Thursday 18th June

Gary earlier on this evening sent through this cracking image of a Rose coloured Starling seen in a garden in Bowmore today....

David Wood had seen a Puffin and also a Bonxie  down on the Oa, also today.

Armin was in touch to say that he had seen a Little Egret  in some trees as he was out on his walk first thing this morning along the canal down beside where he lives in Berkshire. Shortly afterwards he saw a Red Kite , but as it was raining quite heavily, he was unable to take any images of either bird!!

Monday 3rd June

Coming over on the ferry on Saturday to Islay on Saturday, David and Catherine Scott had seen 3 Puffins and also an Arctic Tern. Yesterday, they had found another nest site of a Great spotted         Woodpecker, this one was in the woods up from Bridgend. It is David and Catherine's first visit to Islay, and had met up with a few of us at the British Birdfair at Rutland over the past few years.

John and Karen loked up today for a cuppa and catch up, they too have been visiting Islay and also us at Rutland and were telling me that they had seen a White tailed Eagle the other day up behind Port Charlotte, earlier on during their present visit. Great to see you both!!!

Ken Reeves e mailed to say that he too is over this week, and from the ferry he had seen 2 BTD and then a Golden Eagle flying low over Jura as the ferry sailed up the Sound of Islay towards Port Askaig yesterday.  Below where Ken and his family group are staying, they heard 2 different Corncrakes calling. Down towards Portnahaven, at Easter Ellister, they saw the Velvet Scoter on the pond ....  Ken is another returning visiting birder and good friend from his numerous visits both to Islay and also to us at Rutland. 

Wednesday 11th July

Some sightings though from George E Jackson and his wife Pat. Back on Saturday, while out on their son's rib, while en route to Gigha, there was not to much to report apart from some Auks and the occasional Gannet. At one point, while they were traveling along at around 30 mph, a line of half a dozen Auks came from behind and overtook them. They increased their speed to 50mph for a few minutes and even at that sped the Awks were still faster than they were... On Monday down below Rockside, they heard a Sedge Warbler and then shortly afterwards, an adult Whinchat was seen out on the garden fence.. Early afternoon, they saw a Grey Wagtail over at The Woollen Mill and also 5 Siskins plus a vey young Siskin on the feeders there. Later on, out on the rib with their son Matthew on a short trip out round the Oa proved quite a success with around 50 Kittiwakes and 200 Razorbills were seen on their nesting ledges, with 2 Puffins and more Razorbills and some Tysties were seen out on the water.

Yesterday, George and Pat carried another hard, but productive  session here with their mist nets, with a total of 53 birds being rung and 8 retraps. The most interesting bird was a retrapped male Siskin wearing a ring from Holland, so once we hear back from Holland we will let you know more history of the bird. So all in all a total of 143 birds rung with 20 retraps over the 3 sessions.

Wednesday 3rd February

I looked at the wind speed at one point today, it was not even registering 10 mph... to make the point as well, I was working outside repairing the guards around the trees and replacing some of the supporting stakes which needed sorted out!!! While I was outside, the Chough were out and about, vocal as ever, a flock of 21 Lapwing were flying out towards the War graves cemetery. Later on our way to Bridgend, there were 2 Buzzards perched on the same telegraph pole just past Rockside and at Blackrock, there was a raft of 44 Scaup. Bob, today had been over towards Claggain Bay where he saw a White Tailed Eagle on the ground, being mobbed by a Golden Eagle! Gary had been out on the Rhinns seeing 7 Buzzard, 5 Stonechat, 4 Mistle Thrush and several large flocks of Starlings on his travels. On Orsay Island,  Gary counted 45 H Gull, 4 GBB Gull and an Iceland Gull. Off Claddach, he saw 25 Gannet, 21 Kittiwake, 3 Black Guillemot, 10 Guillemot, 2 Puffin, 10 Fulmar and 3GND. Coming back up to Port Charlotte by Kilchiaran, a Golden Eagle was seen and then a Merlin at Cultoon. Finally at Bruichladdich 21 Ringed Plover,7 Dunlin, 9 Purple Sandpiper and a Redshank were present

Sunday 17th January

Lesley had a couple of Brambling amongst the finch flock at her house close to Carraig Fhada at Port Ellen, on Friday and Saturday, but no sign of them today! Today was the day for the WeBS count, so Bob and myself carried out our patch from Bowmore down to Gartbreck, Gary at the same time covered from Port Charlotte back round to Blackrock.. The weather was a bit inclement, but we battled on and got the job done! On our patch, we saw 26 species with Gary having 19, but of interest was the change in species noted, we had no Divers, or Eiders, but we had Teal, and Shelduck. Gary did not have as many waders as us but he had not the shoreline to expect them on really either. Gary also had 3 Kittiwakes as well as a poorly Puffin, which now has passed on...

