Monday 2nd November

A very pleasant day with very light south/south-east winds and sunshine with a high pressure system dominating.

Mike Bell made a very useful, detailed and complete survey of birds on Loch Indaal from Gartbreck all the way round to Port Charlotte (a proper, all-in-one-go WeBS count!) producing some substantial totals:

66 Red-throated Divers, 38 Great Northern Divers, 5 diver spp., 32 Slavonian Grebes, 198+ Shags, 2 Cormorants, 15 Mute Swans, 19 Whooper Swans, 10 Canada Geese, 43 Brent Geese, 2 Shelduck, 830 Wigeon, 405 Teal, 144 Mallard, 135 Eider, 107 Common Scoter 14 Long-tailed Duck, 4 Goldeneye 91 Red-breasted Mergansers, 860 Golden Plover, 143 Ringed Plover, 14 Sanderling, 44 Dunlin, 225 Bar-tailed Godwits, 53 Curlew, 54 Knot, 2 Little Egret 3 White-tailed Eagles.

Elsewhere Rogan W. had 2 Crossbills, single Water Rail and 2 Great Spotted Woodpeckers near Port Askaig. At Gruinart Neil McMahon's Naturetrek group saw 3 White-tailed Eagles and 7 Black-tailed Godwits, plus a Barn Owl at Eresaid. They did a walk in the fine weather to Ardnave Point finding 4 White-tailed Eagles, single Golden Eagle, 10 Choughs, and single Snow Bunting and Purple Sandpiper - the latter at the point. Also 6 Goldeneye and a Little Grebe on the loch.

Mick Durham with a second Naturetrek group was on Jura for the day finding a Brent Goose at Craighouse.

Rogan sent in this photo with the caption "As autumn turns to winter the Grey Heron stands quietly amongst the fading colours of the season"