Saturday 31st October

Moderate to light winds with plenty of cloud and drizzle at times.

Mike Bell got "Bird of the Day" by sighting a drake American Wigeon from the north hide at RSPB Gruinart this morning. He also found 3 Gadwall, 54 Shoveler, 9 Black-tailed Godwits, 57 Snipe, Hen Harrier and 4 immature White-tailed Eagles perched in front of the hide in the afternoon. Elsewhere he found a Kingfisher at the mouth of the river Sorn and a Goosander and Grey Wagtail from the bridge over the river at Bridgend. Finally there was a Peregrine and 4 Yellowhammers at Gartnatra and an immature Golden Eagle at Boricill Mor.

Other birders in different parts of the island have also been busy. Rogan W. watched over the Sound of Islay from Port Askaig again this morning with the prize of a late dark phase Arctic Skua which went south then diverted to cross Jura. He also sent in the two delightful photos of Brambling. Martin Armstrong noted a Barnacle Goose with neck collar and colour rings that Ed B. reckons is from the breeding population in Iceland. Steve Percival notes that the Cackling Goose is now on stubble fields at Eorrabus near the entrance to Esknish.  Rogan watched 2 quite vocal White-tailed Eagles near Port Askaig while Mick Durham had 2 others perched in conifers above Port Ellen bay and confirms the Snow Goose still at Cornabus. Rogan also had  5 Bullfinches, a Grey Wagtail  plus a large flock of 50+ Redpolls all near Lily Loch.

Friday 30th October

Breezy from the SE, but dry and fairly sunny.

Single Bramblings were seen by Rogan W. south of Port Askaig (photo below) and by James H. in the woodland at Gruinart. Rogan also 27 Redwing in the same area and a Yellowhammer at Storakaig. Ed B. noted that the Snow Goose was still at Cornabus while Audrey and Bob Turner located the Red-breasted Goose in the RSPB's fields on the road leading up to the Visitor Centre. Mick Durham was back on Islay with the second Naturetrek group of the autumn and recorded Golden Eagle near Coullabus. Mike Bell had a high count of 40 siskins at the Woollen Mill, 37 Redwing and 6 Yellowhammers at Octavulin and a total of 4 Hen Harriers - two each at Sanaigmore and Borichill Mor.

Thursday 29th October

A basically dry, sunny at times day with light to moderate winds from a more southerly/ south-easterly direction.

Not a great amount of bird news posted today. Ed B. reported that the Snow goose had left Leorin and turned up at his farm at Cornabus. Mandy H. saw 11 adult and 9 young Whooper Swans in stubble fields near Rock Mountain. Rogan W. took a look at birds travelling south down the Sound of Islay in the afternoon, noting amongst other species 13 Kittiwakes, single Great Northern Diver and Black-headed Gull, 58 Shags and a Buzzard again seen flying from Jura to Islay.

Mike Bell sent in his notes for today, being pleased to have seen all 8 regular raptor species in one day - both eagles, Hen Harrier, a total of 13 Buzzards, plus Kestrel, Peregrine, Merlin and Sparrowhawk. Mike also counted a substantial number of Whoopers in the Kilchoman/Loch Gorm area - 156 in all.

Yesterday I commented on the number of Barn Owls being seen during the day and the attacks on them by Peregrine and White-tailed Eagle. Paul Handyside sent in his unique photos of the attack by the White-tailed Eagle, firstly the owl and the eagle, then the confrontation between the two:

Wednesday 28th October

A dry, but damp and cloudy day with much lighter winds - almost pleasant after the previous few days of storms and rain!

Not too much reported today, though I believe the Red-breasted Goose was seen at Gruinart.

David D. reports a male Bullfinch at Kinnabus and Clive McK. had a Coal Tit in his garden up at Creag Mhor - first of the autumn. Rogan W. had 2+ Bramblings with Chaffinches in the woodland behind Dunlossit and 2+ Water Rails calling close to the track leading down to Lily Loch from the road. Loch Indaal was covered in thousands of Barnacle Geese on the flats this morning, and with them a discrete group of 9 large/feral Canada Geese.

Mike Bell sent in some interesting records - single Gadwall and 2 Goldeneye at Ardnave Loch. At Traigh Nostaig were single Merlin and Grey Plover and 52 Bar-tailed Godwits. Off Ardnave point were 10 Great Northern Divers and a White-tailed Eagle coming over from Nave Island. There were 2 Hen Harriers at Coullabus, another at Sanaigmore with another Merlin. Cherckling out Loch Skerrols he found the Ring-necked Duck among 68 Tufted Ducks.

In the morning Audrey & Bob Turner saw a Barn Owl near the road at Gruinart, and Clive saw one hunting at Lyrabus. There have been a number of day time sightings recently suggesting that their feeding patterns have been messed up with this horrible weather? On Sunday Neil McMahon saw a Peregrine going after, and hitting if not actually catching a flushed Barn Owl at the RSPB Gruinart viewpoint. Today Mike Bell saw another day-time hunting Barn Owl at Blackpark/Blackrock and Paul Handyside got some remarkable photos of yet another Barn Owl (or is it the same unfortunate individual?) out in the daytime and being caught/nearly caught by an immature White-tailed Eagle. Paul is hoping to share the photos with the group in due course.

Tuesday 27th October

Winds still very blustery and gone more to the west again as the low pressure systems pile through. Mostly grey and rainy, but a period of bright sunny weather with isolated heavy downpours in the middle of the day.

Mike Bell, arrived recently and mentioned the following birds of note today: 116 Whoopers around Kilchoman, 101 Pintail, 41 Shoveler, c.1,500 Teal and a single Gadwall on the floods at RSPB Gruinart.

Steve Percival found the Red-breasted Goose at Gruinart and I noted the SDnow Goose still in the same fields at Leorin during the morning.  Further Whoopers were 36 at the top of Loch Indaal and 10 at Loch Kinnabus (3 young) c/o David D. Mary R. had a male Hen Harrier at Tormisdale and 3 Choughs at Claddach.

