Thursday 2nd and Friday 3rd October

Thursday was wet (36 mm of rain recorded at the airport) and windy (S veering W), while Friday was not quite as wet (24 mm) but very much windier (mainly W to NW)  as Storm Amy arrived, the strongest gust being 81 mph at 6pm.

Unsurprisingly, no bird sightings were received on Thursday, but Dan Brown was out and about on Friday, starting at 8.15am, with the now long-staying Black Tern still at Loch Gorm, foraging along the south side of the loch, while there were 82 Tufted Ducks and 2 Little Grebes on the water. A little later on, a very pale Willow Warbler, possibly an eastern bird, was finding shelter in the copse beside Kilchoman church, and there were 39 Barnacle Geese in a field south of Coull Farm.

Dan then found a Pectoral Sandpiper close to Sanaigmore, which might or might not be the same bird as he found at Ballinaby on Wednesday, while, on the floods at Gruinart, there were 32 Black-tailed Godwits, 5 Ruffs and 3 Greenshanks. His next find was quite a surprise, a Glossy Ibis feeding in the same field where the last sighting of one took place on 12th September. If it's been here all the time, it must have found a more attractive feeding area in the meantime, and one out of sight of birders!

During the morning, before Storm Amy made her presence felt, Dan watched a Hen Harrier mobbing a Peregrine at Coille, on the way to Sanaigmore, and then 2 Chough also mobbing it. The small wood at An Dun, just beyond Coille, which benefitted several years ago from being fenced to keep out deer and stock, had Treecreeper, 5 Goldcrests and all four tits, while 40 Twite and 3 Mistle Thrush were feeding on the fields at Sanaigmore. Also, Dan estimated high counts of 325 Meadow Pipits and 125 Pied Wagtails on the circuit from Machir Bay to Sanaigmore.

Around lunchtime, Gary T. saw 2 Greenshank feeding at the mouth of the Gartmain Burn where it runs into Loch Indaal, and, earlier, Dave W. saw around 100 Twite at the Oa car park, with a further 13 or so at Kinnabus, plus 1 Siskin.

The wind, still blowing quite strongly this morning, and forecast to stay at or above 50 mph all day, is now coming from the NW, and the isobar chart shows lovely northwest to southeast "tramlines" all the way from Iceland to Islay, so it seems quite likely that some geese and swans, in particular, might think this a good time to have a nice boosted flight here.

10:00am Saturday:

I've just received this fabulous photograph of the Glossy Ibis from Dan. He couldn't send it yesterday as the Port Ellen area had a power cut lasting into the night, whereas here at Bruichladdich, our power cut lasted less than an hour as the Bowmore generator took over, though obviously not for the whole island as it normally does. I'm trying not to feel smug.

 Stop Press: James has just counted 670 Barnacle Geese on the sand at Loch Gruinart.