Monday 19th may

A bit of a late entry I know, but when I normally write the "post" this evening we were in the middle of a spectacular thunder and and lightening storm along with some torrential rain, so here goes.... The Bowland birders yesterday seen 2 Barwits along with a Whooper from the viewing platform at Gruinart, along at Blackrock they saw 2 Little Terns and 3 Arctic Terns,and from Bridgend they walked round the Claggain strip where they had Willow Warbler, 2 Mistle Thrush, 2 pr of Bullfinches, heard Chiffchaff, Great Tit,Blue Tit, Treecreeper and Buzzard all seen. Peter Donaldson yesterday had seen 2 Cuckoos being chased by 2 Meadow Pipits down at Easter Ellister, one of the Cuckoos made of, leaving the other to face the music... this continued for around 10 - 15 minutes with the said Cuckoo getting moved along a fence line from one stob to the next one along a length of around 100 metres before going onto the telegraph wire! Ken and Sal yesterday had 78 different species yesterday alone, a great start to their visit, their highlights included seeing good numbers of Greenland Wheatears at Ballinaby and also up at Sanaigmore, as well as the Northern Wheatears all through their day, also at Sanaigmore they heard 2 Corncrakes calling. On the way up to Killinallan they saw 6 Whimbrel and also a Little Tern feeding, they also saw 4 GND there, as well as 3 in the bay at Sanaigmore. Down from Port Wemyss they reported a steady stream of Gannets fly past in groups of 10- 20, lots of Razorbills, lots of Guillemots, 2 Puffins, over 10 Kittiwakes and a few Fulmars. Today Bob had come up and counted the mixed flock of Ringed Plover/ Dunlin that we had seen yesterday evening, Bob counted 300 Ringed Plover and 50 Dunlin, we checked before the "storm" this evening and they had all moved on...Bob also was telling me of seeing 2 prs of Stonechats out with their new broods up beside his house, great! Dave had an Osprey down at Kilnaughton Bay today, back on the reserve on the Oa, he had the Iceland Gull present and also saw a Spotted Flycatcher while Mark had a Bullfinch there as well.

Thursday 25th July

Visiting birder Stephen from the Lothians sent some of his sighting through. Stephen has been staying down the Port Ellen end of Islay during his stay. Close to his cottage, he had seen a Barn Owl, a Grasshopper Warbler heard close to Cornabus, off Kintra 4 RTD were noted, at Cragabus and further on at Upper Killeyan fledged Stonehats were seen. Highlights from a 3 hour sea watch on the Oa included 590 Manx Shearwaters  flying South, 3 flying North, 376 Gannets  flying South, 44 North. On the water, 1 Puffin South and 2 North. Today George has seen 4 Moorhen chicks out and George reckons they are around 6 - 7 days old. The Arctic Terns on the shore have moved on but are still to be seen out over Loch Indaal. George also had seen 4 fledged Reed Buntings around his ponds

Wednesday 10th July

Not so warm today, but a haar rolled in from the sea late yesterday and did not lift until late this morning, it also put the Jura ferry off at 18.30 with some folk stranded on Jura! I forgot to mention that we saw around 50 Sand Martins hawking over on of the barley fields at Rockside yesterday mid afternoon. Mark Shields, Dave's new assistant down on the Oa sent some sightings through. Last Friday, Mark saw a Puffin on the bay below Dun Athad. On Sunday he watched a Golden Eagle being mobbed by 5 Peregrines. Yesterday there were 30 Swifts over the Oa, other groups seen earlier this year have all been small groups. Mark had counted 160 Guillemots including 4 Bridled Guillemots. Peter had heard a Grasshopper Warbler while going down to the Lily Loch the other day. With the haar being in through the night, the sheep were damp first thing, but were dry later on, so finished giving them their annual haircut,  job done!!!!

