Thursday 19th & Friday 20th December

A reasonable sunny day on Thursday gave way to a dreary, mostly cloudy, breezy and rainy day on Friday.

Yesterday there were reports from David D. of the Cackling Goose still down on The Oa at Kinnabus, while Billy Stitchell's male Blackcap remained at his feeders at Caol Ila.

Morven Laurie from NatureScot sent in the International Goose Count figures, carried out on 18th December. The count the day before took place in very poor weather and has been discarded. Totals as follows:

27,585 Barnacle Geese, 4,852 White-fronted Geese, 1,434 Greylag Geese.

With the awful weather today, nobody was out birding - though I did see a lone Greenfinch with the 50+ House Sparrows and numerous Goldfinches on my feeders here at Bruichladdich.

Wednesday 18th December

 A largely wet, cloudy and none-too pleasant day. The only bird note comes via Malcolm O. from Billy Stitchell who posted on the Islay Facebook this photo of a male Blackcap (seemingly without a tail) at his bird feeder this morning.

Saturday 14th, Sunday 15th, Monday 16th & Tuesday 17th December

Thanks to Malcolm for blogging in my absence, though in the last few days there has been nothing to blog about - hence the 4 day gap during variable, typically winter weather. Just one posting today - from Mary R. who saw a Pink-footed Goose, though I'm not sure where.

 Thursday 12th and Friday 13th December

Quiet overcast weather rather than the sunshine that was promised for most of this week but only happened on Monday. The first rain for the week arrived this afternoon.

Yesterday, Gary T found the Cackling Goose at Leorin in the Barnacle Goose flock that moves regularly between there and the Cornabus/Ballivicar/Kintra area. He took this photograph of it just before the flock was spooked by a young White-tailed Eagle. Later on, he found the Kingfisher that seems to have taken up residence in the Bridgend merse area. Mary R saw a Kestrel on the way to Tormisdale and commented that this is a really reliable area to see one.

Today, Mary saw a Little Egret at Crosshouses, 4 Chough at Octofad, and a White-tailed Eagle flying over Claddach. Then, in the afternoon, James H reported a Green-winged Teal seen from the South Hide at Gruinart and a Gadwall from the North Hide. Green-winged Teal appear at Gruinart almost every winter, frequently staying for weeks or even months.

 

 

 Tuesday 10th and Wednesday 11th December

Ed B is the only observer to have sent in a report in the last two days. This morning he had a flock of 66 Lapwing at Cornabus, while the Cackling Goose was still present in the area. Ed commented that this was a good number of Lapwing for the time of year. I was out looking at geese around Skerrols on Monday and noticed two flocks of Lapwings, numbering 20-25, and remembered the time not all that long ago when wintering Lapwing were quite scarce, disappearing in November and not reappearing until mid-February. Along with the Lapwings were larger numbers (40-50) of Golden Plovers. This species has definitely increased as a wintering species on Islay, with a pretty steady rise in numbers from the 1980s when there were several hundred to the last decade when up to 2000 are wintering here, exceptionally 3000.

I've found a Gordon Langsbury photograph showing both species of interest. I don't think finding the solitary Lapwing will be too difficult.

 

 Saturday 7th, Sunday 8th and Monday 9th December

As was to be expected, no bird records were submitted on Saturday after Storm Darragh had deposited just over an inch of rain on Friday night (all right, 26 mm if you insist), and then blew from the north at force 8 throughout the day with frequent gusts reaching over 60 mph. We were fortunate to be north of the centre of the low pressure system judging by the reports of 90+ mph in north and south Wales. Sunday was a lot better, if still breezy, then today was sunny and wonderfully calm after a sharp overnight frost.

On Sunday, Clive McKay reported that, during the northerly wind of the day before, a total of 398 Kittiwakes flew N back out of the loch in 3.5 hours of observation, after U-turning/sheltering at the head of the loch. No other reports were received on Sunday, but things picked up on Monday morning, with Clive seeing 37 Fieldfares heading N over Creag Mhor, Gruinart, and wondered if this was a cold weather movement. Gary T had his first Reed Buntings and a Yellowhammer at his bird table a little north of Ballygrant, before he headed out and saw Common Scoter, Long tailed Duck and Red breasted Merganser close in to the layby at Blackrock. The Cackling Goose was seen again by Ed, this time at Ballivicar. I was out with Morven Laurie (NatureScot) this morning ageing geese near Bridgend, and she read a Whitefront neck collar, V8Z, which was caught near Port Ellen in February 2024. It wasn't seen again that winter so it's very good to get a sighting in a new area.

 Wednesday 4th, Thursday 5th and Friday 6th December

Wednesday and Thursday were OK weatherwise, bit of wind, bit of rain, but Storm Darragh is gaining strength this Friday evening, having blown from the south-east this afternoon before it will abruptly switch to the north overnight and blow even harder tomorrow. It's raining at the moment, while it's supposed to be more showery tomorrow.

All of which lengthy preamble indicates that there's been precious little bird news these last three days, with no reports on Wednesday while, yesterday, Mary R provided the only sightings, of 6 Chough at Octofad and a Merlin at Gortan. Today, Ed B confirmed the continued presence of the Cackling Goose at Cornabus while the leucistic Barnacle Goose had moved the short distance to Kintra. Jim Dickson, Argyll Bird Recorder, was in contact to suggest we should look out for a Ross's Goose which was present with Greylags in south Kintyre this morning, having probably moved there from Ayrshire. The next movement westwards would, of course, bring it to Islay. Not the hardest bird to pick out from a flock of other geese.

Stay safe in the storm. 

 

 Monday 2nd and Tuesday 3rd December

A coldish wind, but dry until late afternoon when there was some rain.

Undoubted bird of the day, and the month (so far), was a Great White Egret seen, and filmed, at Kinnabus by David D. I've not tried adding video to the blog before, so, if you can't see anything below, I failed. Another good bird was a leucistic first-winter Barnacle Goose seen by Ed B. at Cornabus. Such birds turn up just occasionally and, if my memory serves me right, which isn't guaranteed, require both parents to have a recessive gene.

Other sightings include a female Hen Harrier south of the airport seen by Steve Rogers, the Cackling Goose still at Cornabus, reported by Ed at Cormabus, both today, and a Barn Owl with unusual white wings and tail flying through Clive's garden yesterday.

