Saturday, 7 August 2021

Saturday 7th August

 Another warm day of light winds and intermittent, localised rain showers (some quite heavy) between brighter sunny spells.

Mark Shields heard a Greenshank high over Loch Gruinart and Margaret Brooke noted 5 Ravens, 2 Buzzards and 1 Golden Eagle over the crags at Kilchoman today, with a Ringtail Hen Harrier hunting over by the War Graves.

At the opposite end of the Island, Mary-Ann Featherstone counted 70+ terns including quite a few young birds, on the SE Skerries between Kildalton and Ardmore with others further out. Although Arctic Terns are generally a more common breeding species than Common Tern on Islay, the photo attached here looks like a juvenile Common Tern to me with its dark carpal bar and richer/heavier gingery-brown markings on the mantle and upperparts - though the bill isn't that long? Your opinions welcome!



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