Thursday 2nd July

Good friend, Marsali was in touch this morning to tell me about her rain fall which tallied out at 5.08 inches for the month....

Meanwhile, James had seen an Osprey flying over Loch Gruinart, the first he has seen for some time. Along at the RSPB office at Bushmills, he  had seen a Chiffchaff and also a cracking male Bullfinch.

Another good friend Armin Grewe emailed some sightings seen while out for his early walk along the canal, close to where he lives...
"First I saw a pair of Green Woodpeckers in small trees/bushes right next to the towpath, maybe 20-30 feet ahead of me. They then flew off, across the canal where they disappeared into the trees on the other side of the canal.

Walking on may be another 30-40 feet I look up into one of the small trees on the verge of the canal, between the towpath and the canal, and what did I see? A Great Spotted Woodpecker, pecking away at the tree. It didn't seem to be bothered by me standing on the towpath, so I watched it for a minute before having to move on as work was calling.

Maybe 1/4 of a mile down the canal I then saw and heard two Jays. As mentioned previously, there seem to be quite a few around of them this year."

Finally, Chris and Tony Johnson sent their tally for the month, a mere 5.75 inches, so top of the class to them...

Sunday 21st June

James was in touch this afternoon with some birds and a general natter as well...
The other day up at Ardnave, James had counted 80 Barwits and also an Otter was present there as well. James was saying to me that along the Woodland trail at Gruinart, he had heard 2 Blackcaps, a Chiffchaff calling away as well as  3 Goldcrests seen there.

Malcom e mailed me part of an article that was in today's edition of The Times, relating to the recent series screened on the TV of Springwatch..
" Now that Springwatch has been forced to abandon its distracting and cringe-inducing campfire repartee, it has evolved into the fascinating programme that it always ought to have been. Great to see that Chris Packham has been transformed into an adult. Please keep this format".

Monday 1st June

Lesley e mailed some more information for me to share with you...

"Not much for today but I was speaking to James this morning and he gave me the heads up that the reserves are now open. The Oa and Gruinart trails open - one way with numbers restrictions etc in place. Gruinart VC, loos and all hides still closed. Anyway I thought I would stop off on the way to Coop and have a walk around. Not a lot to see - it was around midday . I had a Chiffchaff in the Gruinart visitor carpark, Whitethroat singing in a gorse bush and orchids (? early purple - I’m not good on orchids) and Ragged Robins blooming. Plenty of blossom on the Rowan ready to produce food for the migrating Redwings and Fieldfares in the autumn. Life continues."

Lesley was also saying that she walked through the woodland trail under the rookery, and luckily for her the birds did not poo on her as walked past them!!

So, it is good news that the RSPB reserves on Islay are opening up again, even although they are not 100% open as such.

James, himself was speaking to Margaret around tea time confirming about the reserves opening up again. He also was telling Margaret about watching a food pass between a couple of Hen Harriers being seen by himself. Shortly afterwards he saw a Cuckoo.

Friday 27th March

Some sightings of birds seen by Mary Redman down and around Portnahaven
"I was out on my little walk out the village and saw my first Wheatear! Also a WTE spoofing the geese on Mackenzie island. There's plenty Redshank calling and I noticed a pair of Pied Wagtail at Claddach and by Queen Street. On Monday night I was coming home and saw a Barn Owl by Whin park. The Chough pair have been active over the village and at Claddach too."

Gary has been busy out in his garden today but still managed some birds for the blog....
" Golden Eagle displaying at hills behind Lossit Farm, 2 Chough backwards and forwards over moorland in front of house & a male Goosander taking of from Loch nan Cadhan flying over us towards Loch Finlaggan."

Mark Shields had heard a Chiffchaff in his garden yesterday up at Moulin and this afternoon James saw a male Yellowhammer in his garden across the road from Mark. 

PLEASE NOTE THAT BOTH THE RSPB RESERVES ON ISLAY ARE SHUT AT PRESENT DUE TO THE DREADED CORONAVIRUS.

Saturday 2nd November

Well I must be getting a bit forgetful in my old age/ dotage... the rainfall up here at the cottage came to 6 inches exactly for the whole of October....

Colin Bushell came over on Thursday with a group from Limosa Holidays, a good friend who we met over the past few years at the Bird Fair at Rutland... Despite the poor weather, yesterday, they still managed a great day's birding... Highlights included 30 P b Brent on Loch Indaal, a Todd's Canada Goose amongst the Barnies on the flats at Gruinart, up the side of Loch Gruinart, they had a Long tailed Duck. They had seen a total of at least 4 W T Eagles and also a Golden Eagle there as well. Also seen on Loch Indaal were the following, 21 Greater Scaup, 4 Common Scoter, Eiders, GND , RTDs and also 2 Tysties.