 

 Sunday 3nd December

An overcast morning, brightening a little by midday, and mild. Not a lot to report today, but David D. had a Lesser Black-backed Gull in the gull roost at Cornabus, a migrant species which is very unusual here from about November to February. It breeds here in summer but recently in much reduced numbers, just 28 pairs were found in the last seabird count in 2018/19, compared with 184 pairs in 2000 and no less than 740 pairs in 1986/87, which only covered the main colonies.  The reason for this dramatic decline appears to lie elsewhere, not on Islay.

I joined Clive McKay during the morning, ageing geese in the Gruinart area, finding 91 young in 1008 Barnacles (9.0%) and 7 in 172 Whitefronts (4.0%). The 7 were made up of a brood of 5 and two broods of 1. It's interesting that, in what is a poor breeding year, a few pairs nevertheless do well, remembering that Ed Burrell had a brood of 6 at Cornabus back in October. In a good breeding year there can be a few broods of 7, while the maximum for the Barnacle is 4.

Here are two family photos to show what we were looking for. Ageing Barnacle Geese is all about the wing coverts, the adults' being neat and parallel, the young much less so. Young Whitefronts have no black belly bars, unlike the adults, but gradually acquire the white "front" through the winter.

Saturday 30th November

A drier day but still with a strongish south to southeast wind and quite mild. Gary had sightings of two Peregrines, one patrolling the fields at Gruinart and then, an hour later, one pursuing waders at the head of Loch Indaal. He also saw both Grey and Pied Wagtails at the Bruichladdich burn. Hannah Greetham saw a Slavonian Grebe and a Crossbill at Bunnahbainn, presumably in rather different habitats, and also reported seeing 3 Pink-footed Geese yesterday at Kilchoman. Finally, Mandy H. had a very vocal pair of Choughs which flew in from the west to land on a knoll just below Carnduncan.

 

Friday 29th November

Not a lot of bird news today, not helped by the strong south to southeast wind and quite a lot of rain, though that didn't deter the indefatigable Gary, who found 30+ Pale-bellied Brent at Blackrock.

Morven Laurie of NatureScot kindly sent through the results of the first goose census of the winter, which took place on 26th and 27th. The whole island was covered on both days by six teams of counters and the average of the two counts is taken. The totals were 29,880 Barnacles, 4183 Greenland Whitefronts and 1598 Greylags. The comparable figures from this time last year were 27,069, 3948 and 1393. An increase in Barnacle numbers fits with the slightly better breeding success the birds experienced last summer, with about 8–10% young in the flocks compared with only 3.5% in 2023. The Whitefronts do not appear to have bred well (preliminary samples so far suggesting less than 5%) and their numbers, not just on Islay but of the entire population which winters in the UK and Ireland, are causing concern. Our thanks to Morven and the team of counters for this information.

Thursday 28th November

 A day of strong SW winds, rain and quite cold too.

The only bird news in such dire conditions comes from David Dinsley who saw a pair of Peregrines successfully hunt a Barnacle Goose over at Kinnabus this afternoon. Apparently it was the larger female that brought the goose to its end.

Up at Gruinart, Clive McKay sent in photos of an alien! This beast (a crustacean in the family Talitridae) found under a stone in his driveway is  from Australia and an accidental introduction often coming in with imported tree ferns.

Tuesday 26th & Wednesday 27th November

 Dry, light winds with sunny spells - an improvement on some of weather we've been having recently.

Despite better weather, there were no notes for Tuesday, though Ed Burrell sent in a trio of photos from a nocturnal ringing session down at Cornabus - Snipe, Jack Snipe and Woodcock all in one night!

On Wednesday Gary T. found a/the Kingfisher again up at the top of Loch Indaal by Bridgend merse. It is being seen quite regularly and is perhaps wintering here?

Fiona McGillivray found a Moorhen on Loch Skerrols and 2 more on the riverbank at Esknish, plus a Grey Wagtail at Whin Park.

Saturday 23rd, Sunday 24th & Monday 25th November

Three days of Storm Bert, bringing lots of wind from various directions, and with it plenty of heavy rain. A generally unpleasant three days, but not as awful as predicted and not as bad as some other parts of the UK.

The weather has understandably caused the birds and the birdwatchers to hunker down and stay out of the way. There were no notes for Saturday. Ed B. noted the Cackling Goose still on his patch at Cornabus plus a photo of a young Cormorant from Jura c/o Louise Muir unruffling its feathers in a lull in the stormy weather. Today Ed. B. was the only contributor, with a note of 5 Pink-footed Geese at Cornabus along with a Barnacle Goose with a colour ring indicating it had been caught there in February this year. Other than that there were 25+ Goldfinches hanging on for dear life in the wind and rain as they feasted at the feeders in my garden at Bruichladdich.

Friday 22nd November

 A cold day with moderate NW winds and periods of bright sunshine between black clouds threatening (and occasionally producing) icy rain and hail, with snow scattered on the hills. But it is tomorrow's  weather that we are bracing ourselves for as Storm Bert comes in off the Atlantic, threatening gale force winds along with rain and snow lasting through the weekend.

The only contributions today come from Gary T. who had a Peregrine and Merlin at Bridgend Merse giving the waders a hard time. He also found "his" Kingfisher there again. I took a look in the afternoon, but had no luck with that, but did note the usual pair of adult White-tailed Eagles circling around the top of the loch where a Greenshank and 19 Whooper Swans were present. Earlier, on Loch Skerrols, there was a lone Goldeneye and c.20 Tufted Ducks.

Tuesday 19th, Wednesday 20th & Thursday 21st November

 Another cold, clear, dry and sunny day with very light winds on Tuesday. Wednesday was similar but with sporadic, isolated wintry showers of rain and hail. Thursday was nasty - very cold, grey, blustery, with snow flurries, and occasional heavy rain and hail showers.

The only bird news on Tuesday came from Ed B. who saw the Cackling Goose at Cornabus again. On Wednesday Mary R. had a Barn Owl near Portnahaven and Derek Coleman found the Red-breasted Goose again up at Gruinart. 

