Thursday 10th September

 A day of moderate southerly winds with lots of cloud and drizzle for much of the time.

Tony Evans kindly sent in some notes for yesterday: 2 White-tailed Eagles sat on a small islet at Traigh Cill an Rubha where the River Sorn comes out into Loch Indaal. He also found the Kingfisher on the river there, while the flats around held 12 Knot, c.20 Black-tailed Godwits, a Greenshank and 3 Barnacle Geese: very early arrivals?  Over on the Oa he saw 3 Twite at the RSPB car park and 2 more White-tailed Eagles in the edges of the plantation woodland at Cornabus.

Today, the only record comes from Wendy & John Mattingley who saw a Great Northern Diver in Kilnaughton Bay.

Wednesday 9th September

Winds lighter and going to a more southerly direction during a day of sunshine with isolated light showers.

Rogan W. noticed 16 Lesser Black-backed Gulls flying south down the Sound of Islay past Port Askaig this morning. Wendy & John Mattingley saw a Barn Owl fly out of a farm barn at Ardnave and in the Ardnave area a Sparrowhawk, 35 Chough, a flock of 26 Linnets and a Wheatear. Farm. Towards Ardnave Point they noted 2 White-tailed Eagles, one a first year bird flying to join another on Nave Island. At Stonefield, just inland from Blackrock and Loch Indaal they counted a further 40 Linnets and another Wheatear, then a further White-tailed Eagle nearer to Bowmore.

Tuesday 8th September

A day of blustery, mostly NW/WNW winds, and rain showers between long sunny spells.

With reports of good birding sea-watches off Tiree today including Leach's Petrels Grey Phalaropes and Sabine's Gulls, it was good that Clive McK. went down to Frenchman's Rocks to take a 2 hour look and show again that for much of the time Islay doesn't quite compare! Best finds were a Storm Petrel and 2 Sooty Shearwaters, with a supporting cast of 1,300 Manxies going north and 2,489 going south along with most other birds: 114 Lesser Black-backed Gulls, 4 Red-throated Divers,104 Brent Geese, 5 Pintail, and a small selection of waders.

Other bird news included comments from Rogan W. and Louise M. of small build ups of Swallows prior to migration - 36 together at Dunlossit and 30 around Sanaig Wood on Jura. By contrast David D. pointed out that Swallows were still producing recently fledged broods at Kinnabus at this late date. Wendy & John Mattingley recorded the summering Whooper Swan still lingering at Gruinart and Jim Dickson had a juvenile Common Tern and juvenile Curlew Sandpiper at Carnain. Clive saw a further 26 Brent Geese coming in to Islay at Ardnave along with a Great Northern Diver, a Storm Petrel and 8 Lesser Black-backed Gulls flying up Loch Gruinart. 

Monday 7th September

Moderate SW winds, mostly dry, fairly sunny.

Yesterday evening Clive McK. watched a Little Gull at sea from the ferry off Gigha.

Mary Redman noted large numbers of feeding Gannets off the islands around Portnahaven this morning through till evening.

Jim Dickson was very busy again - quite a marathon - producing several good records. This morning off the Gaelic College in Loch Indaal he noted an adult Sandwich Tern, 89 Red-breasted Mergansers, 390 Mallard 76 Wigeon a single Pintail, 7 adult Red-throated Divers and 38 Brent Geese flying SW. A White-tailed Eagle was feeding on the Gruinart flats where a juvenile Peregrine flew by. He also noted groups of Pied/White Wagtails, 115 Black-headed Gulls a probable total of 13 Greenshanks, 35 Turnstone a couple of Wheatears and 3 more White Wagtails. Better still was an Osprey  which moved on to Loch Gorm where it was seen hunting. Up at Braigo a Golden Eagle was seen hunting low over the ground and further on at Sanaigmore there were 3 Arctic Terns and 70+ Manx Shearwaters offshore in 20 minutes of sea-watching. Back at Loch Indaal Jim relocated a couple of Curlew Sandpipers along with 150 Rock Doves at Carrabus. and scored the best bird of the day with a lovely adult Mediterranean Gull (photos below) - possibly the same bird as seen by Clive McK. a few weeks ago? Back at Gruinart there were 3 Curlew Sandpipers and a Little Stint.

