Yesterday and this afternoon, the weather out here has not been that great, especially if you are visiting to do some birdwatching...The Horwich birders had braved the elements with a wettish trip over to Ardtalla and Ardbeg before getting a good soaking... They counted 16 Ringed Plover and 7 Canada Geese feeding in a field at Ardtalla. Further along the coast, they had seen a pair of Mute Swan and shortly afterwards, a juvenile White tailed Eagle while along on the water at Claggain Bay a GND was seen. Back at Kilnaughton Bay, 4 Eider were present with a single Buzzard over the trees there. James has counted 37 Whoopers up at Ardnave yesterday. Peter, yesterday, had a 2cy Iceland Gull down on Machir Bay, along with 32 Chough. Over at Ballinaby, Peter counted a flock of 250 Golden Plover and later on he had seen 6 Purple Sandpiper at Bruichladdich. This morning before the rain set in Gary had done his WeBS count from Bowmore down to Gartbreck. His count was 9 GND, 1 RTD, 31 R B Merganser, 6 Cormorants, 43 Shag, 1 Tystie, 1 Razorbill, 76 Eider, 10 Common Scoter, 17 Mallard, 35 Teal, 46 Wigeon, 1 Tufted Duck, 3 Mute Swan, 83 Oystercatcher, 3 Curlew, 4 Redshank, 70 Ringed Plover, 3 Dunlin, 48 Lapwing, 1 Grey Plover, 16 Snipe,19 Gbb Gull, 154 H Gull, 18 B h Gull, 1 Glaucous Gull, 1 Iceland Gull, 83 Whitefronts, 9 Pb Brent and 931 Barnies. Here at base camp, there have been a couple of Fulmars floating along the front of the crag, seen often over the past couple of days. The 2 Greenfinches were seen again this morning as well.
Before I forget, the next indoor meeting of the "Islay Bird nerds" will be held on Tuesday 27th March at 7pm in the Gaelic College, Bowmore. There will be a small charge to help pay for the room hire, just come along with your hard earned money....
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