Friday 21st July

Nothing much going on outside, out here today as it has been rather wet, but late afternoon, it did stop, the wind dropped too, so possibly a perfect night for the midges come out, but come to think on it, they go to bed too, you do not really hear of folk getting bitten by midges at night?? With being "stuck" indoors today, Mr D should be pleased with me, as the Islay sightings are bang up to date again!!  A quick walk round the garden proved fruitful with a family of Willow Warblers on the hemlock heads and a family of Great Tits present in the Willows. 

Sun 8th June

Even although this spell of dry weather continues, it is odd in some ways, in that the knowes have not started to burn off yet, even down at The Strand, the grass is still quite green! A visitor who was over on Jura for the day, commented on seeing Short-eared Owls and Hen Harriers, while in a steel gate post, they noticed that a Great Tit was using it for a nest site!

Many thanks to Gordon and Pauline Yates for their input recently when they have been over, with Gordon been kept busy getting more film footage here on Islay and also on Jura. Gordon had also been commenting on this recent spell of weather!

Mon 17th - Tues 18th March

Apolgies for not doing an entry yesterday, but for some reason or another I was unable to gain access through Internet Explorer....

At this point I would like to welcome another new contributor, Louise Gregory. Louise lives on Jura and "commutes" every day, weather permitting, to her job with SNH based in Bowmore, but her area takes in Islay, Jura and Colonsay. She hopes to give a weekly update of what she has been seeing whilst travelling back and forward to work.

"Spring has sprung and finally I am commuting in daylight! The horozontal rain has also let up and conditions are much better for bird spotting. At home, at Gatehouse, I have seen my first Great and Blue Tit on the bird table, the first since moving here". This past week, there were 12 Whooper Swan in Tarbet Bay, 20+ Fieldfare at Ardfin, also at Ardfin there was a Golden Eagle seen as well as a pair of Kestrel while at Inver there was a juvenile White-tailed Eagle. Still on the Birds of Prey, on a 3 mile stretch of the road one day, there were 3 separate female Hen Harrier. One evening, there were 50+ Barnacle Geese returning to the roost at Inver Fish Farm.

Apart from the Great and Blue Tit on the bird table, there was also a pair of Siskin. Snipe were also heard drumming up at Gatehouse. LG

On Monday, there were 62 Whooper swan on the floods at RSPB Loch Gruinart reserve, while on Loch Kinnabus on the Oa reserve, there was a count of 250 Greenland whitefronts and 50 Barnacle Geese. Several Meadow Pipits were heard singing and a single male Hen Harrier was spotted at Glen Astle. 14 Chough in total were seen in different groups around the reserve. A single adult Golden Eagle was seen flying overhead, about 30 metres above us at the end of the day. CF &MS

A late entry for Sunday was the sighting of a Bumble bee at Gruinart reserve, whist today there was a White tailed Sea Eagle soaring on the thermals. This bird had yellow tags, which year that is I will check on tomorrow. The Jura bird had white tags indicating it was a 07 bird. Primroses are starting to flower now and there has been a slight increase in the number of Song Thrush seen. JRH & RAS

Finally, back here at home, I was watching a pair of Chough taking nesting material back to their nest site, and also here on Monday was my first Bumble Bee of the year. IKB

Sun 22nd July 07

The good, sunny weather continues over here on Islay, while a lot of other places on the mainland are having heavy rain and severe flooding.
This morning on the overhead wires there were 52 Swallows, and on checking the artificial House Martin nest, I noticed that it was empty, so the 3 fledglings must have been successfully reared and flown their "nest". There were 3 young Grey wagtails in the garden earlier on, while on the nut feeders, there were 4 young Great Tits. I.K.B.
Over at Bruichladdich, a Mooorhen was spotted roosting in some Willows about 7 foot above the ground! G.J.

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.