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.

 

Friday 6th November 

Dry and mostly sunny with a variable light wind.

Bird of the day was a female Common Redstart seen south of Gartbreck by Sue Berrecloth and Brian Lyon of RAFOS. This is the first record since 2020 of this scarce visitor. Slightly more regular is Ring-necked Duck. Rogs had a first-winter bird on Loch Skerrols on 25th October, while today visitor Martin Culshaw found a male on the same loch.

During the morning, Mary McR noted a flock of 7 Snow Buntings out near Frenchman's Rocks at Claddach, while David D on The Oa reported a Golden Eagle feeding on an unidentified carcass with no less than 11 Ravens and 15 Hooded Crows in attendance, as well as 23 Twites, 17 Redwings and 19 Fieldfares around the RSPB carpark. In the afternoon, David saw 4 male and 3 female Long-tailed Ducks off Blackrock.

Beth W, Rogan's wife, watched two White-tailed Eagles flying over Port Askaig and also reported 2 Long-tailed Tits at Lily Loch.

Finally, one of the RAFOS group saw an as yet unidentified tern at Machir Bay. 

 

Thursday 5th November

Yet another sunny day, with the easterly wind increasing into the afternoon.

Mike Bell, early on his last day, found a Hoopoe at Ardnave, the 13th recorded here as well as the latest (previously 13th October), the most recent being in March/April 2025. It was in with a flock of thrushes (55 Redwings, a few Fieldfares and Blackbirds and a Mistle Thrush) at the farm. After being disturbed several times by 3 different Hen Harriers, he last saw it flying off towards Traigh Nostaig, where he couldn't find it again, but noted 47 Ringed Plovers and a Grey Plover as well as a solitary Snow Bunting giving very close views. In the late afternoon, Mike had 2 Gadwalls, 11 Little Egrets and 6 Black-tailed Godwits on the Gruinart floods.

Sue Berrecloth and Brian Lyon, here on the regular RAFOS (Royal Air Force Ornithological Society) visit, found 1,700 Greylags and 14 Whooper Swans at Kilchoman, some of them on Loch na Cachie. Newly arrived regular visitor, Martin Culshaw, sighted the Red-breasted Goose on the Gruinart Flats, while, in the afternoon, Nicholas Watts was in the north hide at Gruinart seeing 4 Black-tailed Godwits and 12 Common Snipes, as well as Shoveler and Pintail. 

I was at Ronnachmore south of Bowmore in the morning where a flock of c.600 Golden Plover were feeding on the pastures, perhaps the same flock that Fiona McG reported from Bridgend two days ago, 

Finally, Neil McMahon of Naturetrek, who was here last week with a group, and who has always told his clients that, if you see what you think is a Golden Eagle sitting on a fence post it will be a Common Buzzard (aka a 'tourist eagle'), had to eat his words on seeing, and photographing, this: