Tuesday 16th September

Another great day, and the forecast looks settled until next Tuesday, not that I am complaining... the sunset this evening was stunning too!! Around midday, Peter had been down at Portnahaven where he saw 7 Pale belied Brent Geese, the first reported Geese of the Autumn here on Islay. One of the geese had coloured rings on it and Peter has sent the info away, so here is hoping we get to hear more about the said goose! Back at Bruichladdich, Peter had 4 Red throated Divers, 7 Common Scoter, 15 Eider and a Black Guillemot in winter plumage off the pier on Loch Indaal. On the overhead wires earlier on this evening, here at home there were 45 Goldfinches and 9 Linnets. Forgot to mention the other day that Paul Hathaway had a ringtail Hen Harrier about half a mile out of Bunnahabhain as he headed up to work on Friday morning. If you want to see some tremendous images of Barn Owls, click on the link to Gordon Yates and you will see some of Gordon's recent work, what it is like to be patient... Gordon was telling me last night that the Barn Owls have had a much better breeding success this year. In Greater Manchester alone, there have been 25 pairs breeding successfully this year, compared with only 4 pairs last year. Gordon also had heard that around 1,000 young Barn Owls have been rung this year in Lincolnshire. All good news, fingers crossed that they all manage through to breed themselves later on.