Monday 17th June

Yesterday, Martin took his birdwatching to a new level, canoeing from Arbeg round to Port Ellen, what a great day to do it on! On Texa, he had seen nesting Shag, as well as Razorbills nesting there too along with a large colony of Gulls. On Texa itself, Martin had seen loads of Greylags along with goslings, but had seen 2 goslings being taken by some of the black backed gulls! Other birds seen on his trip were Arctic Terns, Buzzard, Raven, Black Guillemot, Eider, Mallard, Gannet and Oystercatcher. They also had a an Otter swimming close to the canoes! Visiting birder Viv, had seen a Puffin in a poorly state up at Ardnave yesterday, perched on a rocky outcrop.

Friday 21st September

A different tack tonight, we have had a beautiful day out here all day, blues skies from dawn to dusk, more tomorrow by the sounds of the weather forecast.... it is a bit cooler tonight, but I should not complain... Yesterday evening once it had faired up , Tom and Jo had a mixed flock consisting of 70+ Repolls, 75+ Goldfinches, 50+ Chaffinches, 8 Siskin and 3 Greenfinches close to where there are staying over towards Mulindry. Along the road, near to Cluanach, there were 16 Song Thrushes, 25 Blackbirds and 2 Blackcaps. Today, Bob had been down at Frenchman's Rocks while he was there 45 Pink footed Geese flew past, and Peregrine was content to be perched on the rocks watching all flying past. Just before lunchtime, he had a Common Crane take off from a field at Octofad at Port Charlotte, it flew out over Loch Indaal, over in the direction of Laggan Point. Earlier in the week, Bob had 3 Puffins fly South past Frenchman's Rocks. Over on the reserve at Gruinart, James had 4 Greenland Whitefronted Geese and also a Peregrine. Mid afternoon, we had the 2 Snow Geese amongst the Greylags on one of the lochans below Rockside, and this evening they are up in "Minister's field" on the grass, but heading towards the crop of standing barley....

Thursday 24th May

John Legassick, one of the RAFOS team who were over last week, kindly sent through this image of a Siskin taken over at The Woolen Mill, thanks John. The Osprey was seen last night flying high over the reserve at Gruinart while we were all looking for the calling Corncrakes at ground level... Danny and Dave had a count of 45 Greylags at Ballinaby yesterday and James while he was doing his survey work on the reserve at Gruinart had a Grey Plover in summer plumage and later on a Grasshopper Warbler. Andrew had a pr of Barnacle Geese down at Blackrock, on Ballygrant Loch a male Scaup and a possible Ring necked Duck. Today the sun has been shining bright all day, the temperature got up to 19 degrees! Bob and Rob had been down at Frenchman's Rocks this morning and had a Bonxie, a Puffin passing along with some Razorbills. There were Gannets too, Arctic Terns and also Manx Shearwater seen. Up at Ellister there were a pr of Scoter seen. Over on Jura, they had a male Yellowhammer up at Lealt. Also seen on Jura was a Kestrel, male Bullfinch, and Spotted Flycatcher as well as quite a few Cuckoos. We saw 2 pr of Greylags out with goslings along at Sunderland Farm, one brood had 5, the other had 6. Later on Danny and Dave had another pr with 4 goslings also in the same field. Michal had Redshank with 3 young out on Gruinart today.

Friday 5th August

A not bad day out here, no complaints, even had the flymo out cutting those awkward pieces of grass.....George had 2 young Herons and an adult Heron down at Bruichladdich. He also saw an adult Linnet feeding young. A Greenfinch was in at his feeders, and he has seen a few more Wrens around of late. A visitor told me last night that they had seen a dead Puffin over at Saligo Bay, wonder if it was the same bird that was seen over there in poor condition. Bob had been over at Kintra this afternoon and had seen a Merlin, 2 Red throated Divers, 10 Chough, a flock of around 100 moulting Eider, 150 Greylags and 2 Common Sandpiper.

Saturday 23rd July

Bob had been up at Ardnave today with a visiting birder and had seen the Rose coloured Starling, good to hear that it is still here. While they were up there, they also saw a Peregrine Falcon, 1 Buzzard, 15 Twite, 2 Great Skuas flew in from Eilean Beag, (one of the islands beside Nave Island) . Out on the islands Bob had a count of 380 Greylags, and back on Ardnave Loch, the pair of Tufted Ducks were present with their 4 young. Other visitors who were up there this afternoon had heard a couple of Corncrakes calling. A Corncrake was heard in the dunes behind Machir Bay yesterday, while along at Saligo Bay on a rock was a rather bedraggled Puffin in a sorry state. Back here at home this afternoon, out over the crag were 39 Chough, boy are they hard to count!