On Thursday, the team from RAFOS had 20 Siskins down at The Woollen Mill. Yesterday round on one of the stubble fields at Ballinaby, they counted 230 Whitefronts, 28 Greylags, 480 Barnies and 2 Pale bellied Brents. Below Carnduncan, they had  a ringtail Hen Harrier.  Over the flats at Gruinart they had seen over 1,000 Golden Plover in the air. One of their group had also seen 2 Goosanders out on the estuary at Gruinart.

Yesterday morning, the Rochdale birders had seen a Peregrine out from Ardnahoe Distillery and then shortly afterwards, they saw a Golden Eagle being mobbed by 2 Buzzards as they drove up to Bunnahabhain. In a walk through Bridgend Woods in the afternoon, they had seen a Great spotted Woodpecker.

MB yesterday had counted 31 Knot, 95 Ringed Plover and 109 Dunlin at the head of Loch Indaal at Bridgend. Ballygrant Loch held a Dabchick, 2 Mute Swan, 2 Cormorant and 2 Herons. A walk down to Loch Allen proved more productive with MB counting the following birds... 32 Scandinavian Blackbirds, a G s woodpecker, 160 Fieldfare (40 +120), 20 Redwing, a British      Chiffchaff, 2 Goldcrest, 3 Treecreeper, 45 Siskin, a Redpoll and he heard a Bullfinch calling away.

This morning, Distillery Dave had a Little Egret round at Kilchoman Distillery, it was also seen by 2 of the members of the RAFOS team as they headed out to the ferry.

Thursday 24th October

David Clugston had a Chiffchaff  when on the Woodland trail at Gruinart back on Monday, sorry David, forgot that one...

Another visitor that I was speaking to up at Ardnave this morning when waiting for a heavy shower to pass, Mark Cockburn had seen 10 Snow Buntings up at Ardnave Point on Monday. Yesterday, when he was down at one of the hides at Gruinart, he watched a White tailed Eagle take a Barnacle goose out in mid air. What a spectacle...

Coming back down from Ardnave, I had seen a count of 20 Reed Buntings together in a flock.

Albert Percival had counted over 200 Whoopers in various fields as he was out round the island. David Clugston, his wife Pauline and fellow birder Valerie Wilson had counted 342 Whoopers coming in and moving through today, they are now up to 97 species seen so far this week. 

Catheine Fotheringham today had seen a ringtail Hen Harrier over the moor towards Grainel.

Wednesday 10th April

Yesterday, Jeff  Duncan had seen a Golden Eagle on a carcass less than 30 metres from the road as he was driving down to Machir bay, no need for the bins for that one, Jeff... Also yesterday, Ed Burrell , an old chum from a few years back, and now an Islay resident, had seen 2 Swallows as he was out rolling some fields. Ed was also saying that he has been seen a lot of Wheatears around and also a Blackcap as well.
Today, Mandy has making the most of the weather sitting out in her garden up at Carnduncan where she has been hearing a Chiffchaff calling away.  James e mailed through to say that there  have been "loads of reports" of sightings of Sand Martins and Swallows seen at Gruinart,  Ardnave and also at Loch Skerrols. There was a House Martin present up at Ardnave. James was also telling me that the geese are slowly moving North, with geese seen around Islay "noticeably less" in numbers now.

Saturday 16th March

Back on Thursday, Stewart and Cath, (the couple of visiting birders who I did not know their names, the other day) had seen 2 White tailed Eagles up the far side of Keppols. Chris Mills and the group from Norfolk Birding had seen 15 Chough fly into the roost up here on Thursday, late afternoon. Last night while coming back through Bruichladdich, they saw a Barn Owl carrying a vole. Then to finish their trip off, a Woodcock was seen as they approached they have been staying. If my memory serves me right, I think their tally for the week came to 95 species seen, a great tally considering the weather..  Many thanks for all your sightings folks, as ever much appreciated!!!

Kevin Morrison who lives in Port Ellen and is working down at Foreland House at present, had seen a Greater spotted Woodpecker on the bird table at Shuna's house where Woodie now lives. He also had seen 3 White tailed Eagles along from Uiskentuie, as he drove along the road towards the road junction leading up to Foreland.