Below are some further great photos from Neil McMahon's recent Naturetrek tour here.

Monday 26th October

The winds decreased a little and turned generally southerly/south-easterly, but it was an overcast, almost solidly rainy dark and dreary day!

Mary-Ann Featherstone reports that the Snow Goose was still present yesterday.

As usual, Rogan W. set things off with a count of 63 Shags and 12 Greenland White-fronts heading south down  the Sound of Islay, while Ed B. kept us updated on the tagged (at Cornabus) Greenland White-front flying towards us from Iceland. It did indeed go too far south, reoriented to the Kintyre peninsula and may yet make it to Islay! (Photo below).

Frank Cavanagh set off by ferry to the mainland this morning having a productive sea-watch along the way: singles of Little Gull and Pomarine Skua, 4 Leach's Storm-Petrel and 3 Little Auks. Nick Martin was pleased to find Merlin near Gartnatra - the last raptor to complete his Islay list for this visit. Down at Claddach, Mary R. had 12 White-fronts over the house early on followed by a family of low-flying Whoopers - possibly the 6 she saw in Claddach loch later.

Neil McMahon's Naturetrek group also exited today, sending in this last report of 34 Whoopers at Kilchoman with a single Pink-footed Goose, several more Whooper families on Loch Gorm and on on the stubble field with another lone Pink-footed Goose at Ballinaby. Up at Ardnave they counted 35 Choughs, a male Hen Harrier and a Little Grebe. Off Carnain and Gartnatra in Loch Indaal Nick found 20 Red-breasted Mergansers, 12 Brent Geese, 27 Whooper Swans, 2 Red-throated divers and 2 Black Guillemots. On his ferry journey back to the mainland Neil's group encountered a Storm-petrel, 12 Great Northern Divers, 40 Kittiwakes and a handful of Gannets and auks at the south of the Sound of Islay.

Many thanks to Frank and Neil for their sterling efforts in birding in such dodgy weather and for contributing their records to the group and blog. Here are some photos sent in by Neil from his visit.

Sunday 25th October

Another day of Storm Beolo producing extremely strong, gale-force or more winds, from a WNW direction with plenty of heavy rain between patches of clearer weather.

Several of the more intrepid birders ventured out and found some interesting birds despite horrible conditions. Rogan W. set out this morning finding White-tailed Eagles over the Woollen Mill and Loch Skerrols where he scored bird of the day - a 1W Ring-necked Duck with the Tufties. Later he noticed a Greenshank off the Gaelic College where a Great Skua was being blown about Loch Indaal.

The strong NW winds were blowing one of ED B.'s radio-tagged Greenland White-fronted Geese fast towards (or just past) Islay from Greenland as can be seen from the map tracking its course.

Neil McMahon witnessed a sad event with a Barn Owl flushed from gorse bushes at Gruinart and being struck by a Peregrine - the owl escapes but the final outcome not known. Neil also noted c.85 Whooper Swans close to Kilchoman distillery - a favourite spot for these passage birds to linger and feed this autumn. A further c.40 Whoopers were seen by his group at Gruinart, with 7 (3 adults and 4 young) c/o David D. at Kinnabus and, rather bizarrely, 19 sat on a raging sea off Frenchman's Rocks when Clive McK. braved a sea-watch this afternoon for an hour. Clive's fortitude produced 1,165 Kittiwakes and 3 Black-headed Gulls, but little else and confirms that this masochistic pastime is better done on Tiree where 24 Grey Phalaropes, single Sooty Shearwater and Pomarine Skua and 5 Little Auks were highlights offshore today!

Other stuff: Rogan finished the day with a group of 14 Long-tailed Tits and the first Brambling at Dunlossit Cottages. Mary R. had a Snow Bunting down at Claddach and Frank Cavanagh saw an "interesting female/ringtail type harrier all too briefly, that put him in mind of perhaps a Pallid - something for birders to keep an eye out for tomorrow............

Saturday 24th October

Storm Boelo built up during the day from being overcast, very windy from the south/SW and raining in the morning to drier at time with a little sun attempting to peek through with ever-increasing winds from the west rising to storm-force by evening.

Remarkably, despite the weather several people braved the storm and did a bit of birding, at least in the morning before it became too dangerous to be outside. Rogan W. did a watch on the Sound of Islay at Port Askaig early on and noted a flock of 31 Kittiwakes heading south. Frank Cavanagh found the Snow Goose still at Leorin and 21 Brent Geese and a Pink-footed Goose at Gartnatra. Later he found one of Snow Buntings remianing near Blackrock.

Nick Martin found the Red-breasted Goose on the same RSPB fields near Gruinart plus a bedraggled juvenile Peregrine (photos below).

Neil McMahon and his Naturetrek group also braved the elements and found all 13 Little Egrets present and correct on the flats at Gruinart and saw a Water Rail cross the road near the TRSPB offices. They also had 12 Whooper Swans - apparently 2 pairs with 8 young between them. Neil shared some photos taken during the last week with us - but I'll save them for tomorrow which promises to be equally stormy, if not more so.

Male and female Hen Harriers were noted by Audrey & Bob Turner who managed to arrive via what must have been the last ferry that will run until Monday or later.

Finally James H. noted 8 Black-tailed Godwits, 1 Ruff and the juvenile Peregrine again at Gruinart in the afternoon - perhaps he was out checking that the hides hadn't yet blown away!

Friday 23rd October

Light NW winds with overcast, showery and cold conditions to start the day, becoming drier with a bit of sunshine in the afternoon.

Nicky Betts was birding before leaving for home before the impending Storm Boelo. Birds found included Scaup at Blackrock and 7 Great Northern Divers in the Sound of Islay.

