Two cold and wintery days with intermittent sleety, snowy showers.
There were no reports of any bird sightings yesterday, but today James H. was at the RSPB Gruinart North Hide where the Green-winged Teal is still present plus 3 Black-tailed Godwits and 2 adult White-tailed Eagles.
Billy Stitchell was out and about with his camera and sent in these lovely photos of our local birds:
Clive McK. spotted a Barn Owl on a roadside fence at Gruinart last night.
Today, snowy showers along with fairly strong northerly winds brought a very wintry feel to a normally slightly more benign Islay.
I popped up to the top of Loch Indaal at Bridgend and walked out to the mouth of the River Sorn where a scattered total of 6 White-tailed Eagles sat and flapped into the wind on the flats. Here too were 2-3 Greenshanks and a couple of Little Egrets looking very chilly. Up at Loch Skerrols the loch seemed devoid of the usual Tufted Ducks but a trio of Goosander, including one male, made the visit worthwhile. Here at Bruichladdich were a record-beating total of 7 Greenfinches on my feeders.
Elsewhere, Andy Clements was out on the Oa where he counted 22 Twite on the RSPB Car Park feeders.
Happy New Year to all the readers of the blog.
The first day of 2026 was cool, with northerly buffeting winds and sleety rain showers.
However, some of us got out for some New Year's birding. I started things off with a couple of White-tailed Eagles sat out as usual on the flats of Loch Indaal at Bridgend. Andy Clements came by a little later and found three in the same place. We drove on to Bowmore where we found 5 Brent Geese, Andy Webb finding 20 there shortly after (photo below)! We then went on to The Oa and said hello to Ed Burrell at Cornabus who, shortly after we left, saw another White-tailed Eagle chasing Woodcock over his patch. At the RSPB The Oa car park it was too windy and wet to think about doing the walk out to the American Monument, so we had a coffee, lunch and watched the 25+ Twite at the feeders (my friend, Ken Chapman, with me from Sandwich in the SE of England mentioned that this species now requires a rarity description when see in Kent!). Andy Webb joined us here and managed to see a Golden Eagle on his way back to Port Ellen that we managed to miss! Andy then popped up to Ballygrant loch to "year tick" the three Ring-necked Ducks there.
The end of the year going out with cloud and drizzle building up after a slightly brighter start in the morning.
The final bird reports for the year came in from Arash Marashi who found the Cackling Goose with a Pink-footed Goose on Loch Indaal by the Gaelic College. It stayed there long enough for several other visiting birders to catch up with it.
James how reported a Green-winged Teal at the North Hide of RSPB Gruinart in the morning and I nipped up there and found it later with Val Peacock and my friend Ken Chapman. Val was more observant than myself and pointed out that there were in fact two lovely drake G W Teal there. Other birders here for New Year - Andy Clements (retired CEO of BTO) and Andy Webb both found these birds shortly afterwards. Andy W. also noted 8 Brent Geese near Bowmore Harbour and there were three at Bruichladdich. In the afternoon and we saw 24 Whooper Swans up at Ardnave Loch.
Otherwise, there were sightings of Peregrine at Gruinart, Black Guillemots on the pier at Bruichladdich and Hen Harriers and Choughs in several locations on the Rhinns. Billy Stitchell was busy with his camera up at Caol Ila and sends us some bright shots of our commoner birds to see the year out with a splash of colour.
Thanks to everyone who has contributed to this blog and the accompanying WhatsApp group during 2025. Your sightings are extremely useful and go into the Argyll Bird Club database which has accumulated valuable records going back over 50 years.
Wishing all the contributing birders, resident and visiting, a great 2026 with lots of wonderful birding.
Many thanks again to Malcolm O. for blogging in my absence.
Today was a lovely day - calm, bright and sunny, if a little chilly.
The only bird sightings reported today were:
My own when I popped up to Loch Ballygrant with a visiting friend and found the three Ring-necked Ducks (a male and 2 females) that Billy Stitchell had found there earlier in the month still in situ.
And from Billy Stitchell who sent in some photos from his birding today at the top of Loch Indaal:
Sunday 28th and Monday 29th December 2025
The high pressure continues to dominate, with more sun on Sunday than Monday, and with very light easterlies.
Just two records have been received, both coming with a photograph, so here they are.
An unnamed visitor saw two male Tufted Ducks on the sea at the head of Loch Indaal, an unusual location for this freshwater duck, while David D. spotted a "Lesser" Canada Goose at Kinnabus.
Thursday 25th, Friday 26th and Saturday 27th December
An anticyclone arrived for Christmas! The skies have been blue, the wind has been mostly light and from the east, and it has become cold enough for ground frosts at night. And the air has been clear and the views tremendous.
Two records from last Wednesday were Ed B. reporting that the Black-tailed Godwit was still present at Cornabus and Gary T. seeing a Great Spotted Woodpecker actually in his garden for the first time. There were no bird records on Christmas Day or Boxing Day, but yesterday morning Gary had a raptor bonanza on the Mulreesh road between Finlaggan road and Balulive, seeing 4 Buzzards, 1 Kestrel, a White-tailed Eagle flying towards Bunnahabhain and a Golden Eagle over the moorland behind Keills.
Around lunchtime, Fiona McG saw 2 Willow/Chiffs at Shorefield, just outside Bruichladdich, feeding among the pennywort, an invasive plant that is choking one of the ponds there, and which she is valiantly trying to deal with.
Although there were no bird records on Christmas Day or Boxing Day, there was certainly some dolphin activity, with Fiona seeing 15-20+ off Killinallan and towards Ardnave on Christmas Day, all spread out and distant, while on Boxing Day Clive McK. saw lots of dolphins off the American Monument and then more between Sanaig and Ardnave on Saturday in scattered small groups totalling 25+ and heading north east. Those seen well were all Bottle-nosed.
Here's a photograph of 2 Bottle-nosed Dolphins taken by the late George Jackson some years ago in Loch Indaal.
