Thursday 10th September

James yesterday had seen a Spotted Redshank on the floods while he was working on the sluices.... Continuing on with Mary's sightings.... Up on Ardnave Loch, 3 more pairs of Mute Swans are present with the resident pair with their 4 cygnets. On Nave Island, 3 Cormorants were on the waters' edge preening themselves. Also on Nave Island were some Blackbacks make the most of 2 seal pups, born too soon... On Eilean Beag, 70 Shags were on the rocks, a young Peregrine was perched nearby watching all around. Back on Ardnave, a ringtail Hen Harrier was out quartering the rushes, also were some Skylarks, large flocks of Meadow Pipits, and also some flocks of Mallards, the largest being 25. This morning, we had a ringtail Hen Harrier out quartering its patch round at Saligo. Later on, we had a Golden Eagle, as we returned from Gruinart. Round at Sunderland, on a field which had recently been cut for arable silage, were around 1,000 Greylags, Bob saw the geese later on in the same location.