Today, Mike along with 2 of his friends, Guy and Mark had seen an immature Golden Eagle and a White tailed Eagle being mobbed by a Buzzard, all in from Keppols. While coming along the Glen road, they saw an adult Golden Eagle, a Kestrel, as well as a Hen Harrier. Down on the merse at Bridgend, they saw a Little Egret. While walking down to the South hide at Gruinart, they heard a Chiffchaff calling away. Distillery Dave had seen 4 Pale bellied Brent Geese on Loch Indaal, in from Gortan this morning. Late afternoon, while in for a cuppa and a catch up, Dave spotted a Golden Eagle far out, away over the crag being mobbed by a couple of Ravens initially and then a Buzzard came and joined in the fray.

Friday 26th October

Some birds in from John Wilson and his son Jonti. Yesterday, they counted  30 Scaup, and 20  Common Scoter and a GND off Blackrock. Over at Persabus, they saw 2 Yellowhammers. Down at Bowmore, 6 Pb Brents were present and on their travels they had 3 different Merlin, one at Port Charlotte, another at Bruichladdich with the final one seen over at Bunnahabhain.

Today, the Bowland Birders had a day of dodging the many dirty showers that were around, apart from the numerous heavy squally showers of rain we had some long prolonged hail showers late afternoon... They had an estimated count of at least 100 Redwing down at Octomore. On a trip round the Rhinns, they had a single Fieldfare, a male Hen Harrier and a single Mistle Thrush as well. At Gruinart, they had another male Harrier with a Dabchick up on Ardnave Loch. They also had seen, 6 Gbb Gull and a Buzzard feeding on a carcass of a young seal, opposite Nave Island. This morning, Bob had counted 390 Whoopers on the stubble field at Sunderland. Mike P. had a Greenfinch on his feeders and Gary saw a Glaucous Gull on the spit on the strand towards Uiskentuie.

Dave Woods reported through to say that with wind switching round to the North, that there has been a big fall of birds down on the Oa... There were only 50 Whitefronts present yesterday, but now up to 360 earlier this evening. Also counted were a minimum of 800 Redwing and 200 Fieldfare, all freshly arrived. Dave also had 6 Brambling and a Chiffchaff at Kinnabus today. John Wilson and Jonti counted 26 Chough going in to the roost here in between some really dirty showers.

Friday 27th July

Rachel and Mary, the 2 birders from Edinburgh had seen Chough while on the RSPB guided walk on Tuesday on the Oa, they also had seen some more while on Colonsay on Wednesday. Yesterday, in the gardens of Bridgend Hotel, they saw a Chiffchaff.

This morning, Mike had counted 37 Curlew down on Machir Bay, Mike also saw a Greenshank on the stream as it enters the Bay as well. Mid morning, we had 16 Oystercatcher fly over the machir. Mid afternoon, Margaret saw a ringtail Hen Harrier out on the wing as it followed the dyke below our house. Finally, Gary watched and followed an Osprey as it flew along between Red Houses and Esknish, following the River Sorn, earlier on this evening.

