Saturday 12th January

2 sightings through from Mandy which she told me about today while in for a cuppa and catch up...

She had seen a juv Glaucous Gull down in one of  the fields below her house at Carnduncan at the tail end of last week. On Wednesday, when she was out helping with the Goose count, she had seen a Whitefront with a neck collar fitted to it. Once I hear back from the folk in charge of the Whitefronts, I will let you know of where and when it was originally fitted with the collar.

Malcolm had emailed through earlier on today to say that he had 31 Collared Doves in on his bird food, before the holidays he was only feeding 20 of them so wondered where the "extras" had come from.. Another point of interest through from Malcolm was that he counted 55 House Sparrows. SNH had published some stats earlier this week which show that the population of House Sparrows had increased by over 50% between 1994 to 2017, down in England and Wales over the same time period, the Sparrows had declined by 20%. I know our numbers are well up here at home, but do not have any base period to relate to... George E Jackson caught and fitted rings to 92 House Sparrows up here this year over a total of 11 sessions, and there are still a lot of them with no bling on yet.... So may be that could be a wee job for tomorrow, to try to count who is about, better go and wind the camera up!!

Wednesday 23rd May

Well the "Farmers' tan" continues, perhaps if I wore a short sleeved shirt, rather than rolling my sleeves up, my tan might look better...

Janice and Tim Scott, from North Yorkshire had been over last week and sent through some of their sightings. They had been staying up at Sanaigmore.. They heard a Corncrake calling several times. Other birds seen/ heard included Swallows, Sand Martins, Skylarks, Meadow Pipits, Linnet, Lapwing, Snipe, Curlew, Starling, Jackdaw, Sedge Warbler, Wheatear, Blackbird, Wren and Song Thrush. Out on the water below their cottage, they saw GNDs and Tysties with Common Gull, Herring Gull, Oystercatcher and Ringed Plover on the beach. Other top birds seen while here on Islay included a White tailed Eagle being mobbed by a Raven, Whinchat and Golden Eagle. They saw several Buzzards but no Hen Harriers. Thanks folks for your birds.

Yesterday, Pia had seen an Osprey with a fish along below Carnduncan. Last night in flat calm conditions, some of us ventured out to carry out our corncrake surveys on our predetermined routes. Mike had heard 4 calling birds and on his way home he had a Short eared Owl. We went out on our route and sorry to say, we heard no birds at all, the first time of that happening with us..

Here at home there were 7 Collared Doves in at the feeders today...

Saturday 12th May

Oops, a wee bit of a mistake last night as I forgot to mention that Graham & Pam from Sheffield had seen a Glaucous Gull on Loch Indaal....

This morning, James had  3 different Cuckoos on the reserve at Gruinart. Here at home, the Tree Sparrows were still present, a Kestrel was seen, a Collared Dove flew past, a mixed flock of over 30 mainly Linnet and a few Twite are still here. The piece of ground where the Choughs were "working" yesterday seems to be attracting the Jackdaws along with some Rock Doves a having all good howk !!! This morning we saw a male Hen Harrier fly across the road below Rockside and then a few minutes later, we counted  12 Canada Geese on Loch Gorm.

Monday 6th June

Another wee cracker of a day, but tomorrow is another day, with heavy rain forecast some areas late afternoon, we could with some, but it might not stop... One of the nosey Choughs touched down on the garage roof this morning and shortly afterwards, there was a Collared Dove in the garden. The male Greenfinch was at the feeders by himself today. Margaret saw a Common Blue Damselfly down at the pond this afternoon. This evening, there 25 Chough in a flypast.  Later tonight, it is the second run of the Corncrake count, so fingers crossed that we hear a few more than last time, we can't use the excuse that it is too cold tonight! Viv Coy and her husband from Washington, Tyne and Wear had seen a Treecreeper and heard a Whitethroat while walking through the "Woodland Trail" at Gruinart this afternoon

Saturday 14th March

Another great day out here again although not quite as warm, so I have been quite glad to have a jersey to wear... Yesterday was Rob's last full day here on Islay... Up on Ardnave Loch they had 7 Whoopers and a Goldeneye with some Chough nearby. Down at Gruinart there was a large flock of Golden Plover, many with summer plumage starting to break through. There were also some Dunlins present and also 3 male Pintails were seen there as well. Thanks to Rob and Ian and their other halves for sending your birds through, see you in August down at the Birdfair folks...Also yesterday Peter Roberts had been out behind Port Charlotte with some some visiting birding friends when they saw 3 Red Grouse with their characteritic calls... Today, Bob has had some Siskins coming in to his feeders, Carl had counted 14 Collared Doves in his garden in Port Charlotte, and this morning here at home, there were 24 Goldfinches, the highest count we have ever had, and still no Greenfinches...The Brambling is still present.

Tuesday 9th September

The cloud cover last night somewhat spoiled our view of the moon, not to worry as it is looking great as I write this entry, and equally as good was the sunset out West. This morning, we had a really clear view over to Donegal, got the scope out to see a few white buildings dotted about...For around around an hour around midday, a Peregrine sat up on top of the crag, just watching the world go by... Late afternoon, down at Bruichladdich, we counted 12 Collared Doves, we certainly have seen more around of late, possibly because of the spilled barley on the road as the farmers have been taking their barley get dried down at the drier at Octofad between Port Charlotte and Portnahaven, for Bruichladdich Ditillery to make whisky out of later on...

Sunday 25th May

David Livingstone sent this image of a Cuckoo which he had taken earlier today down close to Easter Ellister. Graham & Jo made the comment about seeing so many Blackbirds, Song Thrushes and Starlings... The good number of waders on the reseed at the Coastguards still continues with at least 10 Sanderling present there today along with the Ringed Plovers and Dunlins, thought they would have moved on by now! Here at home there was a Collared Dove on the bird table this morning.