Today James H. saw the Red-breasted Goose in the same area where Clive Mc. had a slight build-up of Shelduck to 46 birds. Above Gruinart on the moors Ella Simpson found a Grey Wagtail. On our other sea loch at Indaal Gary T. had the usual White-tailed Eagle, a couple of Snow Buntings at Uiskentuie and a single Razorbill offshore there. He then wandered to Loch Gruinart where 6 Little Egrets were present. I saw another Little Egret up at Bridgend along with 36 Whooper Swans - two large white bird species, the swans looking at home in this almost Arctic environment, the egret looking as if it might be better of in the Mediterranean! 

Monday 18th November

 A cold, bright, sunny and dry day with light northerly winds.

All bird news today relates to wildfowl! Clive reported 26 Shelduck on Loch Gruinart and sent in a fascinating account of the migration of a tagged Whooper Swan from Iceland that crossed over Islay and Jura, stopped at Welney and continued on to The Netherlands - see the map below. Malcolm O. commented that until GPS tagging, marking and ringing of Whoopers in Iceland, it was thought that Whooper Swans wintering at Welney were from the Scandinavian/Russian population.

Derek Coleman found 6 Long-tailed Duck at Blackrock, a male Pochard, 15 Tufted Duck and 4 Goldeneye on Loch Skerrols. 

Thereafter it was all about rarities: Derek also re-found the female Lesser Scaup on Skerrols, while Ed B. posted that the Cackling Goose was still at Cornabus and James H. found 2 Green-winged Teal at the South Hide at RSPB Loch Gruinart.

Sunday 17th November

Cold moderate breezes from the north wind lots of sunshine between heavy rain showers.

Over at Kildalton Mary-Ann Featherstone had a total of 10 Goldcrests on Corsican Pine - a good-sized count for the species on Islay. Over at Claggain Bay, Steve & Lyn Rogers tallied 109 Greylags, 9 Red-breasted Mergansers a Goldeneye and a Little Egret. George Jackson had 20 Fieldfares in a flock at Coultorsay (plus Starlings seemingly inspecting nest holes (perhaps they were thinking of sheltering from the cold rather than nesting?). James H. at Gruinart had a few interesting birds: a Blackcap, Ruff and Gadwall. Finally, Clive Mc. watched 35 Choughs feeding on Kelp Fly larva on the west side of Ardnave. The storms and tides had pushed plenty of seaweed up the beach, now rotting nicely and producing a good breeding area for the flies and an equally good, if temporary food source for the Choughs who had been digging it over extensively.

Saturday 16th November

A distinct change in the weather to stronger, blustery winds from a more north-westerly direction. Some blue skies in between sporadic, sometimes heavy, rain showers.

Jacob New found the Cackling Goose over at Leorin this morning before it returned to Cornabus. He later had single White-tailed and Golden Eagles having an aerial tussle over Loch Gorm. Mary Redman found the remains of a long-dead Great Skua down at Portnahaven, while David D. took a look at Blackrock noting several Slavonian Grebes.

Derek Coleman emailed to say that  the Orange Ladybirds he found the other day were seen at Bridgend Woods - and that today he braved the wind and rain to cycle around the Rhinns when he found four Snow Buntings over at Octofad.

Friday 15th November

 Further grey, damp overcast conditions today, but with the threat of worse weather to come soon with Ed B. suggesting that the forecast strong, cold northerly winds may bring in the last of the winter geese - talking of which: Ed also reported the Bird of the Day - a Cackling Goose (photo below) with 2,960 Barnies, 314 White-fronts and 182 Greylags over on his patch at Cornabus. (Ed. also noted the Moorhen was still present on Loch Cornabus).

Elsewhere Gary T. found 3 Cormorants on Loch Finlaggan, while Clive Mc. had two groups of Whooper Swans around Killinallan/Corsapol totalling 24 birds. David D. had 8 more Whoopers at Kinnabus, 4 of which were young birds. Over at Saligo, visitor Bob Brown found a White-tailed Eagle and Merlin.

Thursday 14th November

Overcast, damp. misty with very light winds - just like yesterday!

And just like yesterday, Gary T. found the young Little Gull feeding over Loch Indaal just north of Bruichladdich again.

The only other bird news was from Mary-Ann Featherstone who had 200 Greylag Geese and a lone Shelduck at Seal Bay, Kildalton.

Derek Coleman sent in this picture of some very colourful Orange Ladybirds (Halyzia Sedecimguttata), on some tree bark yesterday - presumably hibernating. I'm not sure how common they are on Islay now, but this is part of a post made by Malcolm O. back on 28th June 2011 of the first Islay record found in an allotment in Port Charlotte:

".....we have the first record of Orange Ladybird (Halyzia 16-guttata) for Islay. ...there is only one other species - the Cream-spot Ladybird - which has white spots, but only 14 not 16 of them.

Orange Ladybirds feed mainly on mildew, with aphids, the mainstay food for the majority of ladybirds, only eaten occasionally. There is a single record for Colonsay in 2008."

Wednesday 13th November

 An overcast, damp and misty day with very light winds.

Derek Coleman sent in this account from his day birding Islay: "Spent this afternoon in the hides at Gruinart. The number of birds was just amazing; highlights were male Hen Harrier, nine Little Egrets together and four Gadwall"

Gary T. was out and about finding his usual 2 adult White-tailed Eagles on Loch Indaal up towards Bridgend, where he also saw the Kingfisher again. His best find however, was a first calendar year Little Gull just north of Bruichladdich, which stayed long enough for me to pop out and see it later on - thanks Gary!

Mary-Ann Featherstone has her birding friend Bob Brown staying and he sent a few photos for the blog. Of particular note are 5 Crossbills on the way to Kintra and 120 plus Fieldfares at Ardbeg.

Tuesday 12th November

The most glorious sunny and calm day produced no bird records at all, so I'm reduced to mentioning a Tawny Owl reported on Monday from Ardmore by David Dinsley, which I failed to put in that day's report, and the fact that the Goldfinches attending my bird table have dropped from the peak of 20 to 12, perhaps because I haven't bought a third niger seed feeder for them.

I've had no trouble in selecting another Gordon Langsbury photograph.

 

Monday 11th November

Very little bird news came in today. Perhaps the calm sunny weather was too much of a distraction.

Derek Coleman counted the birds he could see on a calm Loch Indaal from Blackrock and found 10 Great Northern Divers, 4 Red-throated Divers, 9 Slavonian Grebes, 70 Common Eiders, 60 Common Scoters and a Long-tailed Duck.

