Saturday 30th November

Yesterday, James had seen 2 White tailed Eagles in the trees at Avonvoggie on the high road. Later on while on the ferry, he saw an Otter in West Loch Tarbert. Finally, James had a Little Egret at Kennacraig.

Friday 29th November

Mark, the other day, had carried out the WeBS count on Loch Gruinart...Birds seen included.. 5 Heron, 31 Shelduck, 85 Wigeon, 19 Teal, 12 Mallard, 18 R B Merganser, 170 Oystercatcher, 58 Ringed Plover, 1810 Golden Plover, 239 Lapwing, 8 Knot, 104 Sanderling, 902 Dunlin, 368 Barwits, 126  Curlew, 62 Redshank, 28 Turnstone, 3 Gbb Gull,89 H Gull, 57 C Gull, 19 B h Gull, a Greenshank, 2 Snipe, a Blackwit and also a Ruff. On the floods at Gruinart, he had the following birds noted 4 Snipe, 3 Heron, 217 Mallard, a Dabchick, 110 Wigeon, 31 Shoveler, 56 Pintail, 909 Teal, 10 Curlew, 13 Whooper Swan, 2 Mute Swan, 270 Lapwing and a Blackwit. Up on Ardnave Loch, he counted 2 Goldeneye, 3 Wigeon and also 4 Mallard.

Thursday 28th November

Happy birthday to my old mate Paul W. who today reached the heady age of the big 70... make the most of the next 70 years auld yin...

James yesterday had been out helping carrying out the first International Goose count of this season.. While he was out, he had the following birds seen by himself...At Craigens, he had seen a Todd's Canada goose , also present there was a Pink footed goose and also 2 Pale bellied Brent geese. Over at Carrabus, James had a Canada goose Hutchinsii sp.  Over Borachill Mor a Kestrel was seen while up at Killinallan, a White tailed Eagle was added to his birds seen... On the reserve at Gruinart, James had 3Grey Wagtails, a Merlin and also some Woodcocks.

Wednesday 27th November

On Monday, Gary had seen a an adult White tailed Eagle flying over Finlaggan, he also had seen a  male Hen Harrier out quartering its patch there as well. In the actual plantation, there were flocks of Siskins, Redpolls and also Goldfinches present as well.

Today he had 2 White tailed Eagles down at Bridgend and shortly afterwards he saw 3 Long tailed Ducks out from Knockangle Point on Loch Indaal

Tuesday 26th November

Bob, the other day had carried out his WeBS count from Port Charlotte back round to Blackrock with his tally coming to as follows....    21 GND, 1 BTD, 6 RTD, 7 Slavonian Grebe, 37 Shag, 5 Cormorant, 1 Razorbill, 8 Mallard, 44 Eider, 1 Goldeneye, 5 L t Ducks, 12 Ringed Plover, 3 Dunlin, 3 Turnstone, 4 Heron, 22 Oystercatcher,  6 Gbb Gulls, 30 Herring Gulls,12 Common Gulls and also 2 Black headed Gulls.

Monday 25th November

Yesterday, Armin had seen a flock of Barnies roosting up on the Machir behind Machir Bay. He also had a count of around 50 Ringed Plover down on the beach as well, but each time he got relatively close to them they took off again and flew along the beach again and again.

Sunday 24th November

This morning Distillery Dave had been down on Machir Bay with his 2 dogs and while he was going down onto the beach itself, he had counted over 60 Curlews in one of the fields beside the car park there. Later on as they were walking up the road to Kilchoman, he had seen a ringtail Hen Harrier approach them head on, flying directly towards Dave and the 2 dogs, Ted and Ella......

saturday 23rd November

Today, when he was  out for a round of golf over at the Machrie, Distillery Dave had counted 26 Snow Bunting.

Wednesday 20th November

Another gie dreich sort of a day out on Islay (again), but it did not deter Armin. Possibly that is not 100% true as it was at least dry when he set out for his walk along Machir Bay, but by the sound of things he got rather wet and not too many birds seen either. He had some Gulls and he also reckoned that there were only around 20 Ringed Plovers around today. He had a Robin pecking at the patio door of his cottage. Back on Sunday evening, he saw a Heron over at Laphroaig when he was taking some "night photography" images at the Distillery. Armin wondered if the Heron was dazzled by his headtorch, as it did not seem to be disturbed by him being around at all.