Saturday 26th January

George yesterday saw 40 Curlew down on the shore of Loch Indaal below his house at Bruichladdich. Today in his fields George had a flock of 20 Lapwing. Today George also carried his count for the Big Garden Birdwatch with his tally as follows, 12 Chaffinch, 4 Greenfinch, 5 Collared Doves, 1 Robin, 4 House Sparrow, 1 Dunnock, 3 Blackbird, 3 Starling, 2 Blue Tit and 2 Great Tit. George also saw 2 Buzzard but they were outwith the garden, so could not be  included in the count. So just remember you too can join in the count tomorrow if you feel up to it, there is still time!

Sunday 20th May

A bit cooler here today, but fear not as the forecast for the week claims that is it is to warm up and be dry, so I went and cut some of the grass this afternoon. Bob had been out with Rob Young from Yorkshire yesterday down towards Laggan Point. Just as they came off the "low road", they had a Redpoll and a pr of Bullfinches. On the "laundry loch" they had a Whooper Swan, 2 Common Sandpiper,  saw a pr of Chough and also a Snipe. Other birds noted were Shag, a group of 14 Black Guillemot, around 80 Fulmars on nests, 1 Turnstone and out on Loch Indaal, 2 GND were seen. Today, they had the following birds down between the Moss road and Gartbreck, 2 GND, 4 Shag, 5 Greater Black backed Gull, 6 Herring Gull, 10 Common Gull, 84 Black headed Gull including 35 on nests, 23 Arctic Tern, 87 Eider mainly males, 1 Greylag, pr large Canada Geese, 11 Shelduck, 26 Red breasted Merganser, 58 Oystercatcher, 11 Curlew, 26 Whimbrel with 17 in one group, 6 Bar tailed Godwit, 46 Dunlin with 25 in one group, 16 Ringed Plover, 4 Mute Swan and 8 Redshank. Rob runs East Yorkshire Bird Tours and is over on Islay for a few days. Andrew who first saw the Dotterel, today had Spotted Flycatcher and 4 Cuckoos up the back of Port Askaig, later on at Loch Skerrols he had a male Crossbill. Here at home today the Cuckoo was calling away early in the morning, just to annoy the folk in the cottages! This afternoon there were 3 Collared Doves down on the cut grass.

Saturday 4th June

The heat wave has gone, but at least it is still dry, mind you I am down to the shirt sleeves again, earlier in the week, I had another 3 layers on, quite a change! This morning we had a brief visit from 12 Collared Doves, the most we have had here at the house, there have been odd birds before but certainly not as many. They were only here for a few minutes before flying off inland over the small crag. Yesterday along towards Uiskentuie we saw a Gull being harassed by a couple of Oystercatchers. As we got closer, we reckoned that the Gull had an Oystercatcher chick in its' beak, and sure enough it dropped it, similar to what they do to crack open mussels. As the road was busy we could not stop, so we do not know the outcome, no doubt the Gull won and had a meal with the Oystercatchers losing out. Out in the field the young Starlings are quite vocal trying to demand food from the adult birds, while the Jackdaws are at a loss with the trees not really offering much cover when they come in to roost, a bit odd really...On the way into Bowmore the solitary Brent Goose is still to be seen, I have not heard of any further sightings of the small group which Peter saw earlier in the week.

Wed 23rd Dec

Not exactly an image of some birds, but I thought this one of the Paps of Jura with a good covering of snow would do. Another beezer of a day here, like everywhere else, but the grass here at home this morning was white with frost, which is not that common here.

I saw a Collared Dove round at Rockside this afternoon, I have seen them previously down at Bruichladdich, but not at Rockside. With this colder snap here, I am glad to report that more birds have been in at the feeders, with quite a few Greenfinches to be seen.

Fri 24th July

Sorry about the confusion possibly caused late last night with the date for yesterday's entry, a senior moment on my behalf, as I did not read the calendar correctly!

Only a brief entry tonight, at home this afternoon there was a family of Greenfinches consisting of 2 adults and 4 fledglings on one of the hawthorns. Down at Bruichladdich, there were some Collared Doves. Since the Distillery has re-opened, I wonder if their numbers have increased down there with the possibility of feeding on any spilled grain!

Sat 2nd May

As we have been busy today changing the cottages over, there has been precious little bird watching, but this afternoon there were a couple of Collared Doves out in the front garden, not common here at home, although we often see them down at Bruichladdich. No sign this evening of the Golden Plover that were around earlier on this week, but there were 30 Rock Doves down at Rock Mountain.

Tues 8th July

An image sent to me by Michal the other day of a Barn Owl, just as it was out hunting. The young that can be seen on the Islay Natural History's Trust web cam appear to be getting along just fine. Although 6 eggs were laid, only 3 actually hatched and were recently rung at the end of June by Malcolm.

Back here at home, the Siskins that were on the feeders for over a week, have not been seen for a few days, but on the other hand a pair of Collared Doves that have not been seen since late May have reappeared.

The weather here today has been great, making up for some of the poor weather that we experienced last week!

Fri 11th May 07

Time for reflection with our garden birds, on the bird table especially. During the winter months more was seen of Great, Blue and Coal Tits, not in such numbers now, but still getting up to 8 Goldfinches in at one time, along with the odd Greenfinch and Chaffinch mixed in too. There are still the regular 4 Siskins, while the Goldcrest and a Treecreeper were both seen the other day.The Blackcap that was here through the winter has not been seen for a few weeks. Newcomers to the table now are a pair of Collared Doves while the House Sparrows have now mastered the nut feeder! S. McG.