flocks (15, 9, 3, 2) of Barnacles flying north over Portnahaven/Loch Indaal, so clearly overshot and trying to reorientate, a female Hen Harrier near Lossit, and a Whooper Swan with Greylags just south of Bruichladdich. Also at Bruichladdich,  Gary T. found 10 Bar-tailed Godwits on 10 Barwit on the sandy areas between the pier and the village hall, an unusual species for that location.

Meanwhile, Marc Eden spent the morning from 07.45 to 13.00 sea watching at Sanaigmore, doing this from indoors, having sensibly rented accommodation there! All the birds were heading south and comprised: many thousands of Razorbills, Guillemots and Kittiwakes, up to 1000 Gannets, 23 Red throated Divers, including a flock of 6, 2 Great Northern Divers, 1 heading S, the other in the bay, 47 Manx Shearwaters, 2 Sooty Shearwaters, 2 first-year Sabine's Gulls, 4 Arctic Terns, 2 Great Skuas together, 2 separate Arctic Skuas,  no less than 23 Leach's Petrels, 1 Grey Phalarope, 3 Teal, 30 Barnacle Goose to the west over the cliffs, and 1 Black Guillemot. Obviously not quite content with that wonderful list, Marc pointed out that he didn't see a single Fulmar and wondered why not.

At 13.38, Ed B. found the Glossy Ibis still at Craigens, while Dan compared the photograph of his posted in yesterday's blog with photos of the 2 seen last month and concluded that, unless it had moulted around the head, it probably wasn't either of them even though found in the same field. At much the same time, Gary T. found 250+ Barnacle Geese on Bridgend merse, including 1 Brent Goose among them, 2 Little Egrets on the merse, and several more small flocks of Barnacle Geese flying in from the north. Dan was now at Sanaigmore reporting that the Pectoral Sandpiper was still present, together with 61 Golden Plover, and then moved to Ballinaby where there were 9 Whooper Swans in the fields with Greylag Geese. He then went back to Gruinart where, from the visitor centre, he could see 5 Little Egrets, the Glossy Ibis at Craigens, a Gannet flying over the floods, 41 Kittiwakes, a ringtail Hen Harrier, and a Pink-footed Goose on the sand with lots of Barnacle Geese.

By 14.00, Teresa had walked out to Ardnave Point and was rewarded by seeing 18 Gannets feeding, and then, a little later, a Golden Eagle over towards Killinallan and an Otter on the east side of Ardnave. At 14:42, Clive saw 19 Whoopers flying south at Gruinart. By 15:08, Gary was at Finlaggan seeing 2 Sand Martins, a juvenile Swallow and a very pale Wheatear, three migrants that one would have thought should be using the northerly wind to make tracks to the south, and then 2 White-tailed Eagles.

During the afternoon, a still mobile Dan saw a Leach’s petrel over Loch Gruinart from the Killinallan road plus a first-winter Arctic Tern, with c. 250 Kittiwakes (in lots of smaller groups) and 35 Gannets, as well as a ringtail Hen Harrier and a female Merlin, then counted 27 Black-tailed Godwits, 4 Ruffs, and 4 Greenshanks from the South Hide, before finding 19 Whooper Swans on Loch Indaal off the Bridgend merse, finishing with a male Hen Harrier along the High Road. He noted that there was a continual arrival of Barnacle Geese all afternoon, the majority in small flocks from the N, and, even at 17:16, flocks were coming in from the south over Port Ellen, likely more overshoots.

Although stuck in the Gruinart area, Clive didn't waste his time and has posted his totals of everything he saw coming into the loch from the north (including the ones mentioned above), namely 13 Brents, 225 Barnacles, 31 Whoopers, 3 Common Scoters, 322 Kittiwakes, 60 Common Gulls, 40 Herring Gulls, 3 Arctic Skuas, 3 Great Skuas, 1 Razorbill, 3 large auks, 1 Red-throated Diver, 1 Leach's Petrel, 41 Gannets and the Sparrowhawk. Clive mentioned that most of the seabirds that entered the loch from the north U-turned at the head of the loch and came back out again.

The continuous arrival of Barnacle Geese noted by Dan was well proved by James who, towards the end of the day, counted 4185 at Gruinart, together with 32 Greenland Whitefronts. 

Finally, for those of you who have read this far, at 19.39, Dan posted this intriguing note which I have copied in full "More Barnies heading north over Kilnaughton 20 mins ago plus an Otter". 

While leaving you pondering that last entry, I would like to thank all the observers for contributing the sightings of an exciting day and leave you with a photo of Dan's of Barnacles arriving in Gruinart after their flight from Iceland.