Wednesday 25th October

This morning, Al Hart had done a "wee sea watch" from where the former wave power station was once, rather than brave the elements and go further out... Al had seen a Pomeranian Skua, 4 Bonxies, along with Gannets, Manx Shearwaters, Fulmars, Kittiwakes and Auks. Graham and Jo Morton today had seen a male Merlin, 3 Bullfinches, and a few Fieldfare as they headed up towards Bunnahabhain where they had 2 GND out on the water. Later on, they had seen 3 different ringtail Hen Harriers and an adult Golden Eagle, also a 1st winter Goldie there as well. They also saw Snipe and some Fieldfare as they drove along. At Neriby, 24 Whoopers and 20 Whitefronts were present while 2 Buzzard were seen over Claggain. Mike and Elspeth today had a "deliberately quieter" day, noting the GND in the harbour in Bowmore first thing, also there were 4 R B Mergansers.  Along at Blackrock, they had a Comic Tern. From the old hide at Gruinart, they had 2 Dabchick and a "very fine" male Ruff. The new hide had a lot of ducks but proved difficult due the lowish sun. Peter and Janet Roworth had over 550 Golden Plover, over 120 Lapwing and at least 24 Pied Wagtails on / over the flats at Gruinart today. Here at home, the Bramblings are still around, could it be all the food that is on offer that keeps them here? Along between Ballinaby and Leek, there were a few Fieldfares in the scrubby bushes along the roadside. Late this afternoon, I had a really close sighting of a ringtail as I walked round the back our garage, no need for the bins, and no camera to prove it either!! Richard and Pat Howells today had a juv Golden Eagle near to Feolin and also soon after 3 White tailed Eagles close by. They also saw a Woodcock at the other end of Jura, on the roadside, but no sign of any Ring Ouzels.

With the clocks changing this weekend, the Bird nerds meeting will be held inside, up at the Visitor Centre at Gruinart  on Tuesday evening at 7pm when our good friend Ed Burrell will give us an update on his work with the Whitefronted Geese