Weds 16 March

A gift of a day today, lovely sunshine and the welcome feeling of spring. At Claddach this morning a pair of pied wagtail near the shed were calling and feeding together.  More insects were visible as the sun grew stronger, a welcome feed for the wee birds about.  A pair of chough flew in late morning towards the coast for their share.  There was also a brown hare mooching about in the heather near where I feed the sheep, and an other 2 at Craigfad.  None were showing the 'mad-march hare' behaviour, but we're only half way through the month!

Steve has gotten in touch via email after a good day out and about.  A ring-tailed hen harrier seen off the high road near Bowmore, and a WTE flying over the low road to Port Ellen.  On their walk round the Oa they counted around 25 twite with skylark in the stubble fields.  In the bay near Ardbeg they counted 8 merganser.  Lastly near Cross Houses, a little egret.

James How has been in contact with a high count of 17 snipe in a flock in front of the south hide. 

Jeff reported his highlights as 7 fulmar around Islay's coastline, an adult WTE on the road to Port Ellen (same bird as Steve perhaps?), then at Gruinart Farm just after sunset, a woodcock.

Mark reported 6 WTE at RSPB Loch Gruinart today.  And, on a sadder note, 3 dead barnacle geese sent off to be tested have been confirmed as having bird flu.

Lastly, from my reliable photographer Billy who was at Ballygrant Loch where he saw both tufted and goldeneye, a little grebe, and a great tit pulling at moss from the trees nearby.

Thanks as ever to all who contributed today.

Wednesday 26th May

Another glorious day over here with some more of that "wall to wall" sunshine, so we took a daft turn and removed some of the tree guards that have been protecting some of our wee trees for a good number of years... It will certainly look a lot different now!!!

Not much to report on the bird front tonight folks, although we wacthed the Ravens out with their 3 young out trying to stake the crag as their patch.. we also saw a pair of Fulmar out flying along the front of the crag. Another good spot was seeing a few more Swallows out on the wing, so hopefully they might think of getting a clutch of eggs laid.. and there is still plenty of time left for them to get on and do something.

Tuesday 18th May

 Another "cracker " of a day with wall to wall sun shining all day.... And I did write yesterday's entry on time but I forgot to publish it, honest..    I am human, believe it or not!!!

Today up here at Shepherd's cottage, we have been watching the solitary Fulmar floating along the front of the crag, hearing that noisy Cuckoo and watching the Chough flying around and then around lunch time I briefly saw a Wren, the first for some time, I hasten to add. Other birds seen were some Swallows, but not making any effort to build their nests yet!!!

Monday 16th March

Dave and Jean Killick had today seen a juvenile White-tailed Eagle in front of their cottage at Coullabus. Also today they had seen the following birds when on a short trip round the Rhinns..

At Portnahaven, there were a few Fulmars and a good number of Gannets flying South.

At Kilchiaran Bay, there were at least 10 Fulmars, 8 Eider, 2 Great Northern Divers and 2 Tysties.

Wednesday 9th February

"John and the Port Ellen 4" has sent through their birds which they saw yesterday..

"A better day weather-wise and we targeted areas that we thought might yield raptors.  

Area easy of Loch Gorm : WT Eagle (juv) traversing the track between junction of B8017-18 & minor road south of the loch.

Near Grulinbeg (B8018): Peregrine.

Near Garra Eallabus (minor rd to Ardnave Point): spectacular views of a perched Merlin (male) in the low rays of the sun.

Loch Gruinart RSPB : female Hen Harrier

Sadly, no Golden Eagle to make the "Big Five" in one day!

Buzzards everywhere!  Where have they suddenly appeared from? We don't remember there being so many in previous visits.  It's like being at home."

Gary and Wendy had stayed at home at Carnain yesterday but still managed to see a variety of birds

"Their list today is all around Carnain: Barnies, White fronts, Greylags, Oystercatchers, Curlew, Starlings, Blackbird, Robin, Chaffinch, House Sparrow, Mute Swan, Pale bellied Brents, mixed flock of Redwing, Fieldfare, two Golden Eagles, and a Hare."

Chris Corrigan and Helen had braved the elements yesterday and "had seen a flock of around 120 Twite in a field at Upper Killeyan. Later on, 2 Slavonian Grebes, 3 Long-tailed Ducks, 2 Great Northern Divers, 1 Red-throated Diver and the Common Scoters, Eiders, Goldeneyes and Red-breasted Mergansers off Bowmore (but no Scaup). Not easy viewing in the choppy seas!"