Nick Martin has been active today, firstly looking at Loch Indaal from near Bruichladdich finding 30 Common Scoter and 2 Scaup. He watched a young White-tailed Eagle take down a Greylag Goose on Loch Indaal, which the eagle then left as it couldn't get it out of the water. He had another young WTE, a Golden Eagle, Sparrowhawk and Grey Wagtail around Gruinart at the hides and car park then c.20 Fieldfares at Kilnave.

Neil McMahon and his Naturetrek group were on Jura and report the following: 2 adult WTE, 2 Grey Wagtails, 200 Fieldfares, 50 Chaffinch, and 3 Great Northern Divers in the Craighouse area. 6 Yellowhammer, Kestrel, Sparrowhawk, Siskin and adult WTE at Tarbert and a further 50 Chaffinch and 3 Bullfinch between the two locations (plus a couple of Otters which no doubt kept the group happy).

Rogan W. counted 243 Wood Pigeons at Cattadale this afternoon. There have been occasional flocks of over 200 before, but none since 1988, so this is unusual.

Clive McK. counted 55+ Snipe in front of the S. Hide Gruinart and 290 White-fronted Geese and 13 Little Egrets on the Gruinart floods.

Frank Cavanagh back on Islay found the Red-breasted Goose near Craigens this afternoon (photo below).

Other folks have commented on their being large numbers of thrushes - Fieldfares, Redwings and Blackbirds on Islay and Jura today.

Thursday 22nd October

A pleasant dry and sunny day with moderate winds - but possibly just "the calm before the storm" as some dire weather is forecast in the coming few days.

Neil McMahon with a Naturetrek group are on Islay and finding plenty of good birds starting this morning with Grey Wagtail and Kingfisher by the bridge over the River Sorn at Bridgend. Further round Loch Indaal towards Bowmore they saw 5 Pink-footed Geese and 2 White-tailed Eagles and a Buzzard feasting on Barnacle Geese. At the Gaelic centre one (or possibly two) feral Chinese Goose was noted plus groups of 9 & 12 Whooper Swans 40 Brent Geese and 4 Canada Geese. Further on they drove the High Road and connected with the Snow Goose at Leorin with Greylags. (Nick Martin noted that male Hen Harrier spooked the Snow Goode and Greylags later). At The Oa were Golden Eagle, Merlin and Twite at the feeders in the RSPB car park. At some point they were in the Ballygrant area too and found 2 more White-tailed Eagles, 10 Fieldfares, while off Blackrock were 3 Great Northern Divers, 4 Red-throated Divers and 8 Long-tailed Ducks.

Elsewhere other observers were birding. Nicky Betts counted 13 Common Scoter and 6 Twite at Blackrock and found one of the Snow Buntings at Carnain. Up at Ardnave Point she found 2 White-tailed Eagles, 55 Golden Plover and 2 ringtail Hen Harriers - several more being noted about the island today. Andy Howard was over on Jura and were surprised by a day-flying Barn Owl. Mark Whitcombe noted a Buzzard disturbing a substantial number of Choughs (45-50) at Ardnave Loch, and David D. had Peregrine hunting Rock Doves at The Oa RSPB car park. Wendy & John Mattingley counted birds offshore between Uiskentuie and Blackrock of note being 13 Slavonian Grebes. Gary Douglas clocked 2 Great Spotted Woodpeckers on the High Road and Clive McK. had a Woodcock near Creag Mhor at Gruinart. 

A note on the Argyll Bird Club website mentions an unknown observer reporting elsewhere- perhaps on eBird or Birdtrack (either way, not very helpful towards other birders on Islay!) - that there were 2 Cackling Geese present today.

So, a lot of predator activity today in all corners of the island. Eclipsing this was the total of goose species seen - the star attraction being found by James How who confirms the return of the Red-breasted Goose by the RSPB Visitor Centre at Gruinart this afternoon. That makes a likely tally of 10 species of goose on Islay today - assuming that the Cackling Goose report is correct and you consider Chinese Goose valid!!

Wednesday 21st October

Strong WNW winds, overcast skies and lots of rain made it a fairly unpleasant day to be out.

However, a few people were out and reported the following:

Nicky Betts saw 11 Brent Geese, the Long-tailed Duck still present and a Grey Wagtail around Craigens and The Oyster Shed. Andy Howard counted 6 Little Egrets, single Greenshank and White-tailed Eagle in the same general area. Jackie Wedd saw a Great Northern Diver as she left Port Askaig on the ferry at the end of her stay - thanks Jackie for all your records. Andy Howard and Wendy & John Mattingley watched 3 Black-tailed Godwits and a ringtail Hen Harrier harassing Teal at the RSPB North Hide (photos below), while Mark Whitcombe had a female Sparrowhawk doing the same at the RSPB South Hide with a Merlin hunting nearby. Theo and his Nature Scotland group also departed today, but not before tallying 7 Bullfinches,  160 Fieldfare and 20 Redwings  at Ardnahoe, 2 White-tailed Eagles, 7 Little Grebes and 10 Teal on Loch Finlaggan. As they departed up the Sound of Islay they found 15+ Bottle-nosed Dolphins, 2 more (adult) White-tailed Eagles, 8 Great Northern Divers and a substantial count of 45 Black Guillemots. (We look forward to Theo returning with another group in March 2027). Later in the day Andy Howard was up at Kilchoman and counted 50+ Whooper Swans remaining on the barley fields amidst the expected Greylags and Barnies. Finally (so far at 6.30pm!) David D. reports the first Woodcock of the autumn/winter period at Kinnabus.

Tuesday 20th October

 Much less pleasant weather today with grey skies and light rain by early afternoon coming in from continued light SSE winds.

Several of the recent rarities were noted again today: Great White Egret seen by Rogan W. close to the Visitor Centre at RSB Gruinart, the 2 Snow Buntings seen by Theo de Clermont still happily feeding on the beach at Carnain, the/a Red Kite seen by Wendy & John Mattingley flying north-east and the Cackling Goose showing well and photographed by Theo in the same area of the RSPB fields at Gruinart.