Elliott Bowman reported two White-tailed Eagles at Cragabus together with several Woodcock.

My own contribution is that the four Pink-footed Geese that Ed Burrell reported from Ballivicar on 6th November were still there this morning. 

It seems appropriate to post a photo of a Woodcock taken by the late Gordon Langsbury.

 

 Sunday 10th November

Blue sky and sunshine, for a change, greeted those searching for the possible/probable Pallid Swift but it had seemingly moved on. I hesitate to call the searchers Swifties, so I won't. 

The male Black Redstart seen yesterday close to Bowmore pier was seen again this morning by Mary Redman, but, later on, Gary Turnbull had a female close by, so it looks as if there were two birds, though no-one has (yet) seen them together. Gary also saw a Kingfisher from the layby by East Lodge, Bridgend.

Derek Coleman saw about 30 Tufted Duck on Loch Gorm, as well as a Water Rail and a male Long-tailed Duck, which is not often seen here on fresh water. Approaching Kilchoman Distillery, he saw 11 Black-tailed Godwits feeding, while, from Blackrock, he spotted 3 Red-throated Diver, 4 Slavonian Grebe and 4 Common Scoter. Close to Bowmore, Frank Cavanagh had a female Scaup and a Grey Plover.

In the south of the island, David D. had a Chiffchaff at Kinnabus and a Tawny Owl at Ardmore, while MaryAnn had a flock of 120+ Fieldfares at Ardbeg. A flock of c.60 Greenland Whitefronts were seen by Frank C. at Risabus.

Neil McMahon kindly sent a few photographs from his latest visit, including this cracker of a Twite.

 

 

A report of a pod of dolphins cavorting as they headed down Loch Indaal past Craigfad gave rise to some appalling puns, for which I apologise.

 

Thanks to Neil and to all the other contributors for their more sensible contributions.

 

 

 

Friday 8th & Saturday 9th November

Two more days of what is now officially called "anticyclonic gloom" - mostly overcast, dull, but still with light winds and dry.

Yesterday was fairly quiet for birding news. Reports came in of Little Egret at Gruinart and 40 Brent Geese off Blackrock c/o Julie Meikle and Gary T.. Neil McMahon departed with his group, seeing the usual couple of White-tailed Eagles off Bridgend and 2 Great Northern Divers in Port Ellen Bay at Kilnaughton. Gary also found 3 Purple Sandpipers at Bruichladdich.

Today kicked off with Gary T. finding 2 Snow Buntings along the Big Strand (Laggan Bay) towards Kintra with 7 Long-tailed Ducks offshore. Later he noted good numbers of waders at the top of Loch Indaal including a Ruff with the Redshank and 5 Goldeneye and 25 Brent Geese offshore there. Newly arrived Jacob New was up at Ardnave finding 4 more Purple Sandpipers, 13 Chough and a lone Hen Harrier. Julie Meikle enjoyed 3 White-tailed Eagles at Gruinart.

Thereafter, the day became rather more exciting with a report from Frank Cavanagh of a "Swift species" over at Coullabus. Jacob New managed some photos of it (see below), prompting Jim Dickson, our County Recorder to join the discussion about its identity, suggesting it to be a strong contender for a Pallid Swift. This would be the first confirmed record for Argyll, though there has apparently been one on the Outer Hebrides last week. Gary T. got over to the area a little later and confirmed it was still present, and I turned up as "tail-end Charlie" to find it easily as the afternoon light faded, but the bird still going around in circles over Tighnacachia - a little cottage at NR300659. Given that it stayed in this tight area for hours, it is hoped that it might still be there tomorrow for some further photos to be taken of this intriguing bird.

The Swift certainly brightened up Derek Coleman's first day. He also found "second-best bird of the day" with a Black Redstart at Bowmore Harbour. There have only been c.15 previous records on Islay and this is the first since January 2022. Derek also counted two flocks of Brent Geese on Loch Indaal totalling 42 birds, plus a Grey Plover and lots of  Golden Plovers on both  Loch Indaal and Gruinart.

Thursday 7th November

Windier, but still mostly grey, though the sun did try again to break through in the afternoon.

Yesterday, George Jackson had 2 Fieldfares close to Carnain, then later in the evening near Uiskentuie a Barn Owl. 

Most of the bird news today comes from Neil McMahon with his Naturetrek group who seem to have travelled widely across the island. 2 Pink-footed Geese were seen in fields between Port Charlotte and Bruichladdich where a Red-Throated Diver was offshore. Loch Skerrols produced a Goldeneye, two White-tailed Eagles, a male Brambling, 2 Bullfinches, 20+ Siskins, a Redpoll and 2 Whooper Swans flying by. They also had what may have been a Hawfinch zip past. There has been quite an influx from the continent into the UK in the past week or two, and at least a few might be expected or hoped-for up here.

Up at Bowmore Neil had a Kingfisher in Bowmore harbour along with a few Eiders, with a hunting Golden Eagle up towards Cruach from Bowmore where a flock of 7 Bullfinches and the first sizeable flock of fieldfares were counted. Eight Whooper Swans were at Imeraval, just outside Port Ellen and 6  at Cornabus shortly after - possibly some of the same birds. South of Cornabus a male Hen Harrier popped up and at The Oa car park there were the usual c.25 Twite on the feeders, including a colour-ringed bird - (metal ring over blue on left leg + two yellow rings on right) probably one ringed here in the previous winters. We'll find out the origins later and let you know. Neil Mc. finished the day with a pre-roost gathering of c.50 Ravens on the High Road between Port Ellen and Laggan Bridge.

Other than the above, David Dinsley had a Woodcock at The Oa car park and Julie Meikle had a White-tailed Eagle over Loch Gruinart another Hen Harrier on the road to The Oa and Whooper Swans on Ardnave loch. Mike Bell, on his last day here had a couple of Hen Harriers, a young White-tailed Eagle and juvenile Golden Eagle, plus a Ruff in the Golden Plover flock at Gruinart. Up at Killinallan he noted a lot of waders roosting on the morning tide: 436 Bar-tailed Godwit, 415 Dunlin, 57 Turnstone, 18 Sanderling and 13 Greenshank the most notable along with 65 Twite. 

Wednesday 6th November

Another dull, overcast, but basically dry day with light winds and occasional attempts by the sun to break through the grey.