Tuesday 19th November

Good friend Armin had been on Machir Bay for his walk out... Down around the old wreck in the Bay, he had counted over 40 Ringed Plovers. Later on, Armin had seen 10 Greenland whitefronts and then finally he had seen the geese heading in to their roost....

Monday 18th November

Last Wednesday, Dave Woods had seen 3 Snow Buntings down on the RSPB Oa reserve.

Today, Dave had seen a 1st winter Glaucous Gull down at Kintra. Other birds seen included a B t Diver, 10 GND, 4 RTD, and he had seen 11 Lt Ducks  as well. In Kilnaughton Bay, he had a single BTD and also 9 GND present there too.

Some birds seen by James down on Loch Indaal today... He had seen 11 Long tailed Ducks,  2 Slavonian Grebes and  he also counted 32 Common Scoter present there as well.

Sunday 17th November

Armin arrived yesterday evening after coming across on the 20.15 ferry from Kennacraig. ..

Today, when driving down to Machir bay, Armin saw a buzzard flying over the reed bed below the Coastguard Cottages. When down at Machir bay, he witnessed a large flock of several hundred barnies fly along from loch Gorm/ Rockside. he took it to be it was the geese going in to the roost at Coull. Finally , he saw another Buzzard flying over the big crag behind Kilchoman House

Saturday 16th November

Earlier on this afternoon, I had a good natter /catch up with good friends Pat & George E Jackson. I was saying to them that we are seeing a Great spotted Woodpecker out on the feeders most days. But I was a bit deflated when they told me that they had caught and fitted rings to 3 Great spotted Woodpeckers this week, down in their garden... Other regulars to our feeders include Nuthatches, Great Tits, Blue Tits , Coal Tits, Long tailed Tits, Tree Sparrows, Dunnocks,  a Siskin, and several Blackbirds, 2 Goldfinches on the wee niger feeder, and a few House Sparrows came in to the feeders today. Other new birds today included a Lesser Redpoll and also a Greenfinch. The other day, we saw a Magpie fly across the main road as we drove home. Other birds seen here in the garden include some Pheasants, a few Rooks and also some Wood pigeons. Almost forgot, we had a Moorhen in the garden the other day as well. Also seen, yesterday, was a male Sparrowhawk as it flew past

Thursday 14th November

Some sightings seen by Gary today.. In at Finlaggan, he had seen an adult White tailed Eagle and also a male Hen Harrier was also present. Shortly afterwards, Gary saw a juv. White tailed Eagle chasing after some geese... Not sure as to the outcome as he did not say whether the geese escaped unscathed or not...

Wednesday 13th November

Just had an email to say that John Stewart Smith had passed away on Monday. John was one of the original members of the RAFOS team that came and visited Islay. He was a true character although his health latterly was not as good as it might have been. No doubt we will remember him with some tales that he could tell us over a dram after dinner... Another thing  about John was that he could tell some hilarious jokes as well..   As I might say about John, "Gone, but not forgotten"

Tuesday 12th November

Some sightings through from birds seen down on the reserve on the Oa today... Visitors David and Sally Morton from Herefordshire had seen 4 Snow Buntings when they walked out the American monument on the Oa. They had also seen a Golden Eagle being mobbed by some Hooded Crows. Phill had also sent some sightings on the reserve as well... He had counted 1,400 Barnies and also 480 Whitefronts. Other birds seen by himself were a Merlin , a Hen Harrier as well as a Kestrel perched up on a fence line, directly opposite was a line of 200 Twite. All seemed normal enough until the hunger pangs set in and the Kestrel decided to knobble one of the Twite which it did do.. The remaining birds just watched the whole event taking place, quite unfazed by it all...

Monday 12th November

No birds today folks mainly because of the weather with a strong wind blowing as well...

Sunday 10th November

The other day, James had seen 3 Snow Buntings and also 3 Purple Sandpipers when he was up at Ardnave. He also saw an Otter up there as well

Saturday 9th November

Yesterday was MB's last full day of this visit, so before I forget, many thanks for your sightings, and keep in touch....Mind you will have all those WeBS counts to carry out shortly, so we hope that the weather is at least dry so that you do not get too wet...