Mike and Lesley had also been out and about, seeing the following birds on Islay,

"On the Oa yesterday morning, a ringtail Hen Harrier on the way up sitting on a fence post. A few Fulmar from the Monument and thanks to  Chris Corrigan who showed us the Twite flock  down there as well. Located a Ringed Plover behind the Gaelic Centre at Bowmore. On the Gruniart Road, great views of a Peregrine. At Ardnave Point 30 Chough then back at the car park a flock of 27 Twite. On the road back we passed 'The Port Ellen 4' who were admiring a handsome male Merlin, so many thanks to them for showing us."

Friday 7th February

Yesterday morning, Chris Mills had seen a Fulmar fly away from the crag out towards the sea, little wonder the wind has picked up... In the afternoon, Chris had seen  2 different Golden Eagles soaring away, over above at Coull. They appeared to be taking great delight in spoofing the big group of Barnies....

On Thursday, Gary and Wendy Ruffell had seen a Golden Eagle in front of the cottage that they are staying in, when over on Islay, down close to Carnain.
Today (Friday): Carnain,  Grey Plover, Barnies,  Bowmore; R b merganser, Scaup, Redshank, Song  Thrush, Eider, Wigeon. Up at Cnoc Don:  Snipe, Buzzard, Raven and some Greylags were present. Late afternoon, they had a ringtail Hen Harrier fly over the pond behind their cottage.

Saturday 20th July

Another great day but already the fire is out of the sun, but so far no rain. Tomorrow is another day and we are due to get quite a lot of rain.. Forgot to mention that last night there was a tremendous sunset.

Yesterday afternoon, while down on Machir Bay, returning visitors Alec and Joan had watched a couple of Peregrines cavorting about, and had a distant Eagle soaring high up over the crag..

Just to annoy Alec and Joan, this morning I saw a total of 5, yes 5 Peregrines in total, 3 together and the other 2 appeared from nowhere... Shortly afterwards, I had a Fulmar out wheeling along in front of the crag. Later on, I had some Twite and quite a few Willow Warblers around as well.

Sunday 27th April

Yesrterday, Gary had been out with some clients and when scanning along the crag at Kilchoman, he had seen 5 Fulmars .

This morning Mike had seen 4 Whimbrel, 2 Blackwits andhe had a count of 113 Golden Plover down on the fields at Rockside. Distillery Dave had seen 9 Canada Geese on the barley fields there this morning. Bob had a new "garden bird" this afternoon. A Heron flew in to his garden and started to eat some tadpoles out from his pond!!! Also this afternoon, up here at home there were 4 Twite along with the Wheatears and the Linnets having a "nosey" at the bird seed crop which has just germinated, and looking good at this stage, early days yet!!!

Many thanks to the visitors  Peter Gill, and family, Armin Grewe and also, last but not least to George E. Jackson for sharing their sightings with us.

Before I forget, the first outdoor meeting of the Islay bird nerds for 2019 will be on Tuesday evening at 6.30 pm at the car park at Gruinart for a look see what is out from the South hide. So hopefully see some of you there then, all welcome, come and put a name to the face...

armer here today, plus there have been some dirty squally showers in the mix.

Friday 11th January

A few birds again, so here goes...

This morning around 9 o'clock, when I was on the phone, I happened to look out the window and saw 2 Fulmars soaring along the front of the crag, a sure sign that the winds are due to pick up ... And now I have just read that Calmac have cancelled tomorrow's sailing from Port Askaig to Colonsay, and also the return ferry tomorrow evening back from Kennacraig, which has a knock on effect as thee will be no sailing from Port Ellen on Sunday morning either.. "Normal service due to resume on Sunday at 13.00 from Kennacraig".

Back to birds again.. Gary was up for a catch up later on this morning, and we all saw a Golden Eagle out from another of the windows. We watched it being mobbed by the 2 local Ravens and then being dive bombed by the other locals, the 2 Buzzards. Shortly afterwards that pesky Sparrowhawk skipped past low down and away on...

On a closing note, the wind has started to pick up already with a huff and a puff outside already!!!