And there were plenty of birders reporting from the field from all over the island. Some of the highlights/most interesting stuff reported by Rogan W., Theo, Gary Douglas, Alex Rhodes, Nicky Betts, David D., Ed B., Mark Whitcombe, Andy Howard, Bettina von Haase, Clive McK., Fiona & Stuart Reid, include:

Pink-footed Goose: 1 in same field as the Cackling Goose & Gruinart

Brent Goose: 1 in same field as the Cackling Goose & Gruinart, 10 near Oyster Shed, Loch Gruinart, 19 & Carnain

Canada Goose: 2 on Gruniart flats

Pintail: 64+ Gruinart Floods

Shoveler: 46+ Gruinart Floods

Gadwall: 2 Gruinart Floods

Goldeneye: 2 on Loch Skerrols, 1 off the Gaelic College, Loch Indaal,

Scaup: 1 off Blackrock

Long-tailed Duck: 1 in Loch Gruinart & Oyster Shed (not too common in Loch Gruinart)

Great Northern Diver: 1 in full summer plumage & Claggain Bay

Lesser Black-backed Gull: 2 at Bowmore Harbour

Sparrowhawk: 1 at Loch Skerrols,

Hen Harrier: single ringtail Killinallan, 3 Ardnave point, 2 Gruinart 

White-tailed Eagle: 1 at Blackrock, 2 (immature & adult) at Ardnave, 2 chasing greylags at Leorin, 5 & Gruinart

Golden Eagle: 3 (2 adult & 1 immature) near Port Charlotte

Peregrine: 1 at Gruinart RSPB

Merlin: 1 at Port Ellen Lotts

Golden Plover: 32 at Killinallan

Grey Plover: single & Craigens

Ringed Plover: 32 on Bowmore Harbour wall

Black-tailed Godwit: 4 Gruinart

Fieldfare: 43 over Creag Mhor, Gruinart

Twite: 20 at Killinallan

Rogan W. reported a fascinating encounter at Gruinart with a Snipe being chased by and was hit by a Merlin, the Snipe landed in the road hotly pursued by the Merlin and a Hen Harrier and a Peregrine all at the same time. In the confusion the Snipe waddled off the road and escaped!

Finally, back to rarer birds and a very good photo sent in by Tom Watts of a Turtle Dove seen on the evening of 18th October at Kilchoman.

Monday 19th October

 Light s/SE winds, dry, sunny and quite cold - but generally good birding weather.

A couple of noteworthy sightings missed from yesterday are 26 Black Guillemots seen by Wendy & John Mattingley in the Sound of Islay, mostly near Glas Eilean and 3 separate Barn Owls seen after dark by Rogan W. at Cattadale, Barr and Storakaig.

Plenty of people out birding again today with a good variety of species recorded. Rogan W. was birding fairly widely across the island, finding 2 male and 1 female/ringtail Hen Harrier at Laggan Bay to start the day. At Bridgend flats he noted 5 White-tailed Eagles a Grey Plover, 34 Turnstones, 3 Greenshank and found the 2 Snow Buntings still present between Blackrock and Carnain, where they remained and were seen by several others including myself with birding friends and Alex Rhodes and his group during the day. He also noted one of the drake Pochards still on Loch Gorm and 2 Yellowhammers near Saligo Bay.

On The Oa David D. recorded a large flock of 100 Fieldfares with 20 seen by Theo de Clermont at Ardtalla along with 300+ Redwings. Theo and his group also relocated the Snow Goose in much the same area at Leorin, the Richardson's type Cackling Goose plus a European White-fronted Goose at Gruinart. Gary Douglas recorded two different Kestrels near Cragabus on The Oa and found the biggest count of Scaup so far this autumn/winter at 7 birds on Loch Indaal. Wendy & John Mattingley had 60 Golden Plovers at Saligo and a Merlin near Kilchoman where their tally of Whooper Swans produced the largest count of the day at 81 on uncut barley fields close to the distillery.

Up at Ardnave where Andy Howard photographed Chough this morning, Nicky Betts saw male Hen Harrier, White-tailed Eagle and a Little Grebe on the loch. Later, Nicky was over on The Oa seeing 2 Golden Eagles, Peregrine, Merlin and 25 Twite on the feeders at the RSPB car park. Clive McK. had a count of 7 Canada Geese at the Gaelic College, with  further 13 noted by Theo in the fields where the Snow Goose mingled with the Greylags at Leorin. John Miles had 11 Brent Geese, 36 Turnstone, 20 Ringed Plover and a latish Sandwich Tern near Bruichladdich.

I was out with young visiting birder Stuart and his parents in the morning; some of the more interesting finds being 10 Little Egrets from the S. Hide, 4 White-tailed Eagles on Gruinart flats, Golden Eagle at Ardnave, several Hen Harriers, Sparrowhawk female at Loch Gorm and Red Kite circling high over Uiskentuie - presumably the same bird as first seen yesterday by Alex Rhodes.

Billy Stitchell sent in this photo of one of 20+ Redwings at Lily Loch at Sunrise.

Sunday 18th October

Another very pleasant day with light south to SSE winds, clear, sunny and dry.

A few additions to yesterday's good haul of birds came in after I wrote the blog too early yesterday evening:

Rogan W. added single Gadwall, Ruff, 5 Greenshank, 3 Blacko-tailed Godwits and 18 Pintail at RSPB Gruinart. Theo with his Nature Scotland group saw Redwing, Great Spotted Woodpecker and Barn Owl at Foreland and had 21 Brent Geese, 2 Greenshank, 15 Knot, 7 Long-tailed Duck, 3 Tufted Duck and a Little Egret on Loch Indaal. John Miles was also watching on Loch Indaal during the day and noted a Whimbrel, 21 Slavonian Grebes, 6 Great Northern Divers, 20+ Red-throated Divers, 10 Long-tailed Duck, 34 Common Scoter, 26 Turnstone and 50+ Ringed Plover.

