Saturday 11th, Sunday 12th & Monday 14th April

First, my thanks to Mary Redman for stepping in at very short notice and doing the blog when I was flown off the island to hospital for a small emergency operation. During six boring days on the top floor of the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow the undoubted highlight was an adult female Peregrine flying past my window!

Quite strong SE winds persisted through the three days, with occasional squally showers.  

No bird records were received on Saturday, but Sunday was busier with Karim Labib counting 18 Brent Geese on the shore at Loch Gorm House, Bruichladdich, and about 500 Golden Plover on the Gruinart Flats, while Ed B. had 2 Sandwich Terns past the Gaelic College and an Osprey fishing at the mouth of the River Sorn.

On Monday, Martin Reid saw a male Hen Harrier near the Kildalton Cross, 2 probable Sandwich Terns and 2 Great Northern Divers in a bay near Ardbeg and 4 Gannets at Claggain Bay. In the morning, Clive McK watched 400+ Barnacle and 40+ Greenland White-fronted Geese head off NW, followed not long after by another 160 Barnacles and 15 Whitefronts. Peter Gill reported a single Redwing in the field beside the RSPB Gruinart reserve carpark, a single Pinkfooted Goose with Barnacles at Gruinart and then this spring's first Common Sandpiper close to the pier at Bruichladdich.

Other arriving summer visitors were 3 Swallows seen by Mary McR overhead at Claddach and a House Martin at Creag Mhor, Gruinart, seen by Clive McK, both in the morning.

Ed B. had 8 new Pinkfeet at Cornabus joining the family that's been there all winter, while, towards evening, soon after a male Merlin had "whizzed up" the side Loch Gruinart flushing everything, Clive watched 25 "very excitable" Redshanks getting up from the Gruinart floods and heading north. 7 Common Snipe looked as if they would follow but eventually turned back and landed. A single Greenland Whitefront was present, then 27 came into the Flats from on high, presumably staging from somewhere to the south.

Finally, during the afternoon, a Willow Warbler with white outer tail feathers was in Clive's garden, very likely the same bird as he saw there last July.  Here's his video of it.

 

 

 

Friday 10 April

Good evening from a wild and windy south-west coast of Islay! This morning wasn't too bad, bright sunny spells but strong winds all day, building to this evenings blast.  On my morning rounds of the lambing field it was unusually quiet, just 2 snipe leaping up from puddles as I approached.  It seems there wasn't much going on with Islay's bird watchers today, just David on the Oa reported 4 pink-foot geese at Kinnabus. Lets see what tomorrow brings!

Thursday 9 April

 Back to the routine of strong winds, cold chills and showers. April at its finest.  I'm glad of the shelter my hill ground affords the lambs on the ground in weather like this.

Mary-Ann reported a male hen harrier at Seal bay, and I had a large ring-tail hen harrier at Claddach Loch earlier. Every morning on my lambing rounds I spook a pair of teal from the pools near Frenchman's as well as numerous meadow and rock pipits, skylark, oystercatcher pairs, snipe, redshank and wheatear. Hooded crows are never far away, and the ravens often take a tour round the croft midday. 

Steve reported a magpie at Emerivale:  an Islay twitch! Billy at Ballygrant also had a visiting magpie to the garden on Tuesday. His normally tolerant ring-necked doves have apparently taken a real dislike of the bird and actively chase it! 

Clive had found a dead guillemot at Kintra on Saturday, from its BTO ring he discovered the bird had been rung on the Treshnish isles as an adult in 2016.  Clive is concerned with the number of dead birds he and others have discovered on islays shores recently - a result of bad weather? Bird flu? 

Thanks to all for your sightings. Apologies again for the lack of photos, my computer just doesn't want to!

Weds 8 April

 Good evening all from Claddach! I've been roped in to help for a few days. I'll do my best - today has been a 'spring event' with swallows, willow warblers, chiffchaff seen and/or heard across Islay and Jura. Though not a competition, Louise at Craighouse on Jura, heard them yesterday. So there.

 Perhaps the best highlight was the common crane that was reported at Gruinart today.  I'm sure the nearby cafes were delighted with the extra footfall! I'm afraid my computer won't let me upload photos for whatever reason, however if you head to the WhatsApp group the evidence is there.

Also on the group, Ed shared a data tracking map of a Greenland White-fronted goose satellite tag, showing its 15 hour journey from Islay to Greenland on Monday. Clive noted flocks of geese departing from Loch Gruinart, the next day there were swallows, sand martins and wheatear!

The wind returns tomorrow after a glorious day today then, just as the water levels in the fields were beginning to cheer up, a little rain is expected to top up the mud.

Saturday 4th April

A damp and increasingly windy day, a few of the early squalls being mostly hail. However, the worst of Storm Dave passed to the south, so the night wasn't perhaps as noisy as had been threatened.

David Hicklin spotted a/the Cackling Canada Goose on the Gruinart Flats in the morning (see photo), while Clive McK. noticed that the Barnacle Geese had been putting on weight prior to their migration (see photo). The geese are monitored for NatureScot each late winter/spring, using the shape of their back end between the legs and tail, known as their abdominal profile, which is where they store some of the fat which they will use up as they fly north. This gives an indication of how well they've managed to feed up prior to leaving. Fiona McG who carries out the monitoring rated this one as a 3-3.5, so getting close to the maximum. A bird without any fat shows an almost straight line between the legs and the base of the tail.

Later in the day, Clive was at Kintra on the Big Strand and noted 8 freshly dead Guillemots and one dead Manx Shearwater. One of the Guillemots had a British ring on its leg and we look forward to learning where it was ringed. It has already been identified as having been ringed as an adult in 2016.

 

Friday 3rd April

 Yet another day with very changeable weather - everything from overcast and rainy to bright and sunny with light winds to breezy conditions.

Billy Stitchell reporting from Caol Ila reckons birds at his feeders are down in numbers, but still recorded 8 Siskins,  2Great, 3 Blue and  4 Coal Tits, a few sparrows, 2 Starlings and Chaffinch with a flock of 20 Goldfinches last night  accompanied by a few Chaffinch and a single Yellowhammer. He also noted this evening a Magpie that popped in briefly.

This morning Tom Skinner reported an Osprey - first of the year - perched atop a telegraph pole near Loch Gorm enjoying a large trout. James H. saw the wintering Green-winged Teal plus White-tailed and Golden Eagles over the flats at Gruinart, while visitor Brock Lueck saw a Wheatear up at Ardnave.

Following on from Nick Bone's excellent talk last night at the INHT centre about Terns on Islay, Val Peacock saw our first two terns of summer off Port Charlotte today, but too far to identify specifically.

Mary Ann F. sent in the two gruesome photos of a raptor found between Port Askaig and MacArthur's Head - anyone want to suggest what it is?

For any keen birders just arrived on Islay - or residents who are still thinking about it, the new book on the birds of Islay and Jura is very much available and waiting for your purchase!

Thursday 2nd April

Another day with quickly changing weather - sunny and dry to start with increasing winds from the south with rain and cloud later in the day.

Clive McK. noted Barnacle Geese heading off north and west towards Iceland this  morning, plus a Merlin up at Gruinart, with another Merlin seen by David D. at Stremnish on The Oa. Other than that Lauren Stewart saw the resident, feral Chinese Goose hanging out with a few Greylags in its usual area between Bruichladdich and Port Charlotte.