Friday 25th October

Well the weather forecast for today proved correct, with the air decidely on the the brassy side of things .. 

So I will start you off with some sightings that Margaret and myself seen from the warmth of our house!!! First birds seen were a couple of Golden Eagles soaring out over the big crag. Down on the ground there were around 20 Blackbirds out on the grass with at least 30 Redwings on the move through the garden. There obvoiusly more birds in at the feeders too, infact the first time this time round, that most of the feeders were empty and needing to be filled with some more food! The Blackbirds were noticed trying to munch some of the plentiful berries which we have this year.  James had carried out a count on the reserve at Gruinart late afternoon with his tallies coming to 17,295 Barnies, 582 Greenland Whitefronts, 81 Whoopers, 18 Pale bellied Brents, 13 Greylags, a single Canada Goose, parvipes sp., 595 Golden Plover (with a lot more seen off reserve over at Craigens) and also 3 Blackwits.

Before I forget on Tuesday evening, it is that time of the month again, the monthly catch up of the Islay Bird nerds, we will be meeting at the Visitor centre at Gruinart at 18.30. Please remember to bring a pound to help pay for your cuppa etc. So if you are around, feel free to come along and put a name to some of the locals who help us out etc, all will be made welcome!!!

Thursday 17th October

I thought that it was going to  be a dry day for once, but just around 5.30 pm it got darker and then the rain started to fall, not a lot but if you were outside, you would have got wet....

James, this morning had a quick count round the reserve at Gruinart.  Birds counted were as follows, 18,090 Barnies, 21 Greenland whitefronts, a single parvipes Canada Goose, a single Pink footed Goose, 1,155 Golden Plover and a single Ruff.

Going over to Gruinart this morning, we felt that there were definitely appeared to be more Stonechats around. The most common  regular bird in to be fed up here at home, is a group of 13 Pheasants, getting quite tame, and better than feeding the Jackdaws...

Wednesday 10th October

Other returning birders, Nigel and Nikki Gilbert from Sheffield kindly sent through some birds which they had seen yesterday. Down on Machir Bay yesterday afternoon, they saw 14 Chough, 31 Ringed Plover, and a single Sanderling. Out from Machir Bay, they had a strong passage of Gannets flying past. They also had seen plenty of Gulls flying around with a single Common Scoter bobbing around on the water. They were also well pleased in witnessing the arrival of the geese too. Also yesterday, Distillery Dave had a Sparrowhawk down towards Machir bay.
This morning James had counted 4,305 Barnies and 4 Greenshank on the reserve at Gruinart. Late afternoon, James had a count of 10,125 Barnies and also a Parvipes Canada Goose at Gruinart, all arriving in a S E wind... Gary today had a Merlin down at Gartmain, while down at Machir Bay, he counted 150 Herring Gull, 130 Common Gull, 38 Ringed Plover, 3 Sanderling and a juvenile Little Stint. The Little Egret were present up on the merse at Bridgend again...

Monday 6th March

Some good weather over the weekend with a real feel of Spring in the air. The honey bees were flying and Skylarks singing.
Garry had some good birdwatching over the weekend - including re-finding the Great Grey Shrike at Carnain (see pic), 4 White Tailed Eagles at Bridgend as well as 2 calling Water Rails. On the Rhinns he had 2 male Hen Harriers  and in Ballygrant woods area 2 Great Spotted Woodpeckers on Friday.
Mandy saw a Small Canada in front of the Kilchoman memorial looks like a parvipes type bird from photos.
Over the weekend at Gruinart, I had a White Tailed Eagle, 2 Merlins, 7 Long Tailed Tits and a male Gadwall.

Wednesday 14th October

Yesterday Peter Roberts had a great sighting of an immature Golden Eagle, on the road that goes over the hill between Carnain and Gruinart up beyond Carrabus. With the water being so clear on Loch Indaal, Peter spotted dense shoals of small fish there at Bruichladdich Pier, also seen were 4- 5 Black Guillemots in winter plumage, offshore there were over 50 Eiders. Also yesterday, Mary had been up at Ardnave where she had Kestrel, 2 ringtail Hen Harrier, 2 Buzzard, Skylark. At Traigh Nostaig, 27 Ringed Plover, 30 Oystercatcher, a Turnstone, a Redshank, and 7 Teal. Out on Eilean Beag, 109 Barnies and 12 Grey Seal pups. Nave Island held 65 seal pups, 29 GBB Gull, 3 Cormorant, 37 Shag, 11 Eider,10 Oystercatcher and a Buzzard. On Ardnave Loch, the American Wigeon was seen along180 Wigeon, 1 Tufted Duck, 5 Mallard,4 Teal, 23 Whooper, 19 Mute and 2 Swallows. Today, Mary saw a Kestrel close to Bushmills at Gruinart, the small Canada Goose (parvipes sp.)was seen out in front of the Visitor centre, 20 Greenland whitefronts were present along the flats along with 9 Whoopers while out on the estuary/salt marsh, 39 Pale bellied Brent were seen. Gary today had counted 2300 Barnies, 57 Pale bellied Brent, 4 Whitefront, 21 Pintail, 250 Wigeon, 99 RB Merganser, 179 Curlew, 750 Golden Plover, 30 Grey Plover, 123 Ringed Plover and 70 Dunlin, all at the top end of Loch Indaal. Gary saw the Rose coloured Starling amongst the Starling flock near to wee lane that leads down to Loch Gorm after Sunderland Farm. Loch Gorm held 116 Tufted Duck, 3 Goldeneye, a juv White tailed Sea Eagle harassing the Greylags. Also round the scrubby trees there, a Sparrowhawk was spooking the finch flock which also included a 1st winter Brambling. Dave, down on the Oa, had a Yellow browed Warbler in his garden on a Sycamore tree and also a Grey wagtail. James sent through the tally for the Barnies on reserve at Gruinart which came to 21,055 with a Pink footed Goose present too. Mike and Elspeth today had had 16 Choughs at the American Monument on the Oa, a male Hen harrier at Kintra this afternoon with 7 Pale bellied Brent amongst the rocks there. Off Blackrock, late afternoon, another 7 Brent were seen. The Bowland birders had started their day off at Killinallan where Greenshank, Merlin, Sanderling and a male Hen Harrier, they saw the wee Canada goose along the flats while out from the new hide, Pintails, Shoveller, a ringtail Hen Harrier were seen with the Brent seen out on the estuary/ salt marsh. Late afternoon, the Sparrowhawk as ever flew through the garden....