Ed B. started the day's reporting with 4 Pink-footed Geese on re-seeded fields at Ballivicar. Gary T. came in with a Kestrel over stubble fields at Newton and the usual White-tailed Eagle on Loch Indaal at Bridgend. Malcolm O. found a lone Pink-footed Goose at Ballinaby, apparently avoiding the company of nearby Barnacle and Greylag Geese.

Neil McMahon and the Naturetrek group spent all day in the field. Over on Jura, apart from plenty of Otters, they had 6 Great Northern Divers at Craighouse, 30 Lesser Redpolls south of Lussagiven, 25 Eiders and 2 more Great Northern Divers in the Sound of Islay. On Islay were a few of the usual divers, ducks and Black Guillemots off shore around Port Charlotte and Bruichladdich. They also had both eagle species and a Grey Plover, Greenshank and 5 Pink-footed Geese on Loch Indaal.

James H. had found single Jack Snipe, Bullfinch, Treecreeper and several Goldcrests on the RSPB Loch Gruinart reserve. I took a walk along Loch Indaal on the Gartbreck side finding a further Greenshank and a count of 75 Shags. I assume that these are likely to be different from the 160 I counted up at Ardnave a couple of days ago - and different from the sizeable group counted in Port Ellen Bay, suggesting a substantial number possibly over 300 on the island.

Monday 4th & Tuesday 5th November

Two more mostly dreary, damp, overcast days - light winds on Monday picking up a bit on Tuesday.

Monday produced few notes - 1-2 Gannets in Loch Indaal off Port Charlotte, a pair of Peregrines perched up below The Oa RSPB car park and a Water Rail at Gruinart - thanks to Gary T., David D. and James H. respectively.

Ed Burrell spotted a neck-collared Greenland White-fronted Goose on the flats at Gruinart in the afternoon which had been first caught as an adult bird at Ballinaby in December 2012. David D. reported the flock size of this species at Kinnabus was now at 133.

Today, Neil McMahon was back on Islay with another Naturetrek group. He sends in a good list of sightings: 

70 Whooper Swans, 64 Brent Geese, 2 Greenshank, 2 White-tailed Eagles, 2 Kingfishers, a Grey Wagtail and plenty of Bar-tailed godwits and Knot all  at the top of Loch Indaal between Bridgend and Bowmore. Between Port Charlotte and Black Rock he counted no less than 4 different Otters, plus 4 Slavonian Grebes up at Black Rock itself.

Up at Nave Island he had a good count of more White-tailed Eagles - 4 juveniles and 1 second year bird, Three of these flew towards Gruinart and Ardnave Loch where there was a Golden Eagle, Goldeneye, 9 Whooper Swans and 27 Chough.

Further looks along Loch Indaal later in the day produced c.40 Eiders, 2 Great Northern Divers, 6 Canada Geese (big feral types!), 2 Hen Harriers and another small group of Whooper Swans at Coulabus.

Malcolm O. tells us that after recently doubling the size of the niger seed feeder in his garden from one with two portals to one with four, the Goldfinches have increased from 6 to 20 - not a bad return on his investment!

Sunday 3rd November

 Another overcast day, but mainly dry with light winds and no rain and less mist.

Some further notes in for Saturday:

From Mike Bell: off Bowmore were 2 Long-tailed Duck and a pair of Scaup. At Kildalton and Aros Bay a large number of Redwings -  435 plus 825 flying SW in 16 flocks, also 37 Fieldfare, 35 Siskin and a Golden Eagle. At Claggain  Bay 5 Great Northern Diver and an Otter. Back on the Coullabus road a male Hen Harrier and a young Golden Eagle.

From Louise Muir: 150 Fieldfare through Craighouse on Jura.

Today, the Red-breasted Goose showed well in fields south of the road towards the RSPB Visitor Centre. A walk up to Ardnave Point produced 3 Greenshank,  6 Brent Geese, 160 Shags and a total of 18 Snow Buntings in two groups. We also had 5 Greater Scaup in Loch Indaal from the Gaelic College - the largest count so far this winter.

Clive Mc. had a further 31 Whooper Swans flying up Loch Gruinart.  Martin Armstrong saw Peregrine and Merlin over Singing Sands and found a dead Crossbill near Laphroaig.

Saturday 2nd November

 Overcast and a bit damp to start, but by the evening it was a little clearer with lighter winds and even a few small patches of blue sky.

It was another day of Whooper Swan migration and activity - and as always, tricky to work out exactly how many were in involved. Clive Mc had at least 5 groups passing totalling 71 birds, south down Loch Gruinart during the day. At Portnahaven, Mary Redman had a flock of 14 and another group of 6. 29 were still present at the top of Loch Indaal and I had a single flock of 49 flying south directly over Feolin, opposite Port Askaig on Jura. David D. hit the jackpot with 107 on Loch Nigheadaireachd at Laggan (24 of these this year's young). This makes c. 140 seen flying south and whether the 107 resting at Laggan were in addition to, or part of this movement is anybody's guess - though I'd go with a minimum of c.200 and possibly as many as c.275.

Apart frop the swans, Gary T. had seen presumably the same Kingfisher at the mouth of the River Sorn this morning. Visitor Martin Sutherland had an odd goose on Loch Indaal - possibly Barnacle x Canada? Photo below.................

Thursday 31st October & Friday 1st November

Two more days of uninspiring, misty, often overcast, sometimes drizzly weather with lightish winds from a westerly direction.

The only bird notes of note for yesterday was the brief sighting of the Red-breasted Goose at Gruinart, by Jack Fleming's house in the afternoon. 

In the morning, a twirl around loch Gorm produced 6 Goldeneye there, plus at least 6 Buzzards around the circuit. We looked again for "the goose" in the afternoon, but couldn't find it, though there were impressive numbers of Lapwing up at Gruinart to keep us busy.  c.970 were present, first on the fields just down from the Visitor Centre, then all in view on the floods from the North Hide. The loose group of 12 Little Egrets were feeding out on the loch at Gruinart.

Gary T. had 30 Common Scoter off Carrabus and a few more at Bruichladdich where he saw an Otter. The Otter at one point was feeding with two large young around the pier for a good hour or more, much to the delight of my friends visiting.

Wednesday 30th October

 The weather was not exactly as predicted, being misty, light drizzle at times and much cloudier than forecast. However, the winds were very light and plenty of us were out birding.

