Saturday 24th October

Well that's it again another week in and and a new set of birders have arrived... and also some have headed home, so thanks to you all for your birds when visiting here and sharing your sightings with us....

Yesterday was the last full day for Eddie and Elaine as well as Mike Hill before heading on the ferry this morning. Mike sent me through this e mail referring to yesterday's sightings.

"On the beach at Machir Bay first thing were c300 Barnacle Geese, c60 Curlew and several hundred gulls. A Great Northern Diver flew into the bay and fished for a while before flying off north. 

A couple of Lesser Redpoll were in the trees next to our cottage this morning. Checked the local Barnacle Geese flocks for the Cackling or the potential Todd's Canada Goose but no sign. Lots of Gannets fishing down in Saligo Bay.

On the way back to the cottage, between Kilchoman Distillery and coastguards cottages, a male Hen Harrier   flew across the road and then headed towards Kilchoman church."

New arrivals on the island are a group visiting here led by Neil McMahon on behalf of Naturetrek. So here is the birds seen by Neil and his group yesterday..

"Highlights included a drake Long-tailed Duck off Bowmore Pier and a 'ringtail' Hen Harrier south of Bowmore heading towards Port Ellen. Our visit to the RSPB reserve at The Oa was very enjoyable in great weather to see a hunting juvenile Golden Eagle, an adult male Hen Harrier, ca100 Twite with some Linnets, Greenfinches and Goldfinches and a Redpoll and 2 Chough that flew past the American Memorial. From Port Ellen, we took the road past Ardbeg east towards Claggain Bay seeing 2 Otters, good views of Fallow and Red Deer and a fine adult White-tailed Eagle."

 

Thursday 26th March

Gary was in touch this morning by e mail...
"Yesterday 10 Lesser Redpoll over moorland in front & behind house checking out willows."

Steve Percival was as in touch late afternoon, regarding the dead Barnie that Bob found. It was ringed on 19 July last year on the breeding grounds in SE Iceland by Carl Mitchell and a team of Icelanders (as a juvenile, hatched that year). This was the first record of it since ringing.  Bob told me later on, that he felt that the goose had been shot, but hard to be 100% sure as it was fairly well decomposed..

David Wood had seen a Stock Dove down on the Oa today, a new tick for the Oa records.


Malcolm kindly sent me this e mail regarding the policy being carried out by Calmac regarding ferry travel to Islay.
"CalMac at Kennacraig are now asking for confirmation from travellers that they have a permanent address on the island. Even if the great majority have realised for themselves that they shouldn't be travelling here, it might save a wasted journey for a small number." 
I believe that as of tomorrow, we are on a single ferry crossing with 2 return trips per day and only a single return trip on Sundays.
Also on the travel front, I believe that HIAL the overall company responsible for operating the airport, has said that all the airports operated by them will be shut for passengers from Sunday onwards....

Tuesday 23rd April

A bit of catch up so here goes... mainly from some of the Webs count carried by folk over the past few days..

James and Shona-Isla has done the count on Loch Gruinart seing the following  1 GND, 52 Shelduck, 368 Ringed Plover, 425 Dunlin, 105 Curlew, 35 Lbb Gul, 24 Knot, 22 Bh Gull, 116 Teal, 4 Pintail, 43 Wigeon and 2 Whooper Swans. Highlights from Mike's count on Outer Loch Indaal included 147 Common Scoter, 91 Pale Bellied Brent Geese, 375 Auk sp., 11 Gannet, 33 GND, 3 Whimbrel & 2 Sandwich Tern. Later on, off Port Charlotte, Mike had 3 B N Dolphins while up at Foreland, Val saw an Orange tipped Butterfly. Bob had done his patch over the weekend as well, counting 48 Ringed Plover, 42 Oystercatcher, 45 R b Meganser, 8 Eider,  4 Shag, 2 Tysties, 188 Common Gulls, 56 Herring Gulls and 6 Gbb Gulls.

Peter and Mike, the other day, had 2 Groppers (Grasshopper  Warblers!!!) between Ellister and Port Wemyss, with Lesser Redpolls heard calling around Octofad and later on up at Bruichladdich.

Yesterday afternoon, Peter had a small group of 8 Sandwich Terns off  Bruichladdich.

Friday 19th April

A day for cutting the grass, and it took some time to complete, but the job is now off the "must do" list...Still no emails coming through, peaceful in some ways but...

Mike today had seen a Jack Snipe this morning down at Ellister when he was doing his stint on the Tystie survey. He said that on his stint, he had counted 26 Tysties. Out on the bay out from his house in Port Charlotte, he had spotted 3 Sandwich Terns, and he also heard a Whitethoat calling away while he was up at his allotment. Also seen there by Mike were 2 Lesser Redpolls, the first seen there this Spring. 

