Saturday 10th October

Strong WNW winds with often heavy, squalls and rain in between sunny spells.

Despite the unpleasant weather several of the more stalwart birders were out and about. Teresa Morris was watching in the Loch Gruinart and Ardnave area for much of the day finding among other things 32 Whooper Swans amid numerous Greylags and Barnacle Geese, 2 immature and one adult White-tailed Eagles at Craigens, a Little Egret, 27 Knot, 35 Choughs, a Merlin and Golden Eagle and 2 Green Sandpipers - the latter quite an uncommon bird here.

Ed Burrel watched a female Peregrine take down a Barnacle Goose out of a newly arrived c.100 at Balaclava - possibly the same large female Peregrine hunting Rock Doves that David D. saw at Kinnabus (with 6 Whooper Swans on Loch Kinnabus). Rogan W. noted a Golden Eagle and Curlew Sandpiper up at Gruinart, 450 Barnacle Geese at Craigens, the Great White Egret on the floods and a male Hen Harrier at Bun an Uillt. Later at Carnain he counted 35 Knot with 172 Bar-tailed Godwits. Clive McK. upped the Barnie total later with a count of 1,600 on Loch Gruinart and saw 20+ Greenland White-fronted Geese at the top of the loch. This evening Rogan was still out birding at Loch Skerrols where he found 2 Great Spotted Woodpeckers.

With the strong winds with a slightly northerly element to them, Clive and Rogan braved the appalling weather to do a sea-watch this morning for about 3 hours at Frenchman's Rocks with moderately good results: 58 Brent Geese, 107 Barnacle Geese, 2 Little Auks, 73 Black-headed Gulls, singles of Grey Phalarope, Arctic Tern, Storm & Leach's Petrels and Great Northern Diver.

James H. was out in the late afternoon doing a final tally of wildfowl at Gruinart: now 4,820 Barnies, 5 Pink-footed Geese, 18 White-fronts and 27 Whooper Swans, where he added a single Ruff and 5 Black-tailed Godwits to today's list and upped a few day-counts with 4 White-tailed Eagles, 7 Little Egrets

Teresa's photo typifies today's weather!

Friday 9th October

Winds from a westerly direction , increasing in force towards the end of the day and bringing with them intermittent squally showers for much of the day.

Clive McK. and Teresa Morris tried a sea-watch at Frenchman's Rocks, finding an Arctic Skua, 4 Pintail and 3 Black-headed Gulls. Rogan W. noted 4 Swallows still around Ballygrant, a White-tailed Eagle at Keills and 20 Brent Geese near the Gaelic Centre on Loch Indaal. James H. found a Curlew Sandpiper (photo below) from the South Hide at RSPB Gruinart. both he and Clive noted increasing numbers of Snipe scattered across the island including 30+ at the South Hide. There was a Common Tern here at Bruichladdich.

Over on Jura, Bob Humphreys had a couple of Grey Wagtails at Tarbert and 3 Herons at Craighouse.

Thursday 8th October

The day's weather gradually deteriorated from dry with light winds to cloudy with lots of rain as another stormy period threatens for the next couple of days. The winds have gone round to a more southerly direction, so the influx of geese and swans fizzled out a bit.

Only 27 Whooper Swans were noted and no major arrivals of Barnacle Geese. Jeff Duncan saw 4 White-tailed Eagles over Loch Indaal in the morning at Pot Ban, then a Great Spotted Woodpecker, Grey Wagtail and some Bullfinches at Port Askaig. Elma Leisk had 7 Little Egrets again on the south side of Gruinart, plus a single Brent Goose. Teresa Morris did a walk around the Kilinallan area in the morning recording 32 Ringed Plovers, 24 Twite and 17 of the day's Whooper tally.

Clive McK. sent in a note about the various thrushes etc. feasting on rowan berries in his garden at Creag Mhor, plus this video of visiting Bullfinches doing the same.

Wednesday 7th October

Light winds continue for the moment from a WNW direction. Mostly sunny but a few light rain showers.

The geese and swans continued to arrive and pass through today. As yesterday, small groups of both Whooper Swans and Barnacle Geese were arriving throughout much of the day, but Clive McK. and Teresa Morris combined forces and counted fairly constantly in the Gruinart area where most were arriving before passing down the island. They tallied 120 Whoopers with probably a further 30 birds elsewhere, so perhaps 150 today. 502 Barnacle Geese were counted at Gruinart and there were 250-300 settled on the flats at the top of Loch Indaal by midday.

Other birds noted today included 2 Black-throated Divers and 15 Common Scoter from Rogan W. at Blackrock, 2 White-tailed Eagles and a Merlin at Gruinart by Clive McK. who also had 2 Great Northern Divers flying south at altitude down the loch there. Teresa counted 72 Lapwings near Craigens, Elma Leisk had 2 Swallows at Kintra and Jeff Duncan had another at the Port Charlotte waterworks along with a ringtail Hen Harrier on the Bolsay track. He also upped the autumn Little Egret tally with 8 seen Bun an Uillt.