Tuesday 24th October

Yesterday over at Gruinart Al Hart saw a Whitefront with an orange neck collar on... Back on Sunday returning birder, Lee Thickett had seen a Jack Snipe over at Ardtalla, and yesterday, he had seen a Lapland Bunting while walking up from Machir Bay towards Granny's Rock. On Sunday, Dave Pierce, Neil McMahon along with their group from Naturetrek, had counted 39 Scaup and also 2 Common Scoter at Blackrock while at Gruinart they saw a juv. Golden Eagle and also 6 Grey Plovers. As they headed to Jura, they had 3 White tailed Eagles. Yesterday, up at Lealt  on Jura they saw 3 Ring Ouzel as well as many Redwing and Mistle Thrush with a Dipper back at Craighouse. Yesterday also, Peter and Janet Roworth had a male Merlin at Gruinart while at the top of Loch Indaal, they had 4 Barwits, 10 Pintail, 6 Knot, 16 Whoopers, 138 Wigeon and 34 Brent Geese. Today, Gary had a Todd's Canada Goose amongst the other geese present below Rock Mountain and then later on, he saw the Little Gull along on the pool at Saligo. Dave Pierce, Neil & co had a dark morph Arctic Skua on the Sound of Islay and also saw Golden Eagles and White tailed Eagles on both Islay and Jura. Botswana Dave had a male Ring Ouzel close to Lagstoban. On the guided walk down on the Oa, Dave was able to show folk on the walk a Golden Eagle being harassed by 3 Ravens, forcing the Eagle off its' kill. Other birds seen on the walk included a Peregrine hunting Redwing & Fieldfare, a ringtail Hen Harrier, Stonechats, Twite and a pair of Chough. Bonnie Wood, Dave Wood's wife spotted a Ring Ouzel while out walking their pup. Other birds seen on the Oa this morning included 2 Brambling, a Chiffchaff and 5 Goldcrest. The Redwing flock is up to around 3,000 birds along with several hundred Fieldfare, with more birds arriving in from the North. This morning Richard and Pat Howells managed a count of the wee waders on the breakwater at Bowmore counting 50 Ringed Plover and 24 Dunlin. While waiting at Port Askaig, they saw a White tailed Eagle flying up the Sound of Islay. A Peregrine was seen hunting along the shore as they headed up to Craighouse where they saw a Dipper and then 2 GND further out on Small Isles Bay. Today, Mike and Elspeth had been round the loop on the Rhinns, not as many birds seen compared with other visits, but a fall of Redwing at Claddach, a Peregrine, a Merlin with 28 Whitefronts seen at Octofad. The GND was present again in the harbour at Bowmore this afternoon. and a smaller flock of waders seen there as well. Peter and Janet had seen a White tailed Eagle while they were driving over the Glen road up close to Storakaig this afternoon. Graham and Jo Morton today had 40 Scaup and 4 GND at Blackrock, at Bruichladdich, they saw 10 Ringed Plover, a Redshank, a Rock Pipit, and a Common Guillemot. Along at Sunderland 50 Whoopers were present amongst the mixed flock of Whitefronts, Greylags, a few Pinkies and a lot of Barnies. Close to the pool behind Machir Bay, 20 Chough and 25 Ringed Plover were seen. Finally, they saw a RTD up at Sanaigmore

                  

The image is of our 2 Brambling, seen regularly along with the Chaffinches

Sunday 22nd October

Surprise, surprise a dry day  for once, the first for some time, mind you I had to empty our rain gauge as it was full, we had the best part of an inch of rain yesterday with quite a lot of flooding along the roads...Right on with the main interest, the birds seen on Islay from various folk ....Yesterday, Mike who spotted the cattle Egret back in 2009, returned for another Islay fix along with his wife Elspeth. Late afternoon a quick run out from Bowmore  and over the head of Loch Gruinart provided great views of Barnies, and Golden Plovers, also a good flock of Redwing and a small flock of 10 Twite. On the stubbles below Sunderland they saw around 90 Whoopers. Richard and Pat had a White tailed Eagle up behind Ballygrant. A ringtail was seen being mobbed by a Hoodie while driving along the "Glen Road". Down at Cluanach, some Long tailed Tits were present. They also had 2 Dabchick at Ardnahoe Loch. Naturetrek had had a group over on Islay over the past few days, led by Dave Piece and Neil McMahon. At Kennacraig, while waiting on the ferry, on Thursday, a Wheatear and also a Rock Pipit were seen. On Friday they had 17 Scaup at Blackrock, 4 Ruff at Gruinart,  a Chiffchaff at Leckgruinart. At Ardnave 2 Wheatear and 41 Chough were present. Thy also saw the Golden Eagles at Gruinart already reported in earlier entries to the blog. Between Lyrabus and Ardnave, they sawa total of 5 ringtails and  also a male Hen Harrier. Yesterday another productive day with a Tystie, GNDs, a RTD, a BTD, 15 P B Brent and a Merlin, all seen between Bowmore and Bridgend. Over 1,000 Redwing along with a few Fieldfare were present out of Port Ellen towards Ardbeg. Also seen were another Merlin, a Peregrine, a Goshawk,  2 Sparrowhawks and an Otter! Over on the Oa, 2 Golden Eagles were present, another Merlin, a Kestrel, a ringtail and a male Hen Harrier, around 40 Twite, a Brambling, some Whitefronts were noted with neck collars as well. Mary Redman saw a juv. Little Gull at Claddach out of Portnahaven this morning. This morning, Mike and Elspeth had seen 3 groups of Brents between Bowmore and Bridgend totalling 30 geese, with around 50 Scaup at Blackrock. Between Sunderland and Rockside they reckoned a tally of 170 Whoopers were present. Early afternoon, a RTD was seen North of Bowmore Harbour with a couple of Turnstone seen on the shore there as well. Later on, up towards Mulindry around 70 Whoopers were present as was a large flock of Ravens in the same field. Just as the light was starting to fade they had a mixed flock of around 70 Ringed Plover and Turnstone came in to the shore at Bowmore, possibly in to roost for  the night.. Her eat home the Brambling was still present, not one but two, seen by Distillery Dave, a new tick for him. Late afternoon, and I have noticed several groups of Whoopers leaving, honking away as they flew on ...