This evening, I saw a pair of Siskin out on the feeders, wonder whether they were here last year??? Out on the newly worked piece of ground there was a small flock of around 40 Linnets. Earlier on, mid afternoon, next door I found a head off a male Chaffinch on the ground, and then shortly afterwards when to speaking to a friend, we saw the cuplrit carrying another male Chaffinch in its' mouth, a Stoat. Just before tea time I found the  remains of third male Chaffinch, so I willl have to find a way of catching the said Stoat!!!

Wednesday 17th April

Alistair Hutchison from Bowmore was in touch today with a couple of sightings. The other day, he had  seen a Blackcap in the woods at Bridgend, between Islay House and Blue Houses . Earlier on in the week, he had seen a Dipper on the River Sorn, just above the Woollen Mill.

James, today had a male Brambling in his garden at Mill cottage. On the floods at Gruinart,  20 Blackwit were present with 10 Barnies seen on the flats. This evening, Mike saw 6 Sandwich Terns and also 2 Commic Terns out on Loch Indaal. Up at Foreland House, there were Willow Warblers and Chiffchaff seen and heard everywhere. Also present were plenty of Swallows with some returning Lesser Redpolls displaying there as well.

Monday 3rd September

A better sort of a day with a glorious sunset coming in shortly, so here is hoping for another good day tomorrow, mainly to allow the farmers another crack at cutting their barley...Distillery Dave was telling me earlier this evening that he had a count of around 400 Greylags early this morning, on the silage aftermaths down at Rockside. This evening, a few moments ago, the geese were in the air, but appeared to "drop" in to the barley crop...

"JD" had a flock of 160 Linnet and also 55 Goldfinch at Carnain this morning. Up at Gruinart, the female Ruff was still present as were 2 Whooper Swans, presumably the 2 that have been summering there... Craigens held a flock of 120 Linnet and then between Craigens and Coullabus, a Whitethroat and 4 juvenile Whinchat were present. Up at Braigo, he saw 12 Lesser Redpoll and 2 House Martin. Along at the road end leading to Coull, a Sparrowhawk was sitting on a fence post. Down on Machir Bay, he had 30 Ringed Plover and 4 Turnstone. This afternoon, he saw 22 Knot, 6 Barwit, a Blackwit and also 41 Wigeon down at Loch Indaal.

A 10 minute spot of bird watching mid afternoon, here at home proved to be quite productive, with 2 Golden Eagle, 2 Peregrine, 3 Buzzard and a Sparrowhawk all seen out along and over the crag. The Peregrines chased the Eagles away with the Sparrowhawk  being mobbed by many lbjs and Swallows..

Thursday 28th June

Another wee cracker of a day... James said it was s hot a day on Islay that he can remember, his thermometer reached 24 degrees at one time this afternoon.
On the bird front some sightings through from James as well.. Today, he had seen 3 Whinchat, 2 Stonechat, a Willow Warbler, a Sedge Warbler a Reed Bunting and also 2 Lesser Redpoll, all on one bush on the reserve at Gruinart.

Friday 30th June

Well, that is almost another month in and come to think of it half of 2017 is almost past. So come tomorrow evening, as ever I will be able to reveal as to how much rain we have had in June, wetter than last June, but by how much? As it has been dry outside today, I have been  out in the garden for most of the time. I did manage see some birds mind you... 2 Peregrine flew over the top of the crag, 2 Ravens came out and practised some acrobatic flying stunts, a nicely coloured Linnet on the garden wall, a male Redpoll was a pleasant sight along with the colourful Siskins quarrelling amongst themselves on the feeders. On the back doorstep, the "friendly" male Blackbird waited patiently for Margaret to come out with his food... and then there was the daily flypast by the neighbourly Choughs while out on the grass our 2 local Hooded crows brought their 2 youngsters to show them off to us.

Monday 15th May

Yesterday, Phill carried out his WeBS count on the lochs down on the Oa. Birds noted were 17 Greylags with 5 Goslings,1 Curlew, 25 Lbb Gull, 42 H Gull, 1 Gbb Gull, 6 Oystercatcher, 6 Lapwing, 6 Common Sandpiper, 9 Mallard and 3 ducklings, 2 Tufted Duck and a Teal. Other birds seen were Sand Martin, Swallow, Linnet, Wheatear, Lesser Redpoll, 2 Buzzard, Twite, Skylark and Mipits. Today, as forecast, it has been rather wet, a good steady rain rather than a downpour, so it will be of some use.. Mandy had seen a male Hen Harrier carrying its' prey in talons, Mandy thought it looked  like a vole.. Today, the Bowland birders had also seen a male Hen Harrier down near to Gortan, along at the merse at Bridgend, 2 Barnies were seen, one with an injured left wing. Back at Port Charlotte through the day, have been spotting plenty of Arctic Terns flying up Loch Indaal. Today, here at home, we reverted back to the old way of feeding the birds.. as it was so windy, we put the food on the ground, rather than risk the feeders getting bashed in the wind...