This morning the Red-breasted Goose was relocated by Steve Percival at Craigens and Greg Hughes reports a Marsh Harrier at Gruinart. On Loch Inmdaal I watched c.70 Common Scoter, 7 Long-tailed Duck, 10 Slavonian Grebes, 6 Red-throated and 2 Great Northern Divers from Black Rock, where a Brambling was heard flying over. A little later at Gartmain were 52 Whooper Swans, 6 Canada and 69 Brent Geese, 2 more Long-tailed Ducks, an adult pair of White-tailed Eagles and 26 Red-breasted Mergansers. We went on to The Oa RSPB reserve, where a juvenile Sparrowhawk dashed in to successfully snatch one of c.25 Twite at the feeders. Back at Port Ellen there were 34 Ringed Plovers on the beach in the bay and later in the afternoon we stopped again at the top of Loch Indaal near Bridgend where 680 Wigeon were counted along with a Little Egret.

The Little Egret was of interest because at the same time Clive Mc. at Gruinart was making another Islay record count of 13 Little Egrets - ours boosting it further to 14 birds on the island. Clive also added a further 16 Brent Geese at Gruinart to our 69 on Indaal and counted a substantial 1,100 Golden Plover present.

Mike Bell was active today too, finding 3 drake Pochard and 3 Goldeneye at the NE corner of Loch Gorm. At Gartbreck he found a Grey Plover and  2 Greenshank, while back at Gruinart, he also counted the same tally of Little Egrets, a juvenile Ruff, 9 Black-tailed Godwit,  2 Greenshank, 940 Lapwing and got the Golden Plover total up to 1,720, with 2 Bullfinch on the woodland trail.

Monday 28th & Tuesday 29th October

 Two days of uninspiring weather, Monday slightly better than Tuesday, which was mostly overcast, misty and drizzly with light winds.

Yesterday George Jackson counted  a flock of 150/200 Rock Doves feeding on the  barley stubble fields at Kilchoman and a little mixed flock (ca. 20) of Reed Buntings, Linnets and House Sparrows at the Kilchoman Coastguard Cottages. Later there were ca. 25 Redwings feeding in the hedge and bushes along Coultorsay drive, south of Bruichladdich.

Up near Garra Eallabus at Creag Mhor, Clive Mc. had a "normal" Chiffchaff (ie. not Siberian!). Frances Cole counted 12 Turnstones at the Gaelic College.

Today, despite the rotten weather, there were occasional patches of blue sky and rainbows enticing me out with visiting birding friends. 25 Tweite fed in barley stubble at Kilchoman and on Machir breach were 47 Ringed Plover and a few Sanderling, Dunlin and a lone Brent Goose. 5 Whooper Swans remain at Ardnave Loch. Up at Gruinart North Hide as the tide came in there were masses of waders on the flats including c.640 Golden Plover and 350 Lapwing. A lone Greenshank was out there amongst masses of Bar-tailed Godwits and a group of 9 Little Egrets  with two others in different locations at Gruinart made a total of 11 birds. The floods in front of the hide held substantial numbers of Teal and Wigeon, but I leave the RSPB to count them - talking of which, James How kindly sent in a count of the immense numbers of Barnacle Geese out on the fields at Gruinart this afternoon: 14,495 to be precise. He also noted 330 Greenland White-fronted Geese, 5 Pink-footed Geese and 30 Brent Geese.

Finally, Ed Burrell found his first Woodcock of the late autumn flighting out of the forestry near Cornabus.

Saturday 26th & Sunday 27th October

Saturday started out pleasant enough, with a bit of dry and sunshine with light winds, but deteriorated into cloud and rain in the afternoon. Sunday was overcast and breezy, with heavy rain from late morning onwards - not nice at all!

A later note from Friday regarding numbers of Whooper Swans increased the likely minimum for the day to c.400.

Clive Mc. sent in details of one of the radio-tagged Whooper Swans that has passed through Islay from Iceland on its way to wintering grounds on the Ouse Washes.

Gary T. started the day's notes with a great sighting of a Kingfisher at the mouth of the River Sorn at Bridgend. I counted c.50 Whooper Swans and c.320 Wigeon in Loch Indaal from Gartmain a little later in the morning. Ed Burrell at Cornabus confirmed a further arrival of Greenland White-fronted Geese on his patch, while David Dinsley and Hannah Stanger at nearby Kinnabus noted "hundreds" of Redwings moving through in the early morning, plus a single Merlin. Frances Cole was up at Ardnave and found, amongst other things, 32 Curlew and 10 Bar-tailed Godwits there. George Jackson was delighted to watch a Shot-eared Owl quartering the fields at Uiskentuie in late morning.

Over at Crackaig on Jura, Louise Muir found a Snow Bunting.

Having given the blog over to Islay's first record of a particular Crane Fly recently, it seems appropriate to go "non-avian" again, with another invertebrate first. Mary-Ann Featherstone caught a Blair's Mocha moth over at Kildalton, which is a first for Islay and only the second for Scotland.

Today's appaling weather has meant fewer sightings, but a few visitors were undeterred and making the best of a bad job, Mike Bell reporting 5 Hen Harriers: 2 at Coull/Kilchoman, 1 male at Coullabus and 2 at Gruinart. 2 adult White-tailed Eagles and 3 Goldeneye were seen at Loch Gorm, 14 Brent Geese at Loch Gruinart, while at Gartnatra on Loch Indaal there were 25 Whooper Swans, 65 Brent and 6 Canada Geese, 540 Wigeon and a good total of 232 Bar-tailed Godwit. 

To inspire the newly arrived visitors, here is a photo taken last week by Neil Mcmahon of the Red-breasted Goose, which is probably still out there somewhere waiting for you to find when the sun shines again!

Friday 25th October

Very light winds, overcast and drizzly for much of the morning, with a bit of dry and breaks in the clouds in the afternoon. 

The change for the better in weather, with much lighter winds, produced a substantial migration of Whooper Swans today, with too many people to credit sending in reports throughout the day. It is difficult to know how many in total went through, with some stopping off briefly as they so often do. Given that few counts of the flocks in different parts of the island were the same, many of the reports likely relate to separate groups? 5 flocks totalling 143 birds flew in from the north down Loch Gruinart. 3 flocks totalling c.45 birds were seen down at Portnahaven. Two flocks totalling 79 birds went by at Cornabus. 15 went past on The Oa, with 10 on Loch Skerrols and 30-50 on Loch Indaal. So, possibly as many as c.340 recorded, with, presumably others going by unnoticed.

