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.