Thursday 12th and Friday 13th February

Thursday's weather continued the run of easterlies with some rain, but Friday saw an abrupt and very welcome change to a glorious sunny day after a very slight frost, with a light north to northeast breeze.

Owls dominate the sightings, with Clive Mck. seeing 2 roadside Barn Owls on Wednesday evening, 1 in the shelter of Eresaid wood,  the other on the fence outside the RSPB office at Gruinart, while David Jardine saw another Barn Owl at Blackrock at 2.20am on Thursday morning; I'm unsure whether David was out very late or very early. On Thursday evening, Mary McR. spotted a Tawny owl with prey at Ellister, then a Barn Owl just outside Portnahaven.

During the day on Thursday, Clive McK. was out and about, finding 1 Merlin, 85 Skylark in a flock, a possibly influx, and 12 Reed Buntings at Craigens, as well as 30+ Ravens and 2 White-tailed Eagles at Gearach.

 

Wednesday 11th February

See yesterday's forecast, but with more rain in the morning.

Today's sightings were all of wildfowl, which makes a change from raptors! Nick Parsons found the 3 Ring-necked Ducks on Loch nan Cadhan again and also saw what was presumably the same adult Light-bellied Brent as yesterday, this time in a Barnacle Goose flock just outside Bridgend, beside the Ballygrant road. At lunchtime, Fiona McG. reported a flock of 10 Pink-footed Geese at Sunderland, while later on Nick Parsons saw 4 in a flock of Greenland White-fronted Geese at Kintra. While ones and twos of Pinkfeet are regular among the wintering goose flocks, small flocks like this are usually only seen in autumn and spring, so these seem likely to be fairly recent arrivals. Perhaps the persistent east winds had something to do with it. Finally, David Jardine found the Chinese Goose in a flock of Greylags at Port Charlotte. It was present in the autumn, disappeared for a while, and then turned up again a week or two ago. One wonders in which farmyard it presumably lives in between its flights out to feed with its friends.

Craig Calladine took this long-distance photograph of the 3 Ring-necked Ducks on Loch nan Cadhan, a pair plus a second female.

 

Tuesday 10th February

Weather shouldn't be boring, but with the umpteenth day with easterly winds and some rain it it beginning to feel that way.

Ed B. reported a redhead Goosander on the Cornabus Burn in the morning, followed after lunch by a Lesser Black-backed Gull, his first migrant of the spring! A second one was seen around the same time by David Jardine just north of Bruichladdich. A single Pale-bellied Brent as seen by Nick Parsons in the Barnacle roost at Loch Indaal in the late afternoon, and visitors Arash Marashi and Craig Calladine reported that the 3 Ring-necked Ducks first seen on Loch Ballygrant in December were still present, though this time on the adjacent Loch nan Cadhan.

Visitor Rudolf has just posted a sequence of stunning photographs of a Sparrowhawk attacking a Hooded Crow which he took on January 20th. Here are three of them.

 

 

 

Sunday 10th February

Quite a damp day, with the wind still in the east.

Two visiting birders reported single Pink-footed Geese: Gill found one with Barnacles at Finlaggan in the early afternoon, while, in the late afternoon, Nick Parsons saw one in a Barnacle Goose flock just east of Bridgend Woods. They both agreed that they were different birds. 

Gill did well with raptors during the day, with, in the morning, a Merlin along the Glen road, and a young White-tailed Eagle and adult Golden Eagle at Bunnahabhain, while she had the same combination along the Glen road in the afternoon.

Here's Gill's Pink-footed Goose, an adult from the neat parallel barring on the wing coverts.

 P.S. Theo has kindly followed up the report of an Iceland Gull in yesterday's blog and informs us that it was submitted in error and has been withdrawn. So, in this so far very poor winter for white-winged gulls, we await the first sighting of this species. 

Friday 6th, Saturday 7th & Sunday 8th February

The easterly winds on Friday and Saturday relented a little on Sunday, while there were light showers or drizzle on all three days.

No observations were received on Friday or Saturday, but birders were obviously out on Sunday morning, starting with Martin A. who saw 4 male Goldeneye on Loch Indaal opposite Killarow, Bowmore, quickly followed by Mary McR. who had 3 Chough at Claddach first thing, a male Hen Harrier at Octofad, and a first-winter White-tailed Eagle sitting on the rocks at Carn, Port Charlotte. In the afternoon, Clive McK. spotted 5 Black-tailed Godwits in the field pool south of the north hide on the RSPB L. Gruinart reserve.

I'm grateful to birder and wildlife guide, Theo de Clermont, who is based on Mull, for spotting a list of birds seen on Sunday by visitor Craig Calladine and posted on the online eBird. The location was just given as "Loch Indaal", while, of the 29 species in the list, only 4 had information on numbers, which were 3 Pink-footed Geese, 5 Red-throated Divers, 27 Slavonian Grebes and 1 Iceland Gull. This last, the first reported this winter, follows closely on the first Glaucous Gull seen on 30th January. More information, in particular its age and exact location, are being sought. 

Thursday 5th February

 The wind, still from the east, increased to near-gale force throughout the day, stopping the afternoon and evening ferries, but it remained dry, which was some sort of blessing.

 Mary McR. continued with her eagle spotting this morning, seeing a young White-tailed Eagle "scraping the rooftops" in Port Charlotte, and, a minute later, as she travelled south there was a young Golden Eagle over Carn, just outside the village. Clive McK. posted a lovely bit of video to the Islay Birds WhatsApp page of a sub-adult White-tailed Eagle gliding over Loch Gruinart, which I'm going to try and add here, though I'm unsure of the maximum size allowed.

Around midday, Martin A. saw a Little Egret at the head of Loch Indaal and Ed B. reported a Merlin flying through Cornabus.

Here's the video. Thanks, Clive. 

 

Tuesday 3rd and Wednesday 4th February

The easterly wind continues and it's been more or less dry.

No records were received on Tuesday, but, on Wednesday, Mary McR reported that there was a male Hen Harrier by her house in Port Wemyss earlier, and that a White-tailed Eagle was active between there and Octofad daily. She also said that there was a single noisy Oystercatcher hanging about between the field and the shire, which she hoped would soon find a pal! One wonders if it has perhaps recently lost a pal, hence all the noise trying to attract a replacement.