Other observations came in from Rogan W. with a Sparrowhawk at Eas Fora and a juvenile Corn Crake seen by David D. at Kinnabus.

Sunday 6th September

Blustery winds from the south , so quite warm despite lots of cloud but surprisingly little rain.

Rogan W. started the ball rolling this morning with a juvenile White-tailed Eagle over Keills (probably the same bird I saw there in the afternoon). At Gruinart he noted another White-tailed Eagle a Little Egret, 27 Brent Geese and 11 Pintail with a Yellowhammer by the Oyster Shed on the Killinallan side. Jim Dickson was also up that way finding an all-white Starling at Craigens.

 Visitors Wendy and John Mattingley increased the Brent Goose count at Gruinart to 33 and added a Sparrowhawk and Golden Eagle to the day's sightings. 

Over at Coullabus Jim took a photo of a juvenile Whinchat and noted a count of 10 Wheatears since Thursday with 5 together at Carrabus. The Brent Goose count rose to 36 birds with 3 at Carnain. Over at Gartnatra on Loch Indaal there was a large count of 51 Red-breasted Mergansers on the shore, thought to be post-moulting males.

I tried my luck at doing a sea-watch from the fery to Kennacaig and back this morning finding an adult White-tailed Eagle perched atop Glas Eilean off Jura, 2 Puffins, 2 Arctic Skuas and a Great Skua on the outward trip, but precious little on the return.

Saturday 5th September

 A dry, mostly sunny day with moderate winds.

Jim Dickson and Rogan W. have been out birding the island for much of the day. They found the first (3) Brent Geese of the autumn at Gartnatra and Carnain. In the same area were 3 Curlew Sandpipers and a Little Stint, 2 Little Egrets and later I added 7 Black-tailed Godwits and 33 Wigeon to the mix. 

Jim counted 46 Common Scoter off Blackrock along with 3 immature Arctic Terns, with an adult and juvenile Peregrine there too. Later at Loch Gruinart he counted the first sizeable arrival of Teal with a total of 130 birds and 11 Pintail. Other raptors were an immature Golden Eagle watched above Gruinart Farm, 2 White-tailed Eagles on the mud at Bridgend and a Kestrel at Craigens. Back up at Loch Alan Rogan W. had a pair of Bullfinch and 12 Redpolls.

David Jardine did a ferry journey to/from Islay with a bit of birding on Jura in between. He counted 10 Turnstone at Inver and a Great spotted Woodpecker at Inver plantation. On the return ferry crossing he had 2 Great Skuas and a Storm Petrel.

Friday 4th September

Fairly strong blustery westerly winds brought plenty of heavy rain showers between sunny spells.

Jim Dickson the Argyll Bird Club Recorder is over for a week and began finding a few birds of interest despite appalling weather: 5 Curlew Sandpipers (phot below of 2) and 3 juvenile Little Stints at Carnain and a Great Skua, Little Egret and 8 Black-tailed Godwits on Loch Indaal off Bridgend plus 2 Hen Harriers at Cruach to start with. This was followed by 10 Pintail up at Gruinart and a Peregrine at Craigens.

There had been suggestions that sea-watching might be productive today and the only to follow this up was David W. watching off The Oa who noted an expected constant stream of Manx Shearwaters and a few Gannets, Fulmars, Kittiwakes and auks, with a trio of Arctic Skuas being the best find in a 2 hour watch.

Rogan W. counted 68 Gannets heading south down the Sound of Islay and David D. reports a Corn Crake seen by one of the stockmen on the RSPB The Oa reserve.

Thursday 3rd September

Another changeable day - light winds with rain and cloud between sunny periods.

Rogan W. saw a Kingfisher plus a fishing Cormorant on Loch Allan and 3 Little Grebes on Loch Ballygrant. Later a White-tailed Eagle flew over Keills.

