Saturday 28th March

Strong winds from the NW, but mainly sunny and cold with occasional hail and rain showers.

Ed Burrell reports a Chiffchaff singing at Cornabus this morning, while Steve & Lyn Rogers had their first 2026 Gannet in Kilnaughton Bay.

Mel Chowns had a Great Spotted Woodpecker near the Woollen Mill in Bridgend Woods along with a Sparrowhawk. Later there was a Whooper Swan at Gruinart and Greenshank at Ardnave, plus male and female Hen Harrier vat Kilnave.

Here at Bruichladdich the feeders in my garden produced one of the higher counts of Goldfinches of the winter season - 35+ along with 6 Greenfinches and 3 Siskins.

Friday 27th March

Westerly breezes with intermittent icy showers between sunny spells - and the promise/threat of stronger winds to come in the next day or two. 

A late report yesterday - thanks to Theo de Clermont who picked up a record on eBird - of someone seeing a Cackling Goose at Neriby and the Red-breasted Goose near Craigens.

Today, the main sighting of interest was a Magpie at Cragabus courtesy of Ed B. and at least the male Ring-necked Duck still on loch Ballygrant c/o David Clugston, who also saw a summer-plumaged Slavonian Grebe off Bowmore and a Sparrowhawk at Finlaggan. Mel Chowns was on Jura and saw a Bullfinch at Lealt.

Thursday 26th March

The day had deteriorated into overcast, cold, damp and drizzly by lunchtime with winds currently from the south, but not for long.

I went to the Kilchoman/Loch Gorm area in the morning to look for the Irish colour-marked White-fronted Geese, but didn't have any luck. There were 14 Tufted Ducks on Loch Gorm and 3 Whooper Swans flew over.

Mary Redman reports a White-tailed Eagle over Claddach loch in the morning, otherwise the only sightings reported so far are from Mel Chowns on a return visit: birds of interest include 9 Bar-tailed Godwits at Kilnave and 6 Goldeneye on Ardnave Loch. A trip over to Jura produced 2 Great Northern Divers at Craighouse and a Wheatear near Feolin.

A reminder for any birders - resident or visiting who haven't yet got a copy of the new "Birds of Islay and Jura" book, that copies are available!

Tuesday 24th & Wednesday 25th March

A couple of blustery days with cold, sometimes quite strong northerly and westerly winds and icy showers between sunshine.

Ched & Nigel Barratt were out in all weathers on both days. On Tuesday they recorded:

Bowmore: 2 Red Throated Divers. Ardnave: 2-3 Hen Harriers, 2 White-tailed Eagles, 3 Choughs, Immature Golden Eagle, 2 Great Northern Divers. Loch Gorm: a single Wheatear. Kilchoman/Machir Beach: 2 Choughs another Golden Eagle and 160 White-fronted Geese. Port Charlotte: 28 Eiders. Black Rock: A Merlin, 27 Bar-tailed Godwits and 3 Brent Geese.

Today they spent a bit of time on Islay and on Jura:

Morning on Jura: Craighouse garden feeder with 6 Greenfinches, 2 White-tailed Eagles south of Craighouse, Hen Harrier by Jura House, another plus a Golden Eagle between Jura House and Feolin and 2 Great Northern Divers by  the ferry.

Later, back on Islay: Finlaggan: Pair of Goldeneye and 3 Sand Martins. Loch Ballygrant: 16 Tufted Ducks and a Hen Harrier. Barr Farm/Cattadale: A Golden Eagle. Loch Tallant: 70 Golden Plover.

David Clugston was another birder braving the vagaries of the weather today and sent in the following sightings: a Greenshank and 2 Grey Plover at the mouth of the River Sorn, an adult White-tailed Eagle and a Hen Harrier near Laggan bridge with Greenfinches and Siskins on feeders at Bridgend. 

The only other bird news is that a small group of colour-ringed/collared Greenland White-fronted Geese from County Mayo in Ireland are lurking in the Kilchoman area and Ed B. sent in a request for anyone interested to go and have a look to try and read the rings/collars.

I spent an hour or so trying playback at Kildalton Woods in the vain hope of confirming the sound record of a Nuthatch from a couple of days ago. No luck, but the weather wasn't great, so maybe worth another try as the habitat looks good.

Monday 23rd March

 Cool, breezy and mostly cloudy, but no rain to speak of.

Visitors Ched & Nigel Barratt sent in records from "the other side" of the island: The Oa - 30 Twite at Killeyan and 35 White-fronted Geese at Cornabus. Port Ellen - 8 Ringed Plover on the beach. Loch a Chnuic - a Great Northern Diver. Claggain Bay - a further 11 Great Northern Divers. Machrie - 2 Hen Harriers and 80 Golden Plover. Corrary - another male Hen Harrier.

Marcus Covell from the Islay Woollen Mill heard a Great Spotted Woodpecker at Cluanach - always good to receive records of this species to be able to assess how the small population of breeding birds is doing since their colonisation of Islay in 2012.

Sunday 22nd March

The day started out overcast with threats of rain, became bright and sunny, then reverted to very light rain showers again by late afternoon. Wind light from the West.

Mary R. saw 4 Whooper Swans flying north off Claddach this morning. In the afternoon Steve & Lyn R. saw a couple of White-tailed Eagles over the Port Ellen skerries prior to doing their WeBS count at Loch an t-Sailein (Seal Bay).  Among various counts were 14 Red-breasted Mergansers, 10 Wigeon, 8 Curlew and 2 Canada Geese.

David & Pauline Clugston were back on Islay today and noted a male Crossbill with Redwings and Fieldfares in the pine copse at Sunderland. They had 3 Hen Harriers at Loch Gorm, a male Wheatear at Ardnave, Greenshank in Loch Gruinart with 4+ Black-tailed Godwits and 4 Gadwalls on the Gruinart floods. 

Saturday 21st March

 A slightly cooler and cloudier day, but dry.

Harry & Denise Failey left today, but counted 140 Dunlin and 114 Bar-tailed Godwits at the top of Loch Indaal on their way to the ferry. James how was up at Ardnave where there were 3 White-tailed and a Golden Eagle, Merlin and 3 Purple Sandpipers, with another Golden Eagle, Hen Harriers sky-dancing, 3 Gadwall, a Sand Martin and 9 Black-tailed Godwits (some in summery plumage) at Gruinart.

I went down to Port Wemyss and around the southern part of the Rhinns with the hope of coming across yesterday's probable Crane, but had no luck. A flock of 60 Chaffinches at Gearach was the best I could muster.

An interesting report came in from Mary-Ann F. over at Kildalton of a Nuthatch identified by call on the Merlin app on her walk through the area. This would be Islay's second record of the species. Although the bird wasn't seen and we all know Merlin isn't infallible, it fits rather nicely with the recent sighting of Jura's second Nuthatch a week or so ago and the general spread of the species south into Argyll. So if anybody is over that way listen and look out for it to get a 100% confirmation.