Monday 5th February

Yesterday, Matt Bruce and his friends made the most of a great day, not only the weather was great, but their birding was not that bad either!!! 2 ringtail Hen Harriers and a distant Golden Eagle were noted in the air over the reserve at Gruinart. On the floods at Gruinart they saw 2 Greenshank and also 12 Pintail. On Loch  Indaal, they saw "2 BTD amongst the more numerous RTD and GNDs present, but did not manage to see any Slav Grebes or Long tailed Ducks". Yesterday evening as the sun was setting, boy it was good, they saw the Glaucous Gull on Machir Bay with 2 Fulmars seen out over the sea.

Today, some other new contributors to the blog... Steve Holliday and his wife arrived over for a few days birding from Northumberland. They too have had a  great day. They saw 2 juv. Golden Eagles over the Cornabus plantation out of Port Ellen. They also had a White tailed Eagle as they drove up to Bunnahabhain. Mid afternoon, they saw a Cackling Goose, sleeping, amongst the Barnies on the merse at Bridgend. At Kennacraig, prior to the ferry leaving, they had 8 Tysties in summer plumage and during the sailing to Port Ellen, they counted 29 GND.

Down at the Woollen Mill, this afternoon, on the feeders there, we saw the ever present mixed flock of Great Tits, Blue Tits and Coal Tits, but no Siskins were seen...

Tuesday 30th January

Yesterday morning, Chris Mills had seen a couple of Fulmars in, soaring along the front of the crag, this evening the wind has picked up a bit and swirling around, the wind is not too clever tomorrow either ... Bob had 10 Greenfinch in his garden the other day. Yesterday, Bob had 49 Scaup along at Cash Kelly's/ Blackrock on Loch Indaal.
Here at home, on the big bench this afternoon where the wee birds normally feed, well the Sparrowhawk was sitting as if it owned the said bench and on the ground on the other side, a male Pheasant quite oblivious to the Sparrowhawk less than 6 feet away, just as well that the Pheasant was busy looking for seeds on the ground.. and they were there for over a couple of minutes with my camera away out of the way!!! It was the Sparrowhawk who moved away first...and no there were no wee birds around watching!!!

Sunday 11th December

Looks line a one bird entry tonight folks... This morning, there were 6 Fulmars back on the crag here at home, possibly some strong winds to come in a day or two... watch this space, or watch the weather forecast and see if I am right or not!!!

Friday 5th February

Another mixed sort of a day with the weather, only no sun, but at dusk tonight we were able to make out the shape of Ireland in the distance.... This morning, out over the crag there were a couple of Fulmars "wheeling" around, a Raven appeared out to try to chase them on. Out over the Machir towards the War graves cemetery, the Lapwings were out with around 25 counted and this afternoon 20 Chough were noted as well. Visiting birders over for a short break over the weekend had seen some Sanderling along with few Ringed Plover down on Machir Bay itself this morning.

Wednesday 27th January

Gary, Sam, and their friends George and Annette from the mainland sent some sightings through. Up at Bunnahabhain yesterday, they saw a Heron, 2 GBB Gull, 15 H. Gull, 21 Cormorant, 7 Shag, 17 GND, 6 Oystercatcher and a Turnstone. On the way to the Bird nerds meeting last night, they saw a Barn Owl at the market at Bridgend and then shortly afterwards along past the entrance to Whin Park, another Barn Owl. We had 12 hardy souls who came along to the "meeting" last night, not bad for time of the year and also the weather too. This morning, out flying in front of the crag were a couple of Fulmars, a sign of some stormy weather not far off!!!

Saturday 24th January

Those pesky Fulmars were present this morning again, soaring along the front of the crag, so we had better watch out for the wind to pick up in a few days time... watch this space!! Not much else going on today, spent some time I practising counting birds today in readiness for doing our bit for the Big garden birdwatch tomorrow!

Monday 1st December

As promised, here is the tally for November for the rainfall... the rain gauge read short of 6 inches in total, around 5.9 inches or thereabouts, so if memory serves me correctly still drier than last year at the same time! Today, well catch up time for sure as it has been rather miserable with a wetting rain all day, not really a day for going out let alone doing some bird watching... Ed had spotted a rather wet, bedraggled looking Blackcap down in Port Charlotte today. Visiting birder John Harrison had seen 6 Pale bellied Brent Geese on Loch Indaal, just North of Bowmore, he also had 10 Whoopers there too, thanks John. Here at home there were 4 Fulmars along the front of the crag this morning while on the overhead power cables I had a count of 75 Redwings along with a few Starlings. The birds this morning did not waste much time in polishing off the food put out for them this morning!