There was a reported sighting of a Ring Ouzel down at Bruichladdich this morning, but still to be confirmed, watch this space..

Tuesday 4th May

A bit of a late entry, but I was out earlier on.

Today, Richard had seen a Sandwich Tern, Rock Pipit, 4 GND, 4 RTD, some Red breasted Merganser and the usual Tysties at Bruichladdich. On the road leading to Kilchiaran, he saw Redwing and Chough while down at Claddach / Frenchman's rocks Gannets, Guillemot, Fulmar and Shag were added to his list. He also had Wheatear present too, and finally up at Skerrols, Richard heard a Chiffchaff.

Friday 31st March

Yesterday, Michal heard a Chiffchaff at Gruinart Farm, while Bob saw a Swallow round at Rockside. Jackie Fallows had seen some Fulmars on the cliffs on the Oa and also saw 4 Gannets flying East, low over the sea. John and Kenny's Reed Bunting flock was up at Storakaig on Wednesday. Yesterday they saw 4 Sand Martin following the river, up past the "wood chip store" above Avonvoggie. Peter saw a Gannet at Bruichladdich, his first there this year. Richard Belter had seen the drake Green winged Teal out from the new hide at Gruunart, this morning. Marc Eden had seen 3 Lapland Buntings at Ardnave while "Botswana Dave" noted a few Pale bellied Brent out from Crosshouses.

Wednesday 29th March

Forgot to mention last night that Gary had a White tailed Eagle ripping into a goose at Bridgend Merse, late on Monday afternoon. Yesterday, Jackie Fallows et al had taken the walk along the Sorn, and had seen Dipper and also Grey Wagtails with Siskins present as well at The Woollen Mill. John and Kenny yesterday had a White tailed Eagle on the merse at Bridgend and heard a Chiffchaff  at  the mouth of the River Sorn. Mark Eden had seen the Great Grey Shrike over close to Avonvoggie. Another returning birder back for another Islay fix is Richard Belter, good to see you last night Richard. Down at Bruichladdich, he had 4 RTD, 4 GND, Eider, R b Merganser, Gannet and also Tystie. He also saw 3 Wheatears at Sanaigmore. At breakfast time, here at home, just over the garden fence, on the Machir, there were over 500 Barnies along with a single Canada Goose along with them. If only one of the Barnies would come on to the grass here, I could claim it on our "garden list"...While out looking for the shrike this afternoon, we saw  2 male Hen Harriers as we drove along the Glen road, great to see!!!

Sunday 27th November

Yesterday was Ciaran and Bex's last day on their first visit to Islay and there was no let up on their part... On Kilnaughton Bay, 5 GND, 4 RTD and a Slavonian Grebe were present. Out on Loch Indaal, from Blackrock, 4 Whoopers, 16 Eider, 2 Long tailed Duck, a drake Common Scoter, 36 Scaup, 6 R B Merganser, 16 GND, 5 RTD and 8 Slavonian Grebe were seen. Up on Ardnave Loch, 16 Whoopers, 24 Mute, 18 Wigeon, 22 Teal, 9 Goldeneye, a Pochard, and 9 R b Merganser while round Ardnave Point and out towards Nave Island, the following were present, a Razorbill, 21 Cormorant, 38 GND, 3 RTD, 4 Slavonian Grebe, a juv. Golden Eagle, a female Merlin, 28 Chough, 12 Snipe, a Jack Snipe, 26 Lapwing, 6 Ringed Plover, 8 Turnstone, 8 Pied Wagtail and also an Otter with 2 cubs! Back down on Loch Indaal in from Whin Park they saw 22 Pale bellied Brent, 12 Shelduck, 23 Dunlin, 174 Barwits, 78 Curlew and 69 Oystercatcher with a Chiffchaff heard in the trees behind the lay by. Many thanks to both Ciaran and Bex for all their sightings seen this week, much appreciated.

This morning, there was a small flock of 30 Ringed Plover in the field adjacent to the carpark at Machir Bay. Later on here at home, mid morning, the Peregrine was on the hunt, this time it stooped twice into the Chough, both times no joy, possibly a youngster out learning!!! It certainly made the said Chough waken up a bit!!!