Thursday 1th May

I managed to catch these 3 young Chough siting out on our garage roof, earlier this evening, a Great Tit was on one feeder with a Blue Tit seen on one of the other feeders... Mid afternoon, Margaret had a count of 10 Pale bellied Brent at Blackrock.  Phill, today had been out in the field where he had a male and a ringtail Hen Harrier, Siskin, a Chaffinch (it had found a tree in an otherwise upland area), 8 Lesser Redpoll, 4 Common Sandpiper, 3 Grey Heron, 4 Whinchat, a Cuckoo, and "numerous Sedge Warblers, Willow Warblers and Whitethroats". The Bowland birders had been down on the Oa today as well, like the rest of us, making the most of the good spell of weather which we are enjoying at present.. They saw pr of Golden Eagle, a male Hen Harrier, Kittiwake on the cliffs, Fulmar over the sea, small passage of Gannets, 2 Chough, Skylarks, Mipits, Swallows, Wheatear and Stonechat.

Dave forwarded the info of the Lesser Redpoll female which has been here since the 21st of April. It was rung on Hollesley Heath in Suffolk back on 29th December 2015, and is now 662 km from there now.

Wdnesday 3rd May

I managed to get the camera out to take this image of a Wheatear, taken on Sunday when we were out up towards Killinallan. This morning, I looked out the window and at the foot of the bird table and saw a Goldfinch, a female Lesser Redpoll, a male Siskin,  a female Chaffinch and a Starling. The Goldfinch and the Redpoll both were wearing leg rings, but too far off to read them.

Wednesday 11th May

Another glorious day out here today, earlier this morning Carol Kirkwood on the BBC weather forecast  stated that at that point Islay was hottest place in the UK, and that was before 8am... Possibly all contributors have gone sunbathing today as not a lot to report so far. Last night when we down watching the Hawfinch, there were also 3 Siskins present along with Chaffinches, Goldfinches and a couple of Greenfinches as well. Here at home today, there was a Lesser Redpoll and a couple of Greenfinches apart from our usual Goldfinches etc. This evening along at Rockside on the barley fields were 38 Greylags while at Ballinaby, 10 Golden Plover and 4 Dunlin were seen. Speaking with Bob last night, we were both of the same opinion that we thought that there were more Cuckoos around this year...  The Bowland birders today had seen the Garganey drake on the left hand flood in front of the viewing platform. Also there were 2 Whoopers. Along at the North hide/new hide/ Taigh Tuath, 3 Ruff were spotted along with a Snipe and a Mistle Thrush. A walk round Ardnave Point produced 5 Little Terns & 2 Sandwich Terns. There was also a steady movement of Arctic Terns, around 1 flew past every minute for over an hour. Other birds seen included 60 Barwits, 30 Ringed Plover, 25 Sanderling, 7 Dunlin and 6 Whimbrel. Back at the steading , 2 different Corncrakes were heard with a pair of Tufties seen on the Loch

Thursday 11th February

What a glorious day, with the sighting of snow up on Mull and also on the hills down on Ireland as well, and then this evening, it was great to see the International Space Station cross the sky, all going well we will see the ISS as it passes by again shortly...

Yesterday, Gary had ben at Finlaggan where he saw 75 Whitefronts and 300 Barnies in the fields at the loch. On the water, 3 Dabchick, 5 Tufties, 7 Goldeneye, 12 Mallard, 22 Teal and an Otter were present! Behind Finlaggan House, a flock of 30 Lapwings took off from the fields there. There was a ringtail Hen Harrier sitting on a fence post down at the plantation, 7 Buzzards were seen in total in the air around the loch while a distant Golden Eagle was far out over the hills with a male Hen          Harrier out quartering the rough grazing close to the centre. 6 Lesser Redpoll were flying between the plantation and the trees around Finlaggan House. 9 Tufties were on Loch nan Cadhan and Gary had a Fieldfare flying from the trees beside his house. Peter had noted 11 Purple Sandpipers at Bruichladdich from the comfort of his lounge...Colin and Alison had a busy day again yesterday, starting with the same Sandpipers at Bruichladdich, they also had a Redshank and 8 Ringed Plover there too. Along past Carn out of Port Charlotte they had a RB Merganser, 15 Common Scoter, 8 RTD and 20 GND out on Loch Indaal. At Portnahaven, a Sparrowhawk was seen, while off Frenchman's Rocks, 2 Gannets were flying South. They also had large numbers of Auks flying South too  but the identification proved difficult. Up at Machir Bay, the Glaucous Gull was seen as were 40 Twite and 6 Chough.  Along near to Coull, a Peregrine was spotted, a fantastic day by all accounts! Today, Heather Watkins, of RSPB fame, had heard a Great spotted Woodpecker drumming away close to Tallant. Heather also saw a Grey Wagtail near by and a flock of 50 Lapwings on the wing at Tallant too.