Wednesday 2nd September

Breezy with rain showers and cloud between bouts of sunshine.

Today's notes come from Rogan W. who heard the Tawny Owls calling at Dunlossit last night and then 2 Whimbrel calling as they passed by Port Askaig this morning. In the garden at Dunlossit were 2 Crossbills, single Spotted Flycatcher, Great spotted Woodpecker, a small flock of Redpolls and an Arctic Skua seen flying along the sound.

He also sent in the non-avian, but appealing photo below:

Tuesday 1st September

Overcast with light winds but rain throughout much of the day - quite heavy at times.

Rogan W. had a Great Spotted Woodpecker and Spotted Flycatcher in the woodland around Lily Loch.

I had a quick look around Gruinart and found a flock of 32 Black-tailed Godwits with an accompanying Ruff on the floods near to the Visitor Centre. On the way home I checked Blackrock and counted 26 Common Scoter offshore.

Monday 31st August

Rain overnight and a few further light showers during a day of variably breezy westerlies and mostly cloudy skies.

Colin McGregor sent in  a sighting of the Kingfisher at Bowmore and a Golden Eagle over the Machrie Golf Course on 28th August.

Rogan W. found the leucistic Greylag again on Loch Indaal and Ed B. had a Corn Crake at Cornabus.

Billy Stitchell sent in some photos of bow wave-riding dolphins to brighten up the blog. 

Sunday 30th August

A dry, fairly calm day with patchy sunshine between cloudier skies.

All observations today are from Rogan W. who had some good sightings around Loch Indaal. This morning he spotted a couple of White-tailed Eagles perched up on the rocks towards Bridgend with the Kingfisher still at the Gaelic College where he heard a Quail calling. A little later he found the first Little Stint of autumn with other waders out on the mud and sand flats. Later still he carefully watched a duck that looks a good candidate for an immature American Wigeon, though there is the possibility of a Eurasian x American hybrid, so perhaps further scrutiny will be required - but nevertheless an intriguing and unusual sighting. Below are some of his photos taken today.

Saturday 29th August

 A dry, fairly calm, cloudy sort of day.

Mary R. was out and about today finding 3 very vocal White-tailed Eagles around Claddach and the islands this morning, a Golden Eagle over Sanaigmore and a record count of 119 Collared Doves at Octofad in the afternoon. Presumably the doves are gathered there to feed on barley split from the trailers going in to Ocofad to be dried.

On Loch Indaal, viewing from the Gaelic College where some of us were gathered for the Islay Book Festival, Fiona McG. noted the first Wigeons of the autumn/winter - a count of 41 birds. Rogan W. was watching here too and recorded a Kingfisher, a Greenshank, 4 Black-tailed and 2 Bar-tailed Godwits. He also noted a female Common Scoter, Tufted Duck with chicks and a White-tailed Eagle on Loch Gorm.

Friday 28th August

Dry, mostly sunny, with light northerly winds.

There were 3 migrant White Wagtails at Ghiol on The Oa seen by David D. this morning and a Carrion Crow at Kilnaughton found by Fiona McG. Down at Claddach Mary R. had 3 White-tailed Eagles plus groups of 10 and 3 Choughs. Along the coast she counted groups of 93 and 60 Shags with others in the sea accompanied by 12 Bottle-nosed and 1 Common Dolphin. David Boggon had a further 2 White-tailed Eagles over the Sound of Islay.

Thursday 27th August

Dry with light easterly winds.

David Boggon saw the first White-tailed Eagle of the day this morning at Gruinart with David D. reporting 4 different White-tailed Eagles on The Oa during the day along with a Peregrine near the RSPB car park on The Oa and a Greenshank on Loch Kinnabus.

James H. found the autumn's first Curlew Sandpiper amongst the usual range of more common waders on Loch Gruinart in the afternoon - all flushed by possibly the same White-tailed Eagle that had been seen there in the morning. Rogan W. counted some substantial numbers of Siskins (80) and Redpolls (20) in a mixed feeding flock at Lily Loch in the afternoon.