Redwings were also arriving today. While Tiree reported 2,000 heading south, there only references to smaller flocks popping up here and there, though Ella Simpson and David Wood counted 40 more on The Oa and Clive Mc. had a flock of 200 drop in at Gruinart, plus smaller flocks pushing the total to 325.

Other odds-and-ends included 6 Canada Geese at Gartmain from Gary T. and 2 Goldcrests at Kinnabus c/o David Wood who gets the prize for "Bird of the Day" with a Yellow-browed Warbler at Kinnabus. (Though I'm sure most folks out birding today would have found the visible migration of so many glorious Whoopers passing through, calling as they went, equally exciting?).

Thursday 24th October

A breezier day today with winds from the south, but moderately mild and dry.

The day's bird news revolved around a lengthy discussion on the identity of a goose: was it a Greenland White-fronted or a European White-fronted or a hybrid between White-fronted and Pink -footed? The general consensus by the end of the day suggests a slightly oddly-plumaged European White-fronted Goose.

Equally esoteric was a post by Clive Mc. of a species of  Crane Fly new to Islay - Tipula staegeri (The arrow points to the diagnostic ID feature!).

Other than that Ed Burrell reports an increase to 40 Wigeon at Cornabus and David Dinsley found a Jack Snipe at Kinnabus tonight. Clive had a Common Scoter on Loch Gruinart - a species not often seen there - while Gary T. noted Peregrine chasing waders at Bridgend. The Naturetrek group departed today with Neil Mc. finding an Arctic Skua on the ferry journey back towards the mainland.

Neil kindly sent in a few pictures from his week on Islay:

Tuesday 22nd & Wednesday 23rd October

 Two days of moderately blustery and showery southerly/south-westerly weather, with some sunshine and dry spells.

Yesterday there were reports from Gary T. and Mike Highfield of Snow Buntings up at Ardnave - small groups totalling 10 at least. David Dinsley had a single Black-throated Diver at Kintra. Otherwise there were multiple reports of various raptors - Merlin, Golden and White-tailed Eagles and Hen Harrier from all over the island.

Today Neil Mc and Naturetrek had 6 Pink-footed Geese off the Coullabus road, plus 3 Hen Harriers. This afternoon they got lucky finding the Red-breasted Goose up on the south side of the road across the flats at RSPB Gruinart. They finished with another visit to Loch Skerrols where they reported the Lesser Scaup (an immature female bird) still present, with 45 Whoopers too, but no sign of the Ring-necked Duck.

Monday 21st October

 Winds still blowing in from a southerly direction with patches of rain - but nowhere near as stormy as yesterday when huge seas and breaking waves in Loch Indaal threw stones, seaweed and debris up onto the road at Bruichladdich.

Neil from Naturetrek took his group around Ardnave this morning, notching up 3 White-tailed Eagles on Nave Island and 3 Great Northern Divers in the channel there. He saw 3 Snow Buntings around Ardnave Loch that were upped to 5 later by Alan Bowie who counted 30 Choughs there. Neil later added 2 more White-tailed Eagles near Bowmore.

I popped over to Loch Skerrols to try and get a look at the Lesser Scaup reported yesterday. The c. 40 Tufted Ducks were typically at the far end of the loch, bobbing up and down on the waves and actively feeding, so not the best conditions. However, despite not being able to locate the much more obvious Ring-necked Duck, the Lesser Scaup did pop up and even flexed its wings to show me the extent (or lack of extent) of its wing bar. There were 33 Whooper Swans on Skerrols, including 8 young birds, while an immature Golden Eagle was noted over adjacent fields.

Neil was later at Blackrock where 25 Common Scoter were counted. He found 3 Pink-footed Geese still present at Leorin on the High Road near Port Ellen and had a tally of 4 Hen Harriers across the island during the day. Down at Cornabus Ed Burrell had a flock of 120 Goldfinch.

Saturday 19th & Sunday 20th October

 A sunny, moderately pleasant day on Saturday before Storm Ashley hit today with, at times, very strong winds from the south, plenty of rain at times.

Yesterday Gary T. was up at Bunnahabhain finding a Crossbill, while Clive Mc. counted 370 Lapwings at the top of Loch Gruinart. Down at Currie Sands, Portnahaven, Mary Redman had a couple of Choughs, a Kestrel and 12 Whooper Swans flying over. David Wood ventured to Loch Gorm where he found a first Pochard of the autumn/winter, plus 19 Black-tailed Godwits and 75 Lapwings, then 48 Brent Geese on Loch Indaal.

Neil Mc. with his Naturetrek group were on Jura where he had, amongst other birds, no less than 5 White-tailed Eagles, 2 Golden Eagles and 12+ Yellowhammers. A male Long-tailed Duck seen by the group at Craighouse is only the 4th documented record for Jura since 1972.

Amazingly, despite the appalling stormy weather today, people did go out birding:

James H. did a count of the geese on the RSPB Gruinart reserve in the morning before it got really nasty and found 13,670 Barnacle and 377 Greenland White-fronted Geese plus 890 Golden Plover. Neil Mc. was at Skerrols confirming the continued presence of the male Ring-necked Duck, plus a distant sighting in the ferocious conditions of a female Lesser Scaup along with 2 Greater Scaup, 25 Whooper Swans, 40 Siskins in the adjacent woods and 5 White-tailed Eagles. The latter were presumably taking some shelter from the storm, but annoying the wildfowl on the loch. Later, Neil reported 5 Greenshank and a Carrion Crow paired with a Hoodie at Gruinart, 3 Pink-footed Geese near Port Ellen and a scattering of c.50 Whooper Swans and 6 Little Egrets across the island. Clive Mc. flushed a Woodcock, sheltering from the storm, in his garden up near Garra Eallabus on Gruinart.

Thursday 17th & Friday 18th October

The weather on Thursday was "tolerable", but not as good as forecast, with more cloud and light rain at times than anticipated. Friday's weather was almost entirely unpleasant, with  cloud and heavy rain at times over much of the day. The wind persists from a southerly direction.

