Friday 13th and Saturday 14th November

Both days were mainly overcast with showers and a fresh southerly breeze.

The complete absence of bird records for Friday was followed by a better day on Saturday, starting off with Ed B seeing a European White-fronted Goose at Cornabus/Ballivicar, while Ken White saw a ringtail Hen Harrier near Carnduncan and later a male in the same area. About 40 pairs breed on the island, but the majority leave for the winter, with marked birds recovered from as far away as northern France and southern Ireland, leaving a winter population of, at most, a few tens.

James H was on the ferry returning home and spotted 4 Black-throated Divers, while Ken White found a mixed flock  of Redwings, Mistle Thrushes and Fieldfares at Ballinaby. Clive Mck had a good count of 320 Bar-tailed Godwits on Loch Gruinart together with a Grey Plover and 4 to 6 White-tailed Eagles. Between 1230 and 1515, Clive counted 61 Greenland White-fronted Geese in 7 flocks arriving from the north-west which included one of Ed B's tagged birds which had overflown Skye, Mull and Colonsay on its journey here.

Here's Ed's map of the tagged Greenland Whitefront, while the second photo is a "back-of-the-camera" shot of the male Hen Harrier taken by Ken White.

 

Thursday 12th November

Mostly sunny with a cool northerly breeze, while a couple of light showers in the early evening were the first rainfall this month!

The rather few bird records received for today included 5 Little Egrets seen from the south hide at Gruinart by Michael Durham, a Peregrine feeding on a carcass at Sunderland seen by Fiona McG, and a report from James H of 2 Jack Snipe at Gruinart.

A recent Nature Scotland tour party have just sent in their sightings, as follows:

Saturday 7th November: male Ring-necked Duck, male Pochard and a Moorhen on Loch Skerrols, Red-breasted Goose at the head of Loch Indaal and a Short-eared Owl on the south side of Loch Gorm.

Sunday 8th November: a limping Cackling Goose, the Red-breasted Goose, and a Merlin at the head of Loch Indaal, a female Ringed Duck and the male Pochard on Loch Skerrols, and 2 Black-tailed Godwits seen from the Gruinart hides.

Monday 9th November: 1 Cackling Goose, 35 Light-bellied Brent Geese, 2 Peregrines, 2 Greenshanks, and 3 Goldeneyes all at the head of Loch Indaal, and no less than 16 Little Egrets (a new record, I think), 1 Water Rail and 1 Woodcock at  Gruinart.

Tuesday 10th November: a Water Rail at the head of Loch Indaal, and 5 Woodcocks on a drive between Gruinart to Kilchoman at dusk.

11th November: a Water Rail at Gruinart, a Peregrine and 32 Whoopers in fields north of Loch Indaal, a Kingfisher at Caol Ila (an unusual location) and the male Ring-necked Duck and 2 male and 1 female Pochard at Loch Skerrols. 

Many thanks to Theo de Clermont for sending these to the blog.

Wednesday 11th November

Mainly overcast, but still dry - it has yet to rain this month - but definitely colder, with the wind going round to the north.

First thing in the morning, Ken White watched a White-tailed Eagle circling offshore at Port Charlotte, perhaps looking for a breakfast fish. At Gruinart around 9.30, Clive McK saw two flocks (8 and 25) of Greenland Whitefronts coming in high from the northwest as well as a Great Northern Diver, clearly taking advantage of the northerly winds providing perfect migration conditions all the way from Iceland. The movement carried on and, by lunchtime, Clive had counted 200+ Whitefronts and 30 Whooper Swans, some dropping in to the reserve, others continuing southwards.  Ed B kindly provided the two maps below showing a tagged Whitefront making it to the Outer Hebrides, while another had second thoughts soon after leaving Iceland.

Elsewhere, visitor Joanna saw an immature White-tailed Eagle at Ardnave which headed towards Gruinart, while Michael Durham reported 2 Golden Eagles at the Mull of Oa. 

Tuesday 10th November

Mostly sunny with a light easterly breeze - again.