Saturday 20th April

A distant image of an Arctic Redpoll taken on the reserve at Gruinart by Michal. Today, he saw a Chiffchaff at Moulin on the reserve. Malcolm today heard a Cuckoo down at Foreland. Yesterday, Mary had a Sedge Warbler out catching prey down at Portnahaven. She also had seen some Marsh Frit larvae on the heather. Also yesterday, over on Jura, while coming down the Paps, Armin had a Short eared Owl. Been a good day here at home too, starting of with 2 prs of returning Swallows, one up in the shed and another in the back porch! Out on the willows at the back of the garden wall, a Willow Warbler was present this morning. The feeders this afternoon have been busy, up to 12 Goldfinches at one time, a pr of Siskin seen, the best one was a  Lesser Repoll present too. Over at Gruinart, a visitor reported a Redstart, and James had 7 Wheatear and counted 5 Sand Martins on the reserve. All we need now is for the Corncrakes to return...think positive 

Monday 3rd October

A bit windier today compared to yesterday. White wagtail has been seen on the Loch Gruinart Reserve. Flock of 60 goldfinches and 20 redpolls were seen feeding on thistles. Down on the floods in front of the hide number of ducks is growing steadily with over 110 teal and 4 shovelers also a pair of mute swans with 7 cygnets. A visitor reported a white-tailed eagle from the top of Loch Gruinart. James had merlin, 4 mistle thrushes and male and female hen harrier on the reserve. Bob saw two different sparrowhawks at Port Charlotte as well as merlin and male hen harrier. Also at Gartmain he had 300 wigeon, 1 female pintail, 2 brent geese, 10 bar-tailed godwits and male peregrine. Visitors reported 30 choughs in Ardnave and male hen harrier at Lyrabus

Sat 6th November

Peter Clement who was leading a tour for Naturetrek on Islay and Jura last week was in touch last night with some of their sightings. They had seen the Green winged Teal at Gruinart, and while they were there had seen a group of Long tailed Tits. Later in the week they saw another group over at Ballygrant. When over on Jura, both Golden Eagle and White tailed Sea Eagle and also Sparrowhawk were added to their list. In Small Isles Bay at Craighouse, 4 Great northern Diver and a Dipper were present while a flock of Lesser Redpoll were seen at Craighouse itself. A male Bullfinch was seen at Inver with a Barn Owl out hunting over the moor. Some Brambling were seen through the week and a few Siskin too. 2 Kestrel and a Merlin were noted from the "Glen" road after Ballygrant. A great week enjoyed by all despite the weather!

RAFOS departed this morning, with over 100 species on their list, wonder who won the sweep and had to buy the customary round of drinks??? Albert and Hazel Percival also headed home today and their only regret was not seeing a Golden Eagle this visit..... It's not easy pleasing everyone!

Carl had been out on his bike today. He had a single Purple Sandpiper along with Turnstone and Ringed Plover at Bruichladdich and a Slavonian Grebe off the Uiskentuie Strand. A Stonechat was at Lyrabus Croft and there were 3 family groups of Whoopers in front of the hide at Gruinart along with Pintail, Shoveler and a single Dabchick. On his way home Carl had a huge flock of Redwings at Octomore which he estimated to be over 1,000 birds. There were also a few Fieldfare present too. There was also a Great northern Diver on Loch Indaal off Brybruaich Farm.

Wed 5th may

This is an image of the Common Crane that was seen yesterday.

On the reserve at Gruinart yesterday, James had 2 Carrion Crow, 4 Grasshopper Warbler, 3 Water Rail, 6 Whitethroat, 2 Lesser Redpoll, 5 Canada Geese, 5 Gadwall and a Peregrine Falcon. Today on the reserve James had 2 Lesser Redpoll, 475 Dunlin, 80 Ringed Plover and 4 Sanderling. The waders he reckons are gathering up before heading off to Iceland to breed. James had done count of 160 Rooks nest around the reserve as well.