Friday 25th November

Yesterday morning, Ciaran and Bex had been up at Bunnahabhain Distillery. Their morning started well with spotting 2 Otters out in the bay, well almost actually only 1 as the other Otter was almost nobbled by a White tailed Eagle!!! Birds seen at Bunnahabhain included 23 Wigeon, 5 R b Merganser, 9 GND, 5 RTD, 4 Slavonian Grebe, 2 Tystie, 1 Sparrowhawk, 1 Peregrine, 1 Mistle Thrush, 12 Twite and also 2 Redpoll. Down on Loch Indaal, out from Whin Park, they saw 29 Pale bellied Brent, 38 Scaup, 14 Long tailed Duck, 1 Common Scoter, 14 Shelduck, 18 GND, 4 RTD, 19 Slav Grebe, 72 Barwit, 133 Curlew, 82 Dunlin, 12 Ringed Plover, back on the land they counted 12 Red legged Partridge. Yesterday as well, Gary from Islay Wild Birding had been over on Jura where he saw a Golden Eagle, a White tailed Eagle, a Turnstone, a Ringed Plover, at least 20 Cormorant and Shag and also 28 GND. This morning, James had seen 7 Woodcock, 4 Goldcrest, a Sparrowhawk and a Chiffchaff as he walked through the woodland trail at Gruinart.

Andrew Kent from SNH sent me through the tally for the International Goose count carried out last week... the tally came to 52,363 Barnies, 4,777 Whitefronts and 1,067 Greylag Geese.  Many thanks to Andrew and the team from SNH for theses figures.

Before I forget, on Tuesday evening at 7.30pm, the Islay bird nerds will be holding their monthly meeting in the Lochside in Bowmore, the last meeting for 2016 I hasten to add!!! So if you are around, feel free to come along.

Friday 21st October

James sent though the tally of the geese present at Gruinart, counted yesterday as follows, 32,065 Barnies, 1 leucistic Bary, 2 Pinkies, 2 Pale bellied Brent, 3 Canadas, all hutchinsii sp., one parvipes sp and a Todd's sp (5 in total). No figure was given for Whitefronts.  Out over the salt marsh James saw a Peregrine and later on, a Chiffchaff was seen in his garden. Doreen and James Main yesterday had seen 4 Redwing at Springbank, 15 Fieldfare on a tree a mile out of Bowmore. Further on  while heading down towards the Oa, close to Lower Cragabus, they saw a pair of Bullfinches. On the Oa itself, 2 Merlin were present, one of them flushed the flock of Twite up!!! Also there, were 2 Chough. Richard Scott and Alan Lewin had 2 Swallows at Gartmain, a Merlin on the Oa, and in Port Ellen bay, 20 Ringed Plover, a RTD and a GND, all yesterday. They are now up to 82 species so far this week.... Mary Redman had 2 Snow Bunting at Claddach, Portnahaven and also a Wheatear present there this morning. There were 6 Whoopers on one of the lochans beside Loch Gorm this morning as well. No sign of the Brambling today!!!

Sunday 17th April

James had 2 arctic terns yesterday at Ardbeg, also a chiffchaff and loads of willow warblers. There were also 4 Canada geese in the bay past Ardbeg. He saw a swallow at Blackrock and loads of sand martins from the hide at Gruinart.

Thursday 14th April

James did a Loch Gruinart reserve goose count on Monday and the total was 2923 barnacle geese and 77 whitefronts. Yesterday Carl Reavey had a willow warbler at Bruichladdich, greenshank at Gortan, chiffchaff at Foreland, great northern diver and sandwich tern at Port Charlotte. Today another sedge warbler was heard at Gruinart. Yesterday Mary saw a short-eared owl on her buggy prowl near Claddach, and this morning 3 Canada geese and she also heard a willow warbler. Garry did a bit of birdwatching from his garden at Ballygrant and saw/heard 2 fieldfares, 3 willow warblers, 2 chough. He also saw a ring-tail hen harrier and a barn owl in Ballygrant Valley.

Today we received an e-mail from Carl Mitchel from WWT who has been studying Islay white-fronted geese in the past few years and he reported that two of the GPS tagged whitefronts left Islay last Sunday at 9pm and headed for Iceland. However strong easterly wind pushed them off the course. Half way between Islay and Iceland they changed the direction and must have been flying directly into the strong wind. They finally landed south-east of Reykjavik. Total crossing time was 48 hours! Migration across open ocean is surely not a fun... See the attached image. Thank you Carl for the information. You can find more info here:

http://telemetry.wikispaces.com/Greenfront