Today continued the good birding, kicking off with a report for late yesterday from an unknown observer, presumably here but not on the WhatsApp group of a juvenile Snow Goose at Leorin. Rogan was quick off the mark and found it (plus a Merlin, Yellowhammer, 2 Grey Wagtails and a White-tailed Eagle), sending in the photo below. 2019 was the last time this species was recorded on Islay, and this one, a juvenile bird arriving with the big influx of Barnacle Geese would suggest a genuine wild vagrant rather than a feral bird. The other good, but sort of expected rarity was later in the day when Theo's group located a Richardson's type Cackling Goose up on the fields close to the RSPB Visitor Centre. We seem to get 1-2 of these each year, but this one is quick off the mark!

Other Stuff: Mary R. noticed an unusually large gathering of c.200 Jackdaws near Claddach this morning. Jim Dickson saw similar numbers at Machir Bay yesterday and it is interesting that there was an arrival of 450 on Bardsey Island in the Irish Sea yesterday where they used to breed but no longer do so. Theo increased the Pochard count on Loch Gorm to 3 drakes, along with c.50 Tufted Ducks and a White-tailed Eagle. On The Oa David D. recorded a Chiffchaff today (and a Willow Warbler yesterday) with Redwings heard flying over last night. Teresa Morris was at Saligo finding 11 Twite and Andy Howard found 2 Little Egrets up at Killinallan on Loch Gruinart. Rogan had the Whimbrel again off the Gaelic College, where the Scaup were still present, as were the 2 Snow Buntings at Carnain. Mike Whitcombe witnessed the inevitable preying on Barnacle Geese by a couple of White-tailed Eagles at Gruinart this afternoon and finally James H. noted our first Fieldfare of the autumn at Gruinart along with a very high count of 85 Snipe from the S. Hide.

Some later news in this evening:

Theo and his group added several good records including a Carrion Crow with Hoodies at Loch Gorm where there were also 2 Sparrowhawks. 45 Ringed Plovers were counted at Machir Bay. At Ardnave they saw a Greenshank, a Merlin that had taken a Rock Pipit as prey, 1 White-tailed Eagle, 20 Sanderling and 2 ring-tail Hen Harriers.  Finally, at Gruinart were Peregrine, 4 different Golden Eagles, 2 adult and 1 immature White-tailed Eagle, Kestrel, male Hen Harrier and Grey Wagtail, 10 Grey Plover, 6 Greenshank, 10 Brent Geese and a heard Water Rail.

Rogan was still out birding this afternoon and clocked an adult Bonaparte's Gull (photo below) flying past the Gaelic College - there have only been 4 previous records on Islay - a great find!

There was a report on Ebird from an unknown observer (possibly a Heatherlea group?) of a Red Kite between Loch Gorm and Gruinart this afternoon. 

Saturday 17th October

Very light winds, dry with sunshine all day - glorious - a day with plenty of birds and plenty of birders enjoying them.

Nicky Betts started the ball rolling with this sunrise photo indicating what a pleasant day it was going to be. Jim Dickson came over for the day and joined ranks with Rogan W. to test out a possible route for a possible future Bird Race Day. They zoomed about all over the island with Rogan notching up 94 species at the last count. He started with Redpoll and Great Spotted woodpecker at his home at Dunlossit, while Jim saw aa Kingfisher as he arrived at Port Askaig. I bumped into them while birding at the top of Loch Indaal in the morning where species seen from the Gaelic College included 12 Red-throated Divers, 1 Great Northern Diver, 6 Long-tailed Ducks, 2 Scaup, 2 Slavonian Grebes, 12 Common Scoter 7 Canada Geese and a Greenshank. Further round at Carnain we noted the Great White Egret and 2 Snow Buntings - photo below - (Theo de Clermont with his group finding 3 there later on). These were amidst vast numbers of Barnacle Geese resting on the low tide flats. Jim made the effort to count them and estimated 9,000. Here and at BlackRock we noted another Great Scaup, 150 Golden Plovers, single adult Lesser Black-backed Gull and White-tailed Eagle. 

I did a count on a flat calm sea of birds in Loch Indaal from Bruichladdich: 53 Common Scoter, 83 Eider, 23 Red-throated, one Black-throated and 4 Great Northern Divers, 2 Black Guillemots and single Common Guillemot.

Rogan and Jim continued their journey to Loch Gorm: 5 Pink-footed Geese, 2 Little Grebe, 978 Barnacle Geese, 5 Whooper Swans, 169 White-fronted Geese, At Loch Skerrols they found 2 Goldeneye and the first Pochard of autumn/winter -  single drake. 56 Whoopers (21 juvs included) were still on the fields at Rockside. Up at Gruinart they found 4 Little Egrets at the S. hide and a Merlin at the N. Hide. Returning via BlackRock another look produced 17 Slavonian Grebes and 2 Goldeneye. Finishing up at Loch Lossit Rogan reports a juv Golden Eagle and a Coot with 50 Redwings close to Lily Loch.

Other birders had all sorts of other sightings without the dashing about. Clive McK. and Teresa Morris amongst others were stationed again up at Gruinart noting continuing small groups of incoming Whooper Swans, but nowhere near as many as yesterday. Clive had 700 Golden Plovers at Gruinart, Teresa counted 32 Ringed Plovers at Killinallan, plus 29 Chough and 7 Twite. As the day unfolded, more White-tailed Eagles centred on Gruinart, presumably attracted by the large numbers of geese. Reports came in intermittently from Clive, Teresa and Nicky Betts of 3, then 5 then 6 and finally a tally of 11 White-tailed Eagles all hanging out together up and down the loch!!

Elsewhere on Islay, David D, had 3 Redwings and 96 Barnies straying over to Loch Kinnabus and 11 Great Northern Divers and a juv Arctic Tern at Claggain Bay.