Off Laggan Point, he had seen the following birds, 4 RTD, 17 Eiders, 11 L t Ducks, 44 Shag, 7 Ringed Plover, 21 Lapwing, 13 Curlew, 10 Rock Pipits, and 2 Chough. Also present an adult W t eagle perched up on a rock, a juv Golden Eagle was seen there too, and he wondered whether it could possibly be the same bird that he had seen up at Skerrols, a Merlin and also a Hen Harrier were also seen there. On the "Laundry Loch", he had counted 24 Whoopers, 154 Whitefronts, a Pink footed Goose, 272 Greylags, 33 Barnies, 107 Wigeon, 27 Teal, 11 Mallard and a Goldeneye. Over at Blackrock, he had the 31 Pale bellied Brents but as he said "only" 16 Common Scoter were there.
At Killinallan, he had seen a male Hen Harrier, 11 Ringed Plover, 390 Golden Plover, 19 Turnstone and also 32 Twite. At Gruinart, he had a juv W t Eagle with around 500 Duck on the floods there. Finally back at Kilchoman, he had counted 18 Chough going in to the roost.

Another visitor, LT had seen a Grey Wagtail up in the bay at Sanaigmore commenting that this was quite special to him as he had up til then thought that these wagtails were only seen on fresh water. It appeared to be eating insects/  grubs out of the seaweed there.

Friday 8th November

MB had been out and about again yesterday, which in his own words, the weather was "dull, and at times gloomy sort of a day". First thing yesterday, he had seen 2 White tailed Eagles at Kilchoman, along at Coull, MB saw  a male Hen Harrier. Round at Sunderland Farm, a Golden Eagle was seen flying along towards Rockside Farm. Along at Uiskentuie/ Blackrock he had 11 Slavonian Grebes, 5 L t Ducks (4M + 1F), 33 Common Scoter and he counted 135 R b Merganser all together in one raft. In Bridgend Wood/ Claggain Strip, MB saw 4 Goldcrest and also 5 Treecreeper and along at Islay House, 35 Fieldfare were present while at Bridgend, 2 drake Goosanders, 5 Goldeneye and 2 Dippers were seen. Along at Mulreesh he had counted 51 Redwing. In at Finlaggan, he watched a W T Eagle flush 52 Mallard 103 Teal and 5 Tufted Duck out from their cover... coming back over the Glen road, in around Beinn Dubh/ Storakaig, MB had 2 Golden Eagles and also a Peregrine present, he also counted at least 90 Hooded Crows and also 18 Raven in the same area.

Thursday 7th November

MB had been out in the cold and wet yesterday, a dedicated birder for the blog, well done lad... Mind you, going by the weather that was around yesterday, it was the same everywhere and not just solely on Islay in that it was cold and wet!!!

Over at Octovullin, he had seen 43 Fieldfare and also present were 14 Red legged Partridges there as well. Down below, on the water at Loch Skerrols, he had 19 Mute Swan, 39 Whoopers, 176 Wigeon, 105 Teal, a single Pintail, 28 Tufted Duck,with a Woodcock, 4 Bullfinches seen nearby and he heard some Siskins there as well. He also had seen  2 adult W t Eagles in the air . A wee while later, up past Loch Cam, over Carn nan Gillean 2 Golden Eagles. Down over the merse at Bridgend, he had a Golden Eagle flushing out 72 Mallard, 117 Ringed Plover, 2 Grey Plover, 23 Knot and 76 Dunlin. Along at Blackrock, the usual 32 P b Brents were still present. In the air , up behind Craigens, he saw an adult and also a juv Golden Eagle. Up at Bun an Uillt, MB had seen 6 GND, 5 R b Merganser and also the 2 Long Tailed Duck. Down on the floods at Gruinart, he counted 470 Teal, 34 Pintail and a Hen Harrier, (no Shoveler seen). Finally, below Carnduncan, he had seen another Hen Harrier

Wednesday 6th November

Yesterday MB had seen a  male Hen Harrier up at Kilchoman, and before I forget he had seen 8 Carrion Crows down on Machir Bay on Monday. Back to yesterday again.. MB had seen 12 Whooper Swans flying South when at Kildalton Cross. and also 2 Yellowhammer,  a single Redpoll.  Around Aros  Bay, 2 Mute Swan and also a juv Whooper Swan. Other birds present there included a Pink footed Goose, 490 Barnies, a Canada Goose (British type), 89 Wigeon, 2 Lapwing, 22 Curlews, 3 Goldcrest and 2 Long tailed Tits. Ovr Loch an-t-Sailein, he saw an adult W t Eagle,. he also counted 160 Whitefronts, 100 Greylag, 35 Wigeon, 10 R b Merganser, 27 Curlew and a Tystie there as well. Back at Port Ellen, he saw 23 Ringed Plover. Finally back at Kilchoman, he saw 16 Chough going into the roost with 84 Hooded Crows seen flying to their roost as well.

