Monday 28th September

 Another moderately pleasant day with light southerly winds and a lot of sunshine.

Mary R. reported 9 Chough with her down at Claddach this morning along with 3 Rooks which she notes are less common than Choughs down there! Rogan W. got a high count of 11 Grey Herons on Lily Loch, while David d. confirmed the first large gathering of the autumn/winter of Twite - 110at Upper Killeyan accompanied by Linnets, Reed Buntings and Skylarks. He also noted Peregrine and Sparrowhawk there.

Clive McK. and visitors Ken and Sarah White had up to 3 White-tailed Eagles at Gruinart and later in the day Ken watched a "stand-off" between a Golden Eagle and immature White-tailed Eagle where the road up to Kildalton and Loch Gorm turns off from the coastal A847 at Traigh an Luig plus relocated the leucistic Starling in a flock at Ardnave. Clive noted 36 Brent Geese at Gruinart today and visitor Cathy Earle had Snipe, Peregrine and Buzzard there in the evening.

Below are some fine photos taken by Ken of the Twite at The Oa RSPB.

Sunday 27th September

Light to moderate southerly winds continued to bring a lot of rain at times throughout the day.

Despite the rain there were one or two sightings sent in including 2-3 Choughs at Saligo (Lou Austin) and Claddach (Mary R.). All other records came from Rogan W. who seems impervious to the awful weather! He counted 27 Chough at Ardnave, 2 Golden Eagles at Loch Gruinart, 2 Curlew Sandpipers at Carnain, 4 Snipe and a White-tailed Eagle at Craigens finishing up at 8pm with a Tawny Owl back at home at Dunlossit.

Saturday 26th September

Moderate southerly winds with rain, but a bit more sunshine by the afternoon.

Rogan W. was out early on Loch Indaal at the Gaelic Centre finding 16 Brent Geese, 163 Bar-tailed Godwit,  a Greenshank, 23 Knot, 2 Curlew Sandpipers and the feral Chinese-type goose that has been seen on-and-off for a few months. He also found again the American Wigeon among the 195 Eurasian Wigeon there.

Clive McK. found a Whitethroat near his house at Creag Mhor, Loch Gruinart, along with additional flocks of Brent Geese coming into the island - 47 at Gareallabus, and 21 at Gruinart. Clive searched for the am. Wigeon and added 4 Pintail, 2 Sandwich Terns and 2 Greenshank to the birds on Loch Indaal, then back at Loch Gruinart at Bun an Uillt the Osprey with a fish.

Elsewhere on Islay David D. had what I think is the first Pink-footed Goose of the autumn at Kinnabus.

Spot the American Wigeon!

Friday 25th September

A day of moderate SSW winds and some sunshine between heavy rain showers.

Thanks to Malcolm O. for blogging while I was away birding on Tiree for a few days.

A variety of sightings came through today, starting with David D. noting the drake Scaup still present on Loch Kinnabus. Clive McK. watched  an Osprey with a large fish at Bun an Uillt, Loch Gruinart and found House Martins still with young in the nest at a neighbour's house at Creag Mhor. Mary R. reports a Greenland type Wheatear at Claddach yesterday and a count of 7 Choughs there today, plus a male Hen Harrier at Loch Gorm. Visitor Pete McCormick took a good photo of one of two young White-tailed Eagles at Gruinart this afternoon.

 

Thursday 24 September

A rather wet day with a mainly SE breeze.

Unsurprisingly, there were few bird sightings. George Jackson saw 2 Grey Wagtails in the morning on the path down to Lily Loch, while, a little later, Rogs saw a Dipper at Cattadale on the burn which becomes the River Laggan, as well as 2 ringtail Hen Harriers close by, while there was a male Hen Harrier at Avonvogie. He later found a Coot on Loch Lossit, a bird that has become quite rare in recent years.

Here's a cracking photo by Rogs of the Dipper. There are an estimated 10-20 pairs on the island, widely scattered on the rivers and some burns.

 

 

Tuesday 22nd and Wednesday 23rd September

Tuesday started drizzly but cleared up as the wind went round to the north, where it stayed for much of Wednesday with very occasional slight showers.

The only observations on Tuesday were of a Turtle Dove at Ardbeg, seen by visitor, Ben McCook, perhaps the same as last Thursday's bird at Ardtalla, or perhaps a different one, a male Hen Harrier seen by Rogs near Bridgend and a Tawny Owl roosting near Lily Loch.

Wednesday began with Rogs counting a Moorhen, 2 Little Grebes, 1 Cormorant and a family of 5 Mute Swans on Loch Ballygrant, the three juvenile swans "looking good". In the afternoon, David D saw a Goldcrest at Kinnabus, while David W also saw a Goldcrest, plus a Wheatear, at Risabus, both on The Oa. Rogs counted no less than 32 Mistle Thrushes at Avonvogie Farm; flocks of over 30 are unusual here.

Finally, in the evening, Clive McK was watching lots of restless Common Snipe on the Gruinart Flats, with two flocks (29 birds) heading off, and another six flocks (a total of 61 birds) flying up high, then faffing around for ages before eventually dropping back in. Also, there was an Osprey hunting over the loch near Craigens.

Monday 21st September

The day started grey and drizzly, but cleared up to sunny, though with a persistent westerly/south-westerly wind.

Clive Mck reported that, yesterday, he counted 57 Choughs at Ardnave, the most he has seen there for some years. He also saw 2 Greenland Wheatears, while were 45 Linnets feeding on the weeds of Sea Sandwort. Also yesterday, he noted that there was a flock of c.300 Linnets on the headland overlooking Frenchman's Rocks.

At lunchtime, David D counted 35 Twite at the RSPB's Oa carpark, with a Grey Wagtail nearby, as well as, a little later, at Lower Killeyan, a Greenland Wheatear and a Kestrel. The final observation of the day was by Clive McK of 30 Light-bellied Brent Geese leaving Loch Gruinart and heading south.

Clive found himself reminiscing about the "best ever" seawatch at Frenchman's Rocks by him and Tristan ap Rheinallt, who carried out systematic seawatching there over several years in the 1990s and 2000s. This was on 21st September 2004, from 7am to 3.30pm, when they recorded 8 Sabine's Gulls, 143 Leach's Storm-petrels, 16 European Storm Petrels, 3 Grey Phalaropes, 76 Arctic Terns, 172 Red-throated Divers, 1,247 Light-bellied Brent Geese and 1 Pomarine Skua, plus large numbers of Kittiwakes, Manx Shearwaters and Gannets, all flying south in a WNW near-gale, with a grand total of  5,288 individual birds of 26 species. If you want to find out more about seawatching at Frenchman's Rocks, you'll find a detailed account, written by Tristan, in Peter Robert's book (details just to the right).