Friday 24th May

Some sun, plenty of overcast, not much wind and no rain. 

Here are some bird records starting with "Cuckoo News". Two males attracted attention today, one that wakes up Steve Rogers by sitting in a tree in his garden near Port Ellen and starting to call from around 4.15 am. Steve wonders if there is a reason why Cuckoos were put into clocks all those years ago. The second male was reported by Margaret Brooke and was calling from a much more elevated perch - the top of the Kilchoman Church tower. Steve also heard the bubbling call of a female, which doubtless the Kilchoman bird would like to hear, too. Around 11.00 am, Martin Armstrong saw two White-tailed Eagles successfully hunting gulls off Blackrock. 

Other, non-ornithological, news came from The Oa where David D had the first Marsh Fritillaries on the wing, while Mary-Ann saw a Chimney Sweeper Moth at Kildalton. Unsurprisingly, this moth is almost jet black all over apart from a tiny amount  of white at the wingtips. For unknown reasons, almost all the relatively few Islay records are from or close to the east coast, from Bunnahabhain in the north to Ardtalla and Kildalton in the south.