James yesterday had account of 11,715 bBarnies, 397 Whitefronts 8 P b Brent geese, 1,660 Golden Plover and a Golden Eagle, all seen on the reserve at Gruinart.

Tuesday 5th November

Yesterday for Colin Bushell along with his birders who have been over for the past few days, it was their final day. Up at Bunnahabhain, they saw a Golden Eagle and also had a count of 12 Lesser Redpolls there. Down at Ballygrant, they had 25 Fieldfares and also a Mistle Thrush present.. Loch Skerrols had 13 Mute Swan, 23 Whoopers, 57 Wigeon and also 24 Teal. At Loch Gruinart, they saw a Todd's Canada Goose, 8 Whoopers, the drake Green winged Teal was present out from the North Hide. Out over the flats they had seen 2 W t Eagles and also a Golden  Eagle with 34 Sanderling seen up on the East side of Loch Gruinart itself.

MB yesterday had counted 38 Ringed Plover and also 46 Curlew down on Machir Bay. Over at Whin park/the merse at Bridgend, he had seen 2 White tailed Eagles . 9 Shelduck, 72 Knot, 2 Grey Plover, 104 Ringed Plover, 23 Dunlin, 14 Barwits and also 31 P b Brents were present there as well. Down towards Kilchiaran, he saw an adult Golden Eagle and then shortly afterwards, he had a male Hen Harrier seen close to Tormisdale. A walk along beside Claddach, proved quite productive... He watched a flock of Barnies being spoofed by something and then he watched a W t Eagle take a Barnie out in mid flight, but the Barnie managed to break out of the eagle's grip and escape....The Eagle was not too pleased about that.. He also saw a Sparrowhawk , 6 Ringed Plover, 8 Curlew, 6 Redshank, 3 Turnstone, 191 Whitefronts, 24 Shag, 5 Cormorant and also 39 Hooded Crows. He also counted 141 adult Grey Seals along with 9 Pups . Another species of interest, was the sighting of a "Blond" Hedgehog...

Also yesterday, James had a Water Rail while walking through the Woodland Trail at Gruinart.

This afternoon, Malcolm had seen 110 Shag in a feeding frenzy out on Loch Indaal from his house. There were solely Shags seen with no gulls present, with the whole event taking around 20 minutes with Shags flying away in small groups rather than in in one large groups. Earlier on this week, I had been coming up from Port Charlotte  and I had seen Shags perched up on the rocks just North of Bruichladdich and thought that there was a large number of Shags present, "standing room only"

Monday 4th November

Another glorious day with the weather out here again today, with the sun streaming in through the window as I attempt to write this entry... 

MB had a good day's birding yesterday, his birds started off with 95 Fieldfares counted in the wood down at Kilchoman. A look out over Loch Indaal bewteen 08.25 and 10.00 betwen Port Charlotte round to Carnain/ Smelly Corner produced 33 RTD, 42 GND (including a raft of 21 Divers), 39 Slav Grebe ( all seen between Gortan and Smelly Corner), 21 Scaup, 153 Eider, 113 Common Scoter, 18 L t Ducks (11 drakes), 75 R b Meganser, 3 Goldeneye, and at where the Grey River enters Loch Indaal at Uisketuie, he saw a Grey Wagtail. On a rising high tide, up at Gruinart he had 8 P b Brent Geese, 24 Shelduck, 2,120 Golden Plover, 11 Knot, 46 Sanderling, 540 Dunlin, 351 Barwits, 7 Greenshank, 62 Turnstone with 2 L t Ducks in from Bun an Uillt. Killinallan held 42 Whitefronts, 2,700 Barnies,  35 Ringed Plover, 62 Golden PLover, 253 Lapwing, 31 Sanderling, 31 Sanderling, 12 Curlew, 80 Redwing, 40 Twite and also a Mistle Thrush, an imm. Golden Eagle flew over from Ardnave and flew on Eastwards.  On the hills inland from there, he saw  a W t Eagle and another Golden Eagle. Ardnave Point held a Golden Eagle, and a Hen Harrier. On the floods at Gruinart MB counted 960 Teal, 51 Pintail and a Hen Harrier . Coming back to his cottage where he is staying when over here, he had seen another H H along below Carndunacn with a final ringtail seen  at Kilchoman.