Sun 20th June

This afternoon James had a walk round Ardnave Point. He saw a flock of 41 Bar tailed Godwit, a late entry and also good numbers of them too. On the water, he had a nursery of 21 Eider ducklings of differing sizes and ages.... Over on Nave Island, he saw a Greylag with a lot of white plumage, could this be the same goose that we had out in the field here at home earlier on this year? Over the water towards Nave Island were quite a few Terns fishing, both Arctic and Little. On the shoreline, James found a dead Puffin complete it's colourful beak. He also had a couple of Common Sandpiper, while on Ardnave Loch the Mute Swans were showing of their 6 cygnets. Several Tufted Duck were also present.

Thurs 17th June

With the weather still holding so good, James took the opportunity and decided yesterday to head over to Colonsay for the day. It actually turned out to be a visit to Oronsay, as the tides were really good. On the way to Colonsay, from the ferry at the mouth of the Sound of Islay/ Loch Tarbert on Jura, a Minke Whale was seen, it surfaced 7 times! A Puffin was in the same area, 2 Great northern Diver in summer plumage and 10 Manx Shearwater were also seen from the ferry, while on Oronsay, James had a Red throated Diver.

Sun 16th May

Carl had been on the road past Mulindry today and had counted 24 Raven feeding in one of the "pig enclosures". Off Port Charlotte, on Loch Indaal he had seen a Great Northern Diver in full summer plumage, and down at Portnahaven he had heard a Corncrake calling. Michal was saying today that he has 0ver 20 calling birds so far, but early days yet...

Malcolm was in touch to say that he had heard there was an injured Mute Swan with possibly a broken wing down at Carnain yesterday, so we are wondering if it is the male bird from the pair down there as Malcolm had seen the female still on the nest. We will keep you informed if we hear anything more. Still on Swans, there are 5 immature Mute around from Bowmore back up to Gartmain, so are these the same ones that were seen frequently through the Winter/ Spring in the same area, less their parents?

Another set of visitors in this week, had 14 Great Northen Diver coming out from Kennacraig last night in West Loch Tarbert, along with 1 Red throated Diver. Coming into Port Ellen, they had counted a further 12 GND. Also on the crossing, close to the ferry they had seen a Puffin near to the mouth of the Sound of Islay. Guillemots, Razorbills, Tysties and some Gannets were also seen coming over. Today, they had 22 Golden Plover on the North end of Machir Bay, and heard a Corncrake calling in the reedbed beside Machir Bay. 2 Sedge warblers were heard calling there too and at least 30 Sand Martin were flying over the reeds. Up at Traigh Nostaig on Ardnave were 20 Sanderling, 1 Grey Plover, 18 Dunlin 5 Turnstone and a few Ringed plover. 18 GND were counted off shore as they walked round Ardnave Point. Down at Saligo Bay they had seen a male Stonechat with 3 juvenile birds, and further on they had seen a pair carrying food.

The visitors who had given in sightings over the past few weeks were Chris and Ray Bertera from Frodsham in Cheshire who had been visiting for a fortnight, many thanks to them, especially as it was them who initially saw the Common Crane.

Fri 6th - Fri 13th July 07

Apologies for the lateness of the blog, partly due to my fault, and partly due to the fact that some of our contributors are away on holiday, J.R.H. in the Scilly Isles and R.A.S. on St Kilda!
35 Mergansers were observed at the mouth of Loch Gruinart. M.S.
Over on Jura, one pair of the Short eared Owls have successfully fledged 4 young, while down on the bay there was a sighting of Shelduck with a creche of 16 ducklings. Earlier on, in June, during a Sea bird survey between the North end of Islay and Colonsay, 2 Puffins were recorded. L.G. & G.M.
The Webs Count this week at Gruinart gave the following birds, 8 GBB Gulls, 2 LBB Gulls, 105 Herring Gulls, 22 BH Gulls, 151 Common Gulls, 1 Little Gull, 35 Curlew, 2 Whimbrel, 84 Bar Tailed Godwits, 268 Oystercatchers, 47 Eider Duck, 9 Knot, 16 Dunlin and 1 Peregrine Falcon. The Peregrine was later seen taking an Oystercatcher, so should the count read 267?
There has been a regular sighting of a Tawny Owl over at R.S.P.B. Loch Gruinart reserve. C.F.
Out and about on Islay there have several sightings of Raven out with their young. S.McG.