I was out and about over at The Oa and up towards Kildalton and Claggain Bay yesterday, as was the newly arrived Naturetrek group. None of us saw anything especially out of the ordinary, but White-tailed Eagle, Peregrine, a couple of Hen Harriers, a couple of Choughs and c.40 Twite around the feeders at the Oa car park were noted. Up at Kildalton was another White-tailed Eagle, 2 more Peregrines hunting at Claggain, 14 Red-breasted Mergansers at Ardilistry Bay and a single Pink-footed Goose near Glenegedale and Laggan Bridge with two Merlins around Avenvogie. 

Up at Gruinart, Clive Mc. increased the record number of Little Egrets on Islay from 11 a few days ago to 12 on Thursday and Malcolm O. counted 18 Whooper Swans at Kilchoman.

Today, despite the appalling weather, people were out there birding. David D. reported a Merlin chasing a Blackbird at The Oa RSPB car park. Neil McMahon for Naturetrek had the usual pair of White-tailed Eagles on their grassy islet at the top of Loch Indaal, plus 45 Brent Geese along with good numbers of Bar-tailed Godwits and Knot. Later he nopted further White-tailed Eagles and a Little Egret at Gruinart. Gary T. was at Bunnahabhain noticing lots of Fieldfares and Redwings and a male Kestrel at Persabus. Mry Redman had another Little Egret at the top of Loch Indaal this evening.

Clive reported a decrease in Whooper Swans at Kilchoman today to 5 birds following a record count just over the water at Rathlin island yesterday. He also reported  back on a sat-tagged Whooper he had seen on Monday at Kilchoman which turned out to be an adult male tagged in Iceland recently with a brood of 5 cygnets.

Wednesday 16th October

A mostly cloudy and damp sort of day with light winds from the south. Rainy to start, with brief sunny patches in the afternoon before a mist and fog set in.

Alison and Mike Uren, visiting for a week sent in a good list of their sightings. Pick of the bunch were:

Sunday 13th - 26 Brent Geese on Loch Indaal near Gartmain

Monday 14th -  2 White-tailed Eagles at Blackrock

Tuesday 15th -  3 Golden Eagles on Nave Island and a Snow Bunting at Ardnave Point

Today - c.10 Pink-footed Geese  at Loch Gorm and 30 Ringed Plover on Machir Beach

I looked at the Loch Gorm area this afternoon and was surprised to see so many Barnacle Geese on the loch and on the surrounding heathland - c.5,000 in total, plus another couple of thousand on the barley stubbles around Kilchoman where 15 Whooper Swans remain. Mandy H. also commented on the numbers here and that they were very jittery, but couldn't see any sign of eagles!

Monday 14th & Tuesday 15th October

Monday was a fine sunny dry day. Tuesday was blustery, cloudy and occasionally threatening rain. Winds from a generally southerly direction.

Nothing too out of the ordinary has been posted in the last two days. On Monday Jackie Wedd saw 7 Little Egrets, 30-40 Twite and 3 Greenshanks  at and around Killinallan and the Nature Scotland group posted Black-tailed Godwit, 3 White-tailed Eagles at Gruinart.

Today Gary T. was on Machir Bay where 200 Barnacle Geese had settled with the various gulls, a few Sanderling and 30 Ringed Plovers and 17 Twite. Later he noted White-tailed Eagle, Merlin, Hen Harrier and Buzzards at Gruinart. Down at Cornabus Ed Burrell saw a particularly large female Peregrine chasing Barnacle Geese.

I was down at the Gruinart hides in the mid-afternoon enjoying the many thousands of Barnacle Geese accompanied by 2 Pink-footed Geese. The White-tailed Eagle (immature) passed by and later at Ardnave Loch a young Golden Eagle was seen.

Sunday 13th October

Winds went round to a more southerly direction today, but still quite cold. A calm dryish start turned into a slightly more breezy at times afternoon with occasional rain.

The Nature Scotland group kicked things off with a look over Loch Indaal from Blackrock this morning when the seas were nice and calm making counts easier. They had the first good count of Slavonian Grebes this winter with a total of 26 birds, plus 12 Long-tailed Ducks, 38 Red-throated Divers, 46 Red-breasted Mergansers, 11 Brent Geese and a whopping 200 Common Scoter. In contrast there was just on lonely Scaup and a couple of Great Northern Divers. They also had 2 Otters a Peregrine and 8 Twite.

Mary Redman was down t Kilchoman and counted 29 Ringed Plovers on the sandy dune fields adjacent to Machir Bay, while up at Gruinart Clive Mc. counted 11 Little Egrets - the highest count for the species on Islay so far I believe (the previous highest being 10 last November).

Nature Scotland ventured down to The Oa later in the day scoring 2 Merlins, 2 adult and a juv Golden Eagle and 12 Twite. Looking on the Big Strand down at Kintra they found 19 Re-throated Divers and another Slav. Grebe. Not hanging about, they later found a Kingfisher on the River Sorn at Bridgend  before finishing at Gruinart where a Golden Eagle was hunting Barnies.

Saturday 12th October

A cold, blustery, rainy day with fairly strong westerly winds at times - not nice!

Being "not nice", there were fewer reports in today. However the topic continued to be migration from the north, with Clive Mc. sending in maps of a tagged Whooper Swan, recorded flying in from Iceland yesterday afternoon, arriving at Gruinart at 7pm. There were at least 24 Whoopers seen by Clive at Gruinart today and the fields around Kilchoman continue to hold large numbers - 155 counted by the Nature Scotland group. Whether this is the same large number that has been in that area for a few days now, or is a continuing change-over of arriving and departing birds, we'll never know.

Other than swans, there was ac count of 7 Little Egrets at Bun-an Uillt from Tom Gifford and the first of winter's Purple sandpipers seen by Ed Burrell at Carraig Fada. Various Hen Harriers were noted, battling the elements, Swallows seen being chased by Sparrowhawks and an impressive total of White-tailed eagles noted by Nature Scotland, with 6 seen across the Sound of Jura from Bunnahabhain, feeding on a strandline carcass with a further 4 on the Islay side. They also noted 10 Redwings at Gruinart, a Brent Goose with Barnies, 2 Gadwall and 450 Golden Plovers also in that area, along with 20 Common Scoter offshore at Bruichladdich. Finally, Clive Mc. counted 100 Twite on the fields at Ballinaby.