Thursday 27th March

An overcast, cloudy and rainy sort of day, though winds still light.

The only bird news today was of 15 Fieldfares seen by Wendy & John Mattingley at Lyrabus. But there are further bird notes from yesterday.

Wendy & John Mattingley report "We had a group of 110 Common Scoter and another of 66 on Loch Indaal, also 4 Slavonian Grebe, with another at Kilnaughton Bay. A flock of 18 Ravens with 4 Buzzards near Mulindry Bridge and 17 Tufted Duck on Ballygrant Loch. At Loch Skerrols there was 1 Chiffchaff, but no Sand Martins. Highlights at Gruinart 4 Little Egrets, 2 Black-tailed Godwits going into summer plumage and 60 Pintail".

(They had also counted 20 Great Northern Divers in Kilnaughton Bay on Monday 24th).

Nigel Scriven (Chairman of Argyll Bird Club) was on the island on Monday 24th and sent in some notes from Ardnave: 75 Bar-tailed Godwits, 60 Sanderling a Wheatear and a flock of 17 Chough.

There has been no further definite indication of why so many small dead fish washed up at Port Ellen yesterday, though apparently two prawn boats were tied up in Port Ellen on Tuesday evening and it is thought that they might have been cleaning out their holds. Whether this is correct and is the source of the fish, and if so a legal thing to do is all uncertain. Lets hope that it wasn't a poisoning incident and that at least the gulls, corvids, and perhaps a White-tailed Eagle or two benefitted from it?