Yesterday, Colin Bushell along with his group from Limosa Holidays had also carried out a watch on Loch Indaal, from Bowmore round to Bruichladdich. They had some birds which MB had not spotted including 2 Purple Sandpipers, 20 L Tt Ducks, a Pinkie, 19 Whoopers, 78 Wigeon, 42 Teal, 9 Goldeneye, 9 Tysties, a Bt Diver as well as a distant Golden Eagle and a W t Eagle. When driving up to Gruinart, they saw a ringtail HH and then a Brambling was seen out from the Visitor Centre. 

On Loch Gorm, they had seen 2 Pochard, 38 Tufted Duck and a Slav Grebe, they also had another W t Eagle and another ringtail and saw 20 Rock Doves. Along amongst the Barnies seen down towards Machir Bay, they had 4 Dark bellied Brent Geese, on the beach itself they had 41 Ringed Plover. Also seen there were 20 Chough, a Peregrine as well as a Merlin. 

The other day Gary had seen a small flock of Redpolls down towards the Lily Loch,. Today, he had a Merlin at Kilchiaran and then later on, another one seen at Foreland. This morning, we saw a Golden Eagle away out over the far crag with 2 Roe Deer on the top of another part of the crag. As per usual, the Sparrowhawk came through the garden and decided to have a wee rest for a few minutes sitting on top of one of the garden fence posts...Up at Sanaigmore today, LT had a count of 50 Fieldfare.

Marsali was in touch with her rainfall for October coming to a heady 7.12" while James told me yesterday that his figure for the month came to 6.5", so I can hear you all moaning about up here on the dry West with our tally coming in at only 6.0" exactly...

Sunday 3rd November

Back on Thursday evening when driving home, James had seen 2 Tawny Owls and also a Barn Owl, all sen on the reserve at Gruinart. He has had a "regular"  visitor of a Grey Wagtail of late in his garden.

MB had counted 29 Ringed Plover down at Machir Bay. When driving up to Ardnave, he had a Golden Eagle sitting perched up. In the garden at Ardnave House, he counted 64 Redwing present.  Over at Traigh Nostaig, he had seen 29 Ringed Plover, 3 Grey Plovers, 5 Sanderling, 5 Barwits, 13 Turnstone, 40 Twite and also 39 Chough. Back down on the floods at Gruinart, he had 37 Pintail and also 32 Shoveler. Out on the estuary, he had counted 22 Shelduck, 254 Barwits, a Knot, 11       Turnstone, 117 Ringed Plover, 18 Sanderling, 490 Dunlin with 1870 Golden Plover present as well. A count out on Loch Indaal from Bruichladdich back round to Bowmore provided him with some more birds... 21 RTD, 7GND,  8 Slav Grebes, 34 Common Scoter, 5 Long tailed drakes flew in, 2 Goldeneye, 67 Eider and 97 R b Merganser. Below Carnduncan, he had 2 Chough while along at Coull, he had counted 60 Curlews together.

The Rochdale birders had seen seen a total of 6 Eagles when they were out and about yesterday, they also had seen a Sparowhawk in Port Charlotte as well.

Yesterday also, Colin Bushell and his group from Limosa Holidays had a great day again, not just with the weather... But they had been on the Oa and at around Kinnabus, they had a male and also a ringtail Hen Harrier, with 284 Whitefronts, a L t Duck and a Tufted Duck seen on Kinnabus Loch. They also counted around 75 Twite and at least 20 Rock Doves close to the steading there as well. Along the Cornabus valley towards Kintra, they saw 351 Whitefronts, 8 Mistle Thrush, a Fieldfare, 5 Ravens and also they watched a Merlin hunting Mipits over towards the Machrie Hotel. Later on up at Ardnave, they had counted over 110 Redwings in and around the house there, with 2 Dabchick seen out on Ardnave Loch itself. They had counted 26 Ravens mainly in small groups of 3 to 4 birds flying South along the West side of Gruinart, they also saw another ringtail .. Down at the reserve at Gruinart, they had seen another male Hen Harrier, a White tailed Eagle, 6 Whoopers and also the large flock of Golden Plover.

This morning, Gary had seen the Kingfisher seen down at Carnain this morning. Up here at home, we have been seeing  both  ringtail and male Hen Harriers as well as that pesky Sparrowhawk for good measure, just enough to keep the wee birds on their toes...