Saturday 4th October

A big change in the weather today, a bit cooler with squally showers coming in off the sea. One of the showers even had hailstones and quite big ones too. We even saw several rainbows too.. it will not be long before the clocks change, only about 3 weeks away, yes, the nights are drawing in for sure... Yesterday down at Claddach at Portnahaven, Mary had a Merlin on the coast, she also saw a Wheatear close to Portnahaven itself, with a male Hen Harrer between Portnahaven and Port Wemyss. This morning Bob had 2 Redwings and also 2 Wheatears down at "The Hedges" at Sunderland. We saw 2 groups of Barnies on Loch Gorm, one of around 25, the other with about 45 Geese. There were also around 50 Tufted Ducks and a large number of Greylags on the water as well. James had a count of 1490 Barnies, 90 Pale bellied Brent Geese, 1 Canada Goose (parvipes sp.), 7 Whooper Swans, 18 Pintail and a Peregrine all over at Gruinart today.

Thursday 4th October

Yesterday Peter had seen a group of 10 Pink footed Geese over at Gruinart, while in the air, a female Sparrowhawk was flying high up. Bob had also seen the pinkies too, while over at Machir Bay, he had a flock of around 2- 300 Barnies coming in off the sea, rather than flying directly into Gruinart itself. Up over the dunes, Bob had a count of 7 Buzzards, no doubt eyeing up the numerous rabbits on offer...James today had an early morning goose count, 11,740 Barnies present then along with 43 Whoopers, 1 Canada parvipes sp., 1 Canada hutchinsii sp. and 1 leucistic Barnacle Goose. Some of the Whooper Swans present at Rockside/ Coull flew out today, but there are still some around.

Wednesday 3rd October

Visitors over here on holiday for a fortnight were down on the Oa yesterday, they missed the guided walk, but still managed to see a couple of Golden Eagles and that was before they went to one of the Distilleries!!! James did a quick head count on the reserve at Gruinart at lunchtime, with the scores on the doors being 4015 Barnacle Geese, 86 Greenland Whitefronts, 1 Canada parvipes sp and 2 Pale bellied Brent Geese. Late this afternoon, we had a Kestrel at the West end of Loch Gorm and further on on our return a Peregrine flew across the road off the moor between Sunderland and Rockside. The Whoopers were still at Rockside, some on the barley stubbles with the others in the lochans along with the Greylags and the 2 Snow Geese. 

Tuesday 29th November

Like the most of the West of Scotland, we caught the rain today, certainly not as much as some areas though! A bit of a late entry, initially I was busy earlier, and then was out at the "bird nerds" monthly meet. It was great to see some visiting birders coming along too, well done to Ewan, John and "Badger" for coming out on such a stormy evening, better still they came over to Port Charlotte from Port Ellen. David travelled even further, coming from the Oa along with his wife Bonnie! Our visiting birders had seen Ringtail Hen Harrier at Eollabus at Bridgend. and in the geese there, they saw a Canada Goose, hutchinsii sp, and also another Canada, parvipes sp. Down at Leorin at Port Ellen, they had a Pink footed Goose. Up at Gruinart, they had another Ringtail, 2 Merlin on their way up to Ardnave, and at Ardnave itself they had 49 Chough. James had a Barn Owl this evening down "the hedges" at Sunderland.

Sat 16th October

Carl was up round Ardnave for a walk today and got these Sanderling along with a few Dunlin as they flew past. On Ardnave Loch were 6 Whoopers and 2 Mute Swan, along with Dabchick, Mallard and Wigeon.There were a good number of Twite in the dunes, feeding on the ground and on the seed heads. A Merlin flashed through the flock causing panic! A few Goldfinches and Linnets were also present.There were plenty of Ravens around, and 3 Buzzards were seen at one point. The overall flock of Sanderling was over 100 birds, Carl reckoned.

James is back from a week over on Oronsay, so straight into counting the geese. His figures at Gruinart this afternoon was 27,230 Barnies, 621 Whitefronts, 5 Pale bellied Brent, 8 Pink feets, 1 Canada parvipes sp and 3 hutchinsii sp. He also counted 3 Whooper Swan, 3 Grey Plover and 3 Black tailed Godwit. James said that his count of Barnies was possibly on the low side as some of the geese were proving difficult to count....

Bob had seen 17 Pintail on Loch Indaal yesterday, just as the River Sorn enters the loch. On Loch Gorm today, he had 5 Goldeneye, 10 Scaup, around 800 Greylag and a male Pochard. 20 Reed Bunting were noted close to the former Kilchoman School. At the viewing platform, there were some Long tailed Tits present, and while he was watching the geese, a White tailed Sea Eagle was seen flying overhead! He also managed to spot the Long tailed Duck up at Bun an Uillt too.