Wednesday 14th December

Normal service again out here folks, the wind has dropped down and the sea is relatively quiet. Needless to say, the water on Loch Indaal itself was rather dirty in colour and had thrown a lot of sea weed up round the edge of the Loch! By the looks of the forecast for Friday it is down South that may catch the brunt of the weather that day, and we look like getting another good day, great!! Today Bob had counted 1,000 Starling on the flats at Gruinart, also present were 1,200 Lapwing, 500 Teal and one group of 60 Redshank. Further on down at Traigh an Luig on Loch Indaal, there was a Knot, 8 Turnstone, 20 Oystercatcher and a poor looking Cormorant. At the weekend, Carl had a small group of 8 Long tailed Tits on the roadside below Rockside. This afternoon, the single Whooper Swan is still present at Sunderland, and it appears to be okay.

Tuesday 13th December

If you wonder why the blog entry is light with bird entries tonight, this is the reason, the strong winds... This was taken down at Port Charlotte mid morning, and that was before the winds really picked up. Last week Port Charlotte was relatively calm but the wind direction was round a few points. We had a gust at 2pm of 70 mph on Mike's "Kilchoman weather" link. The only birds we saw on our way down to Port Charlotte, were a few Fieldfares at McNichol's croft at Foreland. On a positive note, at least we have had no snow with the wind...

Monday 12th December

Bob had been over at Gartbreck this morning and had seen the following birds over there, 30 Chaffinches, 15 Pheasants, 20 House sparrows, 3 Dunnock, 15 Skylark and 6 Blackbirds. Later on back at home, Bob noticed that the geese were very unsettled, flying around a lot more and he wonders whether that this was another "sign" of the wind getting up again? Certainly later this afternoon, the wind has picked up and the temperature has dropped a few degrees. Last week I even noticed that the gritter had been up our road which is a bit of a rarity as we do not often get frosts... May be it was going to be frosty in Oban!!!

Sunday 11th December

Not much going on the bird front today, today has been a bit of a catch up day, getting odd jobs done that did not get completed before now. Net result, not much birding as I have been inside for most of the time, although looking out of the kitchen window at one point, what flew past, a Fulmar. Armin, please note.... Come to think of it, the weather forecast for Tuesday is not looking too good with strong winds forecast again!!! Talking of weather, we have already had 3" so far this month, there certainly is no drought conditions here compared with Essex and other Southern counties. I was speaking with a friend from Rutland and he assures me that he could walk across his fields in his shoes, not the case here Paul!

Saturday 10th December

Some birds through from David down on the RSPB reserve on the Oa, 1 Snow Bunting, 25 Chaffinch, 5 Reed Bunting, 3 Hen Harriers, 1 male and 2 different ringtails, and 2 Golden Eagles. Here at home the bird table had been busy, so much so that we got an another order through from our suppliers to keep the birds well fed over the festive period...

Friday 9th December

What a difference a day makes, today here on Islay, blue skies and the sun was shining too, and no wind to speak of. We heard this afternoon that there had been gusts around 90mph down at Portnahaven yesterday. The only damage that I saw was the skin on the polytunnel at Blackrock has gone awol. Several other tunnels around Islay that often catch it, seem have got a reprieve this time round. All in all, we got off lightly although I believe that down below Port Charlotte and in the Portnahaven area folk are still without power. Right back to the purpose of the blog, Islay and its' birds. Danny commented yesterday that he had seen some geese flying backwards... Today before he set off for home, Danny had 2 small groups of Pale bellied Brent Geese, one of 6 and a further 12 both on Loch Indaal just before going into Bowmore. He also commented on a single Whooper down at Sunderland. Thanks to Danny for your sightings this week. We also saw the same swan later on ourselves, and it appeared to be okay, it was up on its' feet and no sign of any wing damage. Down at Portnahaven this morning Mary saw a rather sorry looking Hedgehog, perhaps wondering what yesterday was all about. Up at Uiskentuie, there was a solitary Moorhen, well off course, whether it got swept down the burn is a possibility...Bob this morning had 3 flocks of Lapwing fly past his house, a 20, 30 and also another flock of 50 birds. In the fields nearby were a flock of 30 Fieldfare and also 20 Redwing. Along at Loch Gearach, there were 50 Wigeon, 30 Greylags and also 3 Whoopers. Down at Jimmy's shop at Bridgend, Bob this morning had an immature White tailed Sea Eagle fly over just above the trees! Bob thought that it might have taken off from down on the merse at the head of Loch Indaal and it appeared to be heading inland.

Thursday 8th December

They say things happens in threes, well here is today's set of three from Islay, no ferry, no plane and no post, but I would imagine it would be a similar story across the Western Isles today, at least we have got electricity and hence the blog entry... Danny had braved the weather and had gone out to get some birds for us. There were 21 Pale bellied Brent Geese on Loch Indaal, Danny also managed to see 3 Scaup and further on at Gartmain a small flock of 6 Turnstone being buffeted in the wind. There were a few Oystercatcher sheltering up from the wind at Pennycraig. At Loch Skerrols, there was a pair of Mute Swans along with their 8 cygnets, and a further 13 adult Mute Swans also present. At the top of Loch Indaal just along from Uiskentuie, 20 Oystercatchers were sheltering up. The other day on our way home, on the road below McNicol's croft there was a fresh road kill, a Hare. As we came on it, a Buzzard was on the Hare being watched by 2 Ravens sitting on the fence close by. Normally the Buzzard would have flown off, but it stayed "defending" its' meal and never moved off, no doubt it would have done if I had had the camera out. No doubt the poor bird was hungry with this spell of poor weather. Last night we had a Barn Owl sitting on the fence just after Red Lodge on the High Road.