Mike Durham was at Blackrock in the morning seeing Slavonian Grebe and Great Northern Diver, as well as 8 Canada Geese, presumably those that have been hanging around Bowmore Harbour. Also in the morning, Sue Berrecloth and Brian Lyon found a Red-throated Diver at Sanaigmore and noted 2 Choughs in the dunes there.

A little later, Mike Durham saw at least 45 Light-bellied Brent Geese at the Gaelic Centre, clearly a newly arrived flock and the largest number so far this autumn/winter. Then, at Loch Gruinart in the afternoon, he saw 2 White-tailed Eagles near the mouth of the loch, a ring-tailed Hen Harrier at Ardnave, and no less than 70 Chough close to Ardnave Loch.

Monday 9th November

Yet another nice day, with lots of sunshine and light easterly winds.

Ken White started the day off with a White-tailed Eagle flying along the shoreline at Port Charlotte putting everything up, also seeing 2 Twites close to the pier. He later moved to Ardnave and saw an immature Golden and an immature White-tailed Eagle together (see photo), and what was probably another immature White-tailed Eagle sitting on the sand at the mouth of Loch Gruinart.

In the morning, Jack Waldie saw the Cackling Goose to the west of Bridgend, while I noted a single Pinkfoot and a single Light-bellied Brent among Barnacles at Gartmain.

Ed B was very happy to report that a pair of collared Greenland Whitefronted Geese, V5Z and V6Z, caught together at Cornabus in winter 2023/24, had returned there for the third year running with juveniles, making them a very successful pair given that breeding success in the population has not been all that good for several years.

 

Sunday 8th November

Some sun in the morning before clouding over for the rest of the day, with a light easterly breeze.

Mary McR reported that the 7 Snow Buntings on the coast at Claddach on Friday were still present yesterday, while this morning she spotted 8 Canada Geese on the water off Bowmore. These were seen later in the day by David D, who also saw 2 Black-tailed Godwits there.

Two Stock Doves seen by an unnamed visitor near Carnduncan are a quite rare visitor to Islay, appearing not quite annually and thought to come from the very small population that breeds on mainland Argyll.

Ken White, on the ferry from Kennacraig, saw a considerable number of Great Northern Divers on the way over, plus 1 Red-throated. The highlight, though, was 2 White-tailed Eagles sitting on the very top of the Craig Castle ruins on Am Fraoch, a small island off the south-west corner of Jura at the mouth of the Sound of Islay. Ed B saw a White-tailed Eagle at Cornabus and thought it might be wearing a GPS tag.

David D was at Gruinart seeing at least 15 Common Snipe, a ringtail Hen Harrier, and an adult White-tailed Eagle, then visited Ardnave, finding a Jack Snipe, another ringtail Hen Harrier and a mixed flock of 30 thrushes, mainly Redwings, while there were 8 Goldeneyes on the loch. 

 

Saturday 7th November

A mostly overcast day with little or no wind, the smoke from a bonfire nearby going straight up into the sky.

Today's birders concentrated on the geese - and why not? In the early afternoon, Martin Culshaw and Will Miles searched through a large flock of Barnacle Geese at the head of Loch Indaal and found an adult Red-breasted Goose, which immediately poses the question whether this is the first recorded visit to Loch Indaal by the bird which has been present at Loch Gruinart every winter since 2021-22, or a different bird. They also saw a Cackling Goose, a slightly larger Canada Goose, so possibly Lesser, parvipes, and single Pink-footed and Light-bellied Brent Geese.

Just after lunch, Fiona McG was at Loch Gorm and was amazed to see thousands of Barnacle Geese sitting on the loch (see photo), a rare sight, also noted by Catherine F the previous day. There's been a lot of night-feeding by the geese under the moon this last week, hence the large flocks at the head of Loch Indaal during the day, and the ability of the Loch Gorm geese to take time out from feeding in the middle of the day.

The one non-goose report of the day came from David D who saw 9 Black-tailed Godwits from the north hide at Gruinart.