Monday 24th November

Forgot to mention last night that I saw a Fulmar fly along the front of the crag at Kilchoman yesterday afternoon, not that I really expect the wind to pick up in a few days time after seeing only 1 Fulmar! This morning out on the feeders, here at home, there were 16 Goldfinches. On Bolsay Moor this morning, Bob had a female Red Grouse, close at hand and also 5 Bullfinches also there troo. More sightings as promised last night from John Miles and his son from last week. A Water Rail was seen down in the reedbed between the Coastguards and Machir Bay, a count of over 90 Twite up at Kilinallan, Long tailed Ducks seen on Loch Indaal too with Bottle nosed and Porpoises seen through their stay. A possible Goshawk was seen briefly and from a distance down over the forestry at Kintra. Returning back over on the ferry to Kennacraig, they had a total of 42 GND, with 19 together in one group alone. Thanks for sharing your sightings folks.. Look forward to reading your Islay article in the Birdwatching magazine in the near future! Remember, if you are around, on Tuesday evening at 7.15 , the Islay bird nerds will be meeting at the Gaelic College, just outside of Bowmore when Ed will give us an update about the Whitefronted Geese, see you there!!!

Saturday 18th January

Nothing much to report on the bird front today as I have been busy here at home today, in fact I have not been off the place all day, the rain set in late morning, so it was a great chance to get on with some indoor jobs that needed a start made on. Having said that Margaret did notice that there were a few Fulmars in along the front of the crag before the rain came. No promises, but I will try to get some birds tomorrow if the weather picks up, fingers crossed....

Wednesday 26th December or Boxing Day

Forgot to mention yesterday that in the morning, the Fulmars were back on the crag, they are away now, no doubt the wind is due for a bit huff and puff soon, having said that there was a gust of 40 mph on Mike's weather station just after midnight this morning. Really think that the Fulmars were in for the stronger winds forecast for later this week!!! Whilst having their festive fayre yesterday, Tom and Jo saw a White tailed Sea Eagle fly past and spook a flock of around 1370 Barnies over close to Mulindry. Along at Neriby, they had seen 46 Whitefronts, 2 Bullfinches, 2 Reed Bunting and a Merlin. Today at Neriby amongst the Barnies present, they saw a Canada Goose hutchinsii sp, down at Bridgend, 11 Pale bellied Brent and 30 Dunlin. Along at Bowmore, 2 Slavonian Grebe, 20 Common Scoter, 5 Goldeneye, and family of 4 Whoopers (?possibly the family that have been seen at Gartmain/ Pennycraig). Down off Ardbeg, Tom and Jo saw 6 GND, 1 Tystie and a Slav. Grebe and finally close to Kildalton 11 Yellowhammer were seen. Yesterday James had a Canada Goose hutchinsii sp amongst the Barnies on the reserve at Gruinart. Today he he saw 3 Hen Harriers, a male and 2 females. out on Loch Gruinart James had a count of 150 Golden Plover, around 400 Lapwing and 95 Barwits this afternoon. Peter has today been out looking for the Red breasted Goose, still no luck, but had a flock of 108 Rock Doves up at Sanaigmore. Back at Bruichladdich, Pia had a small raptor zip through the garden and zap a bird of the feeders, one less to feed tomorrow! We had a Woodcock close to Sunderland last night and tonight just at the darkening another 2 but at different places as we came back from Gruinart.

Friday 31st August

I hope that you have not been expecting to find a wealth of knowledge on the blog tonight, well forget it... The weather today has put paid to that. It has not been bucketing down, yes, it has been damp and dreich with mist down over the crag, but there again the evening plane did make it in which I did not think it would. So, the entry for the blog tonight, is about the young Fulmar from the crag. It happens every year, a young Fulmar launches itself from the crag hoping to make it out to the sea, most years we have been fortunate to see the grounded youngster as they cannot get off the ground to fly on again. The plan is really simple, catch the same bird put in a box and take down to the sea, but the try not to get spat upon by the darned youngster... Got it caught okay and took it down and released down on Loch Indaal. No doubt it will lose some weight and be able to fly and live to a ripe old age.... End of the tonight's entry...