A neck-collared White-fronted Goose seen at Loch Gorm was a bird ringed on Islay in the winter of 2019/20 and which has been seen in the same area of Loch Gorm/Carnduncan every winter since.

Friday 16th October

The weather took a bit of a turn for the good today - though there were still light intermittent showers between largely sunny conditions. The main change was a high pressure system prevailing over the north Atlantic producing moderate NW winds - colder, but perfect conditions for arrivals of geese and swans. And arrive they did, after a long wait, large numbers could be seen flying in all day and dropping onto the flats at Gruinart to rest before dispersing somewhat, perhaps to feed by the evening.

Clive McK. and Teresa Morris spent much of the day (9 hours in Clive's case) watching and counting at Gruinart. This produced a tally of 13,000 Barnacle Geese, just 69 Greenland White-fronts, 59 Greylags and 284 Whooper Swans. Clive noted that the influx peaked around midday. There were reports of Whoopers in small groups and flocks all over the island, but how many were different to those counted at Gruinart is impossible to know. All in all, a spectacular day of the anticipated return of the wintering wildfowl!

Other birds of interest today included Clive's record of 170 Kittiwakes flying up Loch Indaal this morning - very odd, and much the largest number seen "inland" away from the usual sea-watching/offshore sites. I was up at Gruinart enjoying the goose-fest this afternoon and found 4 Little Egrets and 55 Great Black-backed Gulls on the loch, 53 Snipe from the S. Hide and 750 Golden Plover and 24 Black-tailed Godwits from the N. Hide. Visitor Nicky Betts watched a Golden Eagle feeding on a hare, and one of apparently 7 White-tailed Eagles over Loch Gruinart frightening the newly arrived Barnacle Geese.

A photo of Loch Gruinart c/o Clive illustrates the better weather today, which hopefully will prevail into tomorrow and the next few days, though the winds are set to change back to southerly on Sunday, so tomorrow might be the best bet for further large arrivals of geese for a while.

Thursday 15th October

Another day of unsettled weather - moderate SW/W winds and heavy cloud with showers to start with , then slightly brighter with sunny spells between further heavy, squalls and rain at times.

Rogan W's watch at the Sound of Islay near Port Askaig produced single Great Northern and Red-throated Divers, 34 Shags, 10 Gannets, a Mistle Thrush flying between Islay and Jura and, most unusually a Kingfisher.

Whooper Swans were on the radar again today, with David D. seeing 28 flying over Kinnabus (plus a Merlin) and myself counting 10 (6 young) on Barley stubble at Sunderland and 53 on similar fields just harvested but in a very muddy, water-logged state at Kilchoman. The Kilchoman birds were part of a mass of many hundreds of gulls, Greylags and Barnies feeding on the spilt grain and exposed invertebrates. Towards Machir Bay there was a flock of 70 Linnets.

The "odd goose" saga continues just as we thought it was over with the predation of one a few days ago. But apparently there is a second bird on the island at Bridgend Flats discovered by Mary R. The debate on Chinese Goose versus Swan Goose also continues: the dead bird being declared Swan Goose (the wild species counterpart of the domesticated Chinese Goose) and the still extant bird probably being Chinese Goose. 

Back to more interesting wild birds, Bill Bealey had 100 Golden Plover, 60 Lapwings, 2 Bar-tailed Godwits and 6 Curlew on the fields around the North Hide at Gruinart.

Teresa Morris was up at Ardnave today and photographed the gathering Choughs in the late afternoon - count the dots to work out how many!

Wednesday 14th October

Strong southerly winds with a largely overcast sky and rain showers.

Teresa Morris had small groups of Whooper Swans totalling 20 birds heading south down Loch Gruinart at Craigens this morning. These were the only sightings of Whoopers noted today.

David D. sent in a couple of photos of the odd-looking Swan Goose/Chinese Goose that has been seen intermittently over the past few months on the Rhinns. He found it predated, probably by the local Golden Eagle over on The Oa. David also found a Goosander on Loch Astle and a vey cryptic Jack Snipe nearby:

Spot the Snipe!

Ian Hastie took a walk up to Ardnave Point finding 2 White-tailed Eagles, single Golden Eagle, Jack Snipe, Greenshank and 2 Red Grouse. The grouse were in a slightly odd location well to the north on the Ardnave peninsula - maybe the strong south winds blew them there! At RSPB Gruinart were 120 Golden Plover a couple of ring-tail Hen Harriers, 5-6 Pintail and a large count of Snipe - 30-40 on the floods and another 60 flying in.

Rogan W. did a 45 minute watch this afternoon on the Sound of Islay noting amongst other species, single Red-breasted Merganser, a flock of 7 Black-headed Gulls, 3 Great Black-backed Gulls, 3 Grey Herons, 3 Ravens and 3 Gannets.

Tuesday 13th October

Strong southerly/south-westerly winds bringing periods of sunshine between heavy, squally rain.

Teresa Morris was counting mostly in the Gruinart area again today and continued to note small groups of Whooper Swans (a total of 68 today) coming in despite the winds in the "wrong" direction. She also saw a Golden Eagle taking prey at Craigens and had a group of 14 Brent Geese, there being a further 10 seen by myself at Loch Indaal at Gartnatra, then 17 there seen by Ian Hastie. Clive McK. found 3 White-tailed Eagles at Killinallan and later counted 345 Wigeon, a Greenshank and increased the Brent tally to 21 birds at the Gaelic College. Rogan W. did a watch of the Sound for 30 minutes this morning noting his "usual" 3 White-tailed Eagles on both sides of the Sound, 9 Gannets and 14 Wood Pigeons south and 6 Eiders. Over on The Oa David D. saw a Merlin at Kinnabus.

Teresa provided further fine photos depicting the changeability of today's weather:

Monday 12th October

Strong southerly winds with plenty of rain and cloud.

Steve & Lyn Rogers sent in their WeBS count for yesterday on Loch an t-Salein recording 2 Black-tailed Godwits, 9 Red-breasted Mergansers, 4 Wigeon and 21 Shag amongst other species.