Over on Jura, Louise M. had been out at the fairly remote west coast spot of Glenbatrick and reports 2 White-tailed Eagles, single Peregrine, Buzzard, Curlew, Whimbrel, Redshank, plus 7 Ringed Plovers and 8 Great Black-backed Gulls.

Yesterday on Jura at the much more accessible Craighouse, Bob Humphreys took this photo of a juvenile Common Tern.

Tuesday 6th October

Very light WNW winds, dry and fairly sunny.

The change in wind direction and weather meant the start of the exodus of our Barnacle Geese that were staging in Iceland has begun - as predicted by Ed Burrell in the first post on the WhatsApp group this morning. It is always exciting to witness the arrival of the winter birds - especially on such a pleasant day as today.

There was a continuous buzz of reports from many of the resident and visiting birders of small groups and some larger flocks of both Barnacle Geese and Whooper Swans coming in to Islay throughout the day. Typically, they arrived in the NW, often around Gruinart. Some of the Whooper Swans were carrying on south, some stopping briefly and then continuing, others stopping longer. Whoopers were seen all the way from Gruinart, to Loch Gorm, The Oa and down to Claddach. Largest groups included flocks of 20 to over 70 and it is difficult to be exact about numbers, but Clive McK. has saved me the job of estimating what went through as he sifted through the data and messages and reckons c.125 birds. Barnacle Geese were less obvious to start with, but by the end of the day they built up a bit and Clive McK. estimates 458 individuals arrived along with our first 7 Greenland White-fronted Geese (James H. checked Gruinart in the evening and noted 300 Barnies settled there).

Other species noted today include the Great White Egret still at Gruinart. Rogan also saw 2 Glossy Ibis there this morning, but I couldn't find them in the afternoon. Rogan noted 6 Bullfinches at the RSPB car park at Gruinart and the first Slavonian Grebe of the winter at Blackrock. Clive recorded two Great Northern Divers at Gruinart, Mary Redman had 2 White-tailed Eagles coming off McKenzie Island where the seals are beginning to pup. I counted two flocks of Rock Doves: 80 on stubble at Sunderland and 110 on stubble at Ballinaby where there were also a loose association of 124 Skylarks and a flock of 23 Golden Plover. Greylags were gathered on Loch Gorm where I counted 1,900, with a further 240 at Craigens later. Jeff Duncan had another White-tailed Eagle at Port Charlotte and 2 Black-throated Divers off Blackrock in the evening.

Bob Humphreys was over on Jura today and had 15 Linnets at Lagg and took this great photo of a female Sparrowhawk at Craighouse.

The wind is supposed to swing round to southerly again by tomorrow afternoon so it will b e interesting to see if the influx of geese and swans continues................

Monday 5th October

The weather continued overcast and drizzly for much of the day, brightening a little by the afternoon. The winds moderate from the SW.

Thanks to Malcolm for blogging while I was away at SOC conference this weekend.

Rogan W. had a juvenile Moorhen on Loch Ballygrant and a male Hen Harrier near the Gaelic College, followed by a Chough at Loch Bharradail. Golden Plovers were counted - Jeff Duncan seeing 9 flying past Port Ban and Teresa Morris finding 38 at Tormisdale. Teresa was also at Currie Sands where she noted 6 Choughs, 2 Turnstones and Rock Pipits. Over on the other side of the island David D. had a Merlin near the Machrie.

Christine Menzies noted a "charm" of 12 Goldfinches on the High Road plus 2 Golden Eagles near Emerivale. Here at Bruichladdich the Starling roost on the pier persists, though only c.300 birds in attendance tonight.

With the winds turning slightly westerly, Clive McK. tried his luck with a 2 hour sea-watch from Frenchman's Rocks with some good results - 123 Brent Geese in seven flocks and single Leach's Petrel and Storm-Petrel plus Sparrowhawk and Peregrine seen on the nearby coast. He also connected with the Great White Egret on the Gruinart Floods and notes that the House Martin nest at Creag Mhor is still active - lets hope the weather brightens up for the adults to find enough food to feed their late brood.

Bob Humphreys is over on Jura for two weeks and sent in a whole bunch of records for his first week there - too numerous to list here, but very useful from an area where we receive so few records of even the most common species. He also sent in a few photos for us to enjoy.

Sunday 4th October

The word 'dreich' perfectly describes today: when it wasn't raining it was drizzling, and vice versa, all accompanied by a SW breeze.

Mary R. forgot to mention that she saw a Wheatear yesterday with a flock of 8 Pied Wagtails at Port Mor, then, this morning, Rogan W. spotted a Common Snipe feeding among a flock of Starlings on a roadside verge at Keills.

The only other observations came in the afternoon from Cathy Earle who saw a Black-throated Diver in Claggain Bay, while Teresa Morris went to the South Hide at RSPB Loch Gruinart from which she saw the Great White Egret feeding, a Curlew Sandpiper with Common Snipe and Lapwings on the edges of the scrape, and a female Merlin which flew past in front of the hide.