Mary-Ann F. noted a Whimbrel and Greenshank at Cnoc and Ardilistry Bays where her two families of Red-breasted Mergansers still survive and thrive.

Otherwise there was much interest in lepidoptera with Mary-Ann F. reporting good numbers of Painted Lady, Peacock, and Red Admiral butterflies including some fine photos and mention of Hummingbird Hawk Moth, which were also noted in recent days across the island by Fiona McG., Rogan W. and Mary R.

Wednesday 26th August

Stronger east/south-east winds and some cloud and rain today, but still quite warm and occasional sunnier spells.

Visitor David Boggon had a Great Skua flying north up Loch Indaal at Port Charlotte this morning and a male Hen Harrier at Killinallan in the afternoon.

Ed B. reports a couple of well-grown Snipe chicks on his fark at Cornabus plus a couple of Choughs and 2 Moorhens - the latter considered unusual out on The Oa!

Rogan W. up at Loch Allan found a pair of Crossbills and 8 Grey Herons. By coincidence, Jo Rosser-Owen sent in this photo of a Grey Heron taken at Old Gortan Schoolhouse on Loch Indaal.

Tuesday 25th August

 A dry, sunny day with a light to moderate breeze from the east and south.

Yesterday Mary R. noticed birds flocking together in an "autumnal way": 20 Meadow Pipits and 12 Goldfinches included, plus young Wheatears and a trio of young Choughs. There was a White-tailed Eagle over Claddach this morning.

David D. had a Whimbrel on The Oa this afternoon while I took a quick look at Gruinart, finding 32 summery Knots and 20 equally summery Black-tailed Godwits on the flats along with a White-tailed Eagle and 4-5 Buzzards - the eagle very sluggish, the Buzzards very active. There were also 8 Canada Geese seen from the North Hide, but not much else.

Later in the afternoon visitor Andy Harris was at Loch Gruinart and was treated to the sight of an Osprey catching a flat fish and then being pursued by a White-tailed Eagle. The Osprey dropped the fish but it was not apparently retrieved by the eagle. Later Andy saw two White-tailed Eagles back sitting on the flats.

Talking of Canada Geese, there was a recent note to the effect that the British Birds Rarities Committee (BBRC) have been reviewing all records of what are considered truly vagrant Canada Geese in the UK and the first accepted record is now a bird at Kilchoman from 24 October - 3 November 1986, pre-dating the previously accepted first record. There are now 65 accepted records of vagrant Canada Geese in the UK.

Sunday 23rd & Monday 24th August

 Two pleasant days of sunshine and light winds.

Alastair McCormick sent in a couple of photos of a Water Rail that showed up in his garden at Craigens overnight on Saturday.

On Sunday Martin A. saw 3 Little Egrets, 2 Greenshanks and 2 White-tailed Eagles at the top of Loch Indaal by the mouth of the Sorn, while David W. counted 8 Greenshanks on Loch Gruinart by the Oystershed. Rogan W. was counting on Loch Indaal near Bridgend - 363 Greylag Geese, 163 Oystercatchers and 2 Cormorants. 

Today Louise Muir reports "thousands" of seabirds active in the Sound of Jura this morning - mostly Razorbills, Guillemots and Gannets, presumably feeding on fish shoals.

Saturday 22nd August

Dry with a light northerly breeze.

Thanks to Malcolm O. for keeping the blog going in my absence. 

David Jardine was on the ferry from Kennacraig this morning and saw c.10 Storm Petrels. Rogan W. saw a Little Egret, a Wigeon and a few Black-tailed Godwits at the top of Loch Indaal and heard the Tawny Owls calling loudly at Port Askaig.

Friday 21st August

A dry fairly sunny day, but with a cool northerly breeze.

The only bird sighting came from Rogan W. whose garden at Dunlossit was visited by 3 Red Crossbills. The birds perched and were silhouetted against the light, but, as he said, "Thank goodness for the bill."