Despite winds from a generally southerly direction, there was a fairly large arrival of Whooper Swans throughout much of the day. Teresa Morris started the count of this species before 8am at Gruinart with flocks flying south totalling 140 birds with further small groups totalling 38 in the evening. Bill Bealey added a further c.40 birds in the Gruinart area. Clive McK. reported about 110 Whoopers in the same area, but currently it is not sure if these are additional or part of the same. 

Other birds of note today include: 12 Brent Geese at Craigens c/o Teresa, 5 more c/o Ian Hastie at the top of Loch Indaal. Single Jack Snipe recorded by Ed B. at Cornabus and James H. at Gruinart where he counted a substantial number (78) of Common Snipe. Redwings are beginning to appear - Ed B. had a few at Cornabus and Teresa tallied 28 around Loch Allan. Ian Hastie also had a Black-tailed Godwit with the more usual Bar-tailed godwits on Loch Indaal near the Gaelic College. Rogan W.'s contribution today was of a latish Swallow at Bowmore.

Sunday 11th October

A much nicer day with light southerly winds, sunshine and dry throughout.

Rogan W. did a "big Bird Day" county yesterday and despite appalling weather managed to record a very respectable 91 species - finishing predictably with Tawny Owls calling at his home near Port Askaig

Whooper Swans continue to come in and wander through, noted across the island by several different observers. totals for the day look to be c. 130 birds.

Similarly widely observed were Barnacle Geese with 250 accompanying c.800 Greylags in a field of very poor, possibly abandoned barley at Port Charlotte and c.750 at the top of Loch Indaal in the afternoon.

Other species included numerous White-tailed Eagles scattered here and there - Loch Gruinart, 2 at Port Askaig, flying across Loch Indaal to Carn from Gartbreck. David D. found the Great White Egret and Curlew Sandpiper still at Loch Gruinart and a Greenshank and Little Egret from the Gaelic College in Loch Indaal (where I saw a couple of Brent Geese). David also found our first Redwings (3) of the autumn at Kinnabus.

Rogan did a watch on the Sound of Islay for an hour noting amongst other thins a Buzzard flying from Islay to Jura, 2 very active White-tailed Eagles, 12 Gannets, 3 Grey Herons and a Red-throated Diver.

Teresa Morris was stationed up at Killinallan for much of the day and her totals included: 47 Whooper Swans (part of the total above), 404 additional Barnacle Geese, 3 White-tailed and 1 Golden Eagle, 2 make Hen Harriers, 47 Knot.

Teresa provided another lovely photo to illustrate the contrast between yesterday's weather and today:

Saturday 10th October

Strong WNW winds with often heavy, squalls and rain in between sunny spells.

Despite the unpleasant weather several of the more stalwart birders were out and about. Teresa Morris was watching in the Loch Gruinart and Ardnave area for much of the day finding among other things 32 Whooper Swans amid numerous Greylags and Barnacle Geese, 2 immature and one adult White-tailed Eagles at Craigens, a Little Egret, 27 Knot, 35 Choughs, a Merlin and Golden Eagle and 2 Greenshanks.

Ed Burrel watched a female Peregrine take down a Barnacle Goose out of a newly arrived c.100 at Balaclava - possibly the same large female Peregrine hunting Rock Doves that David D. saw at Kinnabus (with 6 Whooper Swans on Loch Kinnabus). Rogan W. noted a Golden Eagle and Curlew Sandpiper up at Gruinart, 450 Barnacle Geese at Craigens, the Great White Egret on the floods and a male Hen Harrier at Bun an Uillt. Later at Carnain he counted 35 Knot with 172 Bar-tailed Godwits. Clive McK. upped the Barnie total later with a count of 1,600 on Loch Gruinart and saw 20+ Greenland White-fronted Geese at the top of the loch. This evening Rogan was still out birding at Loch Skerrols where he found 2 Great Spotted Woodpeckers.

With the strong winds with a slightly northerly element to them, Clive and Rogan braved the appalling weather to do a sea-watch this morning for about 3 hours at Frenchman's Rocks with moderately good results: 58 Brent Geese, 107 Barnacle Geese, 2 Little Auks, 73 Black-headed Gulls, singles of Grey Phalarope, Arctic Tern, Storm & Leach's Petrels and Great Northern Diver.

James H. was out in the late afternoon doing a final tally of wildfowl at Gruinart: now 4,820 Barnies, 5 Pink-footed Geese, 18 White-fronts and 27 Whooper Swans, where he added a single Ruff and 5 Black-tailed Godwits to today's list and upped a few day-counts with 4 White-tailed Eagles, 7 Little Egrets

Teresa's photo typifies today's weather!

Friday 9th October

Winds from a westerly direction , increasing in force towards the end of the day and bringing with them intermittent squally showers for much of the day.

Clive McK. and Teresa Morris tried a sea-watch at Frenchman's Rocks, finding an Arctic Skua, 4 Pintail and 3 Black-headed Gulls. Rogan W. noted 4 Swallows still around Ballygrant, a White-tailed Eagle at Keills and 20 Brent Geese near the Gaelic Centre on Loch Indaal. James H. found a Curlew Sandpiper (photo below) from the South Hide at RSPB Gruinart. both he and Clive noted increasing numbers of Snipe scattered across the island including 30+ at the South Hide. There was a Common Tern here at Bruichladdich.

Over on Jura, Bob Humphreys had a couple of Grey Wagtails at Tarbert and 3 Herons at Craighouse.

Thursday 8th October

The day's weather gradually deteriorated from dry with light winds to cloudy with lots of rain as another stormy period threatens for the next couple of days. The winds have gone round to a more southerly direction, so the influx of geese and swans fizzled out a bit.