Saturday 2nd November

Well I must be getting a bit forgetful in my old age/ dotage... the rainfall up here at the cottage came to 6 inches exactly for the whole of October....

Colin Bushell came over on Thursday with a group from Limosa Holidays, a good friend who we met over the past few years at the Bird Fair at Rutland... Despite the poor weather, yesterday, they still managed a great day's birding... Highlights included 30 P b Brent on Loch Indaal, a Todd's Canada Goose amongst the Barnies on the flats at Gruinart, up the side of Loch Gruinart, they had a Long tailed Duck. They had seen a total of at least 4 W T Eagles and also a Golden Eagle there as well. Also seen on Loch Indaal were the following, 21 Greater Scaup, 4 Common Scoter, Eiders, GND , RTDs and also 2 Tysties.

On Thursday, the team from RAFOS had 20 Siskins down at The Woollen Mill. Yesterday round on one of the stubble fields at Ballinaby, they counted 230 Whitefronts, 28 Greylags, 480 Barnies and 2 Pale bellied Brents. Below Carnduncan, they had  a ringtail Hen Harrier.  Over the flats at Gruinart they had seen over 1,000 Golden Plover in the air. One of their group had also seen 2 Goosanders out on the estuary at Gruinart.

Yesterday morning, the Rochdale birders had seen a Peregrine out from Ardnahoe Distillery and then shortly afterwards, they saw a Golden Eagle being mobbed by 2 Buzzards as they drove up to Bunnahabhain. In a walk through Bridgend Woods in the afternoon, they had seen a Great spotted Woodpecker.

MB yesterday had counted 31 Knot, 95 Ringed Plover and 109 Dunlin at the head of Loch Indaal at Bridgend. Ballygrant Loch held a Dabchick, 2 Mute Swan, 2 Cormorant and 2 Herons. A walk down to Loch Allen proved more productive with MB counting the following birds... 32 Scandinavian Blackbirds, a G s woodpecker, 160 Fieldfare (40 +120), 20 Redwing, a British      Chiffchaff, 2 Goldcrest, 3 Treecreeper, 45 Siskin, a Redpoll and he heard a Bullfinch calling away.

This morning, Distillery Dave had a Little Egret round at Kilchoman Distillery, it was also seen by 2 of the members of the RAFOS team as they headed out to the ferry.

Friday 1st November

Late on Wednesday afternoon, Louise Muir had seen and counted a flock of 62 Snow Bunting, between the South end of Machir bay and up along the track leading up towards Granny's Rock

Yesterday morning, Carol Andrew had seen a small flock of geese down at Bruichladdich, they were flying around over the rear of her house, and on closer inspection, Carol reckons that they succeeded in putting some waders up, moving them down the coast beyond the fuel depot towards the ponds behind Shorefield.

MB had been out and about yesterday... In the fields at Skerrols, he had seen 5 Pinkies amongst the flocks of  Barnies there. he also had 4 flocks of Fieldfare totalling 200 birds, as well as 25 Redwing and also 7 Scandinavian Blackbirds there too.  On Loch Skerrols, he counted 23 Mute Swan, 58 Whoopers, 285 Wigeon, 112 Teal, 21 Mallard and 61 Tufted Duck.  In the surrounding trees, MB had seen 9 L t Tits and a total of 12 Bullfinch (4 + 8). Along at Eallabus, he had another 50 Fieldfare, 30 Redwing, 14 Sc. Blackbirds, a male Blackcap and also 9 Siskins. In at Bowmore, he saw 23 P b Brent and  counted 142 Wigeon.  Finally, he had the following on the floods at Gruinart... 136 Wigeon, 590 Teal, 27 Shoveler, 6 Pintail, 2 White tailed Eagle and a ringtail Hen Harrier was present as well.

This morning, the Rochdale birders had seen 2 White tailed Eagles over Port Charlotte. Yesterday afternoon, they had spotted 2 Golden Eagles out on the wing above Beinn Bheigier, along at Kildalton they saw 2 Yellowhammers.. This morning they had seen 3 Turnstone and a Snipe down beside the wee burn that goes to Machir Bay. Shortly afterwards while enjoying a welcome cuppa, up here at our house, they saw the female Sparrowhawk perched up on the feeding station. Then just before lunchtime, the ringtail Hen Harrier flew through the garden, less than 15 metres away from the house. Mid afternoon, we saw another Hen Harrier out from the house, but a male bird this time!!!