Only 27 Whooper Swans were noted and no major arrivals of Barnacle Geese. Jeff Duncan saw 4 White-tailed Eagles over Loch Indaal in the morning at Pot Ban, then a Great Spotted Woodpecker, Grey Wagtail and some Bullfinches at Port Askaig. Elma Leisk had 7 Little Egrets again on the south side of Gruinart, plus a single Brent Goose. Teresa Morris did a walk around the Kilinallan area in the morning recording 32 Ringed Plovers, 24 Twite and 17 of the day's Whooper tally.

Clive McK. sent in a note about the various thrushes etc. feasting on rowan berries in his garden at Creag Mhor, plus this video of visiting Bullfinches doing the same.

Wednesday 7th October

Light winds continue for the moment from a WNW direction. Mostly sunny but a few light rain showers.

The geese and swans continued to arrive and pass through today. As yesterday, small groups of both Whooper Swans and Barnacle Geese were arriving throughout much of the day, but Clive McK. and Teresa Morris combined forces and counted fairly constantly in the Gruinart area where most were arriving before passing down the island. They tallied 120 Whoopers with probably a further 30 birds elsewhere, so perhaps 150 today. 502 Barnacle Geese were counted at Gruinart and there were 250-300 settled on the flats at the top of Loch Indaal by midday.

Other birds noted today included 2 Black-throated Divers and 15 Common Scoter from Rogan W. at Blackrock, 2 White-tailed Eagles and a Merlin at Gruinart by Clive McK. who also had 2 Great Northern Divers flying south at altitude down the loch there. Teresa counted 72 Lapwings near Craigens, Elma Leisk had 2 Swallows at Kintra and Jeff Duncan had another at the Port Charlotte waterworks along with a ringtail Hen Harrier on the Bolsay track. He also upped the autumn Little Egret tally with 8 seen Bun an Uillt.

Over on Jura, Louise M. had been out at the fairly remote west coast spot of Glenbatrick and reports 2 White-tailed Eagles, single Peregrine, Buzzard, Curlew, Whimbrel, Redshank, plus 7 Ringed Plovers and 8 Great Black-backed Gulls.

Yesterday on Jura at the much more accessible Craighouse, Bob Humphreys took this photo of a juvenile Common Tern.

Tuesday 6th October

Very light WNW winds, dry and fairly sunny.

The change in wind direction and weather meant the start of the exodus of our Barnacle Geese that were staging in Iceland has begun - as predicted by Ed Burrell in the first post on the WhatsApp group this morning. It is always exciting to witness the arrival of the winter birds - especially on such a pleasant day as today.

There was a continuous buzz of reports from many of the resident and visiting birders of small groups and some larger flocks of both Barnacle Geese and Whooper Swans coming in to Islay throughout the day. Typically, they arrived in the NW, often around Gruinart. Some of the Whooper Swans were carrying on south, some stopping briefly and then continuing, others stopping longer. Whoopers were seen all the way from Gruinart, to Loch Gorm, The Oa and down to Claddach. Largest groups included flocks of 20 to over 70 and it is difficult to be exact about numbers, but Clive McK. has saved me the job of estimating what went through as he sifted through the data and messages and reckons c.125 birds. Barnacle Geese were less obvious to start with, but by the end of the day they built up a bit and Clive McK. estimates 458 individuals arrived along with our first 7 Greenland White-fronted Geese (James H. checked Gruinart in the evening and noted 300 Barnies settled there).

Other species noted today include the Great White Egret still at Gruinart. Rogan also saw 2 Glossy Ibis there this morning, but I couldn't find them in the afternoon. Rogan noted 6 Bullfinches at the RSPB car park at Gruinart and the first Slavonian Grebe of the winter at Blackrock. Clive recorded two Great Northern Divers at Gruinart, Mary Redman had 2 White-tailed Eagles coming off McKenzie Island where the seals are beginning to pup. I counted two flocks of Rock Doves: 80 on stubble at Sunderland and 110 on stubble at Ballinaby where there were also a loose association of 124 Skylarks and a flock of 23 Golden Plover. Greylags were gathered on Loch Gorm where I counted 1,900, with a further 240 at Craigens later. Jeff Duncan had another White-tailed Eagle at Port Charlotte and 2 Black-throated Divers off Blackrock in the evening.

Bob Humphreys was over on Jura today and had 15 Linnets at Lagg and took this great photo of a female Sparrowhawk at Craighouse.

The wind is supposed to swing round to southerly again by tomorrow afternoon so it will b e interesting to see if the influx of geese and swans continues................

Monday 5th October

The weather continued overcast and drizzly for much of the day, brightening a little by the afternoon. The winds moderate from the SW.

Thanks to Malcolm for blogging while I was away at SOC conference this weekend.

Rogan W. had a juvenile Moorhen on Loch Ballygrant and a male Hen Harrier near the Gaelic College, followed by a Chough at Loch Bharradail. Golden Plovers were counted - Jeff Duncan seeing 9 flying past Port Ban and Teresa Morris finding 38 at Tormisdale. Teresa was also at Currie Sands where she noted 6 Choughs, 2 Turnstones and Rock Pipits. Over on the other side of the island David D. had a Merlin near the Machrie.

Christine Menzies noted a "charm" of 12 Goldfinches on the High Road plus 2 Golden Eagles near Emerivale. Here at Bruichladdich the Starling roost on the pier persists, though only c.300 birds in attendance tonight.

With the winds turning slightly westerly, Clive McK. tried his luck with a 2 hour sea-watch from Frenchman's Rocks with some good results - 123 Brent Geese in seven flocks and single Leach's Petrel and Storm-Petrel plus Sparrowhawk and Peregrine seen on the nearby coast. He also connected with the Great White Egret on the Gruinart Floods and notes that the House Martin nest at Creag Mhor is still active - lets hope the weather brightens up for the adults to find enough food to feed their late brood.

Bob Humphreys is over on Jura for two weeks and sent in a whole bunch of records for his first week there - too numerous to list here, but very useful from an area where we receive so few records of even the most common species. He also sent in a few photos for us to enjoy.