Wednesday 15 September

Bit quite on the birding front today. Just the usual customers about the village and croft down this south-west corner of the island. 

Gary had 2 white tailed eagles on the wreck at the head of Loch Indaal, while at Loch Gruinart James spotted the regular osprey as well as noting ruff present.

Ed reported hearing red deer stags roaring for the first time this autumn, in the forestry at Cornabus. 

Tuesday 6th October

Rather a poor sort of a day with the weather, it was that bad I got a wetting twice as I was caught out in a couple of dirty showers when working out in the garden... say no more on that count

Almost forgot the rainfall figures from around Islay for the month of September Dr Matt Jackson's weather station came in at 3.8 inches, up her at home it was 4.35inches with Marsali beating us all at 5.84 inches over at Mulindry.

Peter Gill today had seen 3 House Martins down at Bruichladdich, a Wheatear was seen at the side of the road round at Lossit, with a Grey Wagtail seen on the burn leading down to Kilchiaran bay. Finally Peter had counted 13 Whoopers up at Craigens this afternoon.

James today had seen a Yellow browed Warbler on the reserve at Gruinart and also counted 9,320 Barnies, 2 small Canadas or Cackling geese and also  2 P b Brents as well.

Peter Roberts met in with James who kindly showed him the YBW, and  another tick for the Autumn, the arrival of 10 Greenland white fronted Geese. Peter also had a single Ruff out on the floods at Gruinart.

David Dinsley who is now in place, as he replaced Phill Catton as Dave Wood's assistant down on the Oa, has had an eventful baptism. he was present to se the Hoopoe last week, and then the YBWs on the Oa yesterday and today he had seen on the loch at Kinnabus of the possible N. American race of Bewick's Swan called Whistling Swan. It flew off before anyone else could get there to check it out. Peter believes it may be only a 3rd for UK if it turns out to be an accepted record?

Saturday 3rd October

 Gary had braved the elements today and managed to send some birds seen by him this morning..

"Loads of Barnacle Geese landing on the sand at Bridgend and Gartmain this morning. There was a small brown goose amongst them that I couldn’t I’d. Also a cross Barnie / Canada Goose.

Female Pintail at Gartmain, Golden Plover. Over 100 Brent Geese below the Gaelic college.

No sign of Hoopoe."

James had been out for a count of the geese etc. He had counted the following birds on the reserve at Gruinart..

8,635 Barnies, 2 small cackling Canada Geese, a Pink footed Goose, 2 Ruff present out from the North Hide and also a Sparrowhawk was seen nearby, He also counted 405 Greylags on Loch Gorm.

Up here at home we had 5 Linnets seen out on the Willows, a Siskin in the feeding cage, the first for along time, and then mid morning we saw a great visitor soaring about, not even flapping its wings at all, a White tailed Eagle and at the same time we saw a Golden Eagle which was flying along the top of the crag. Great to see them at the same time, boy what a size the WTE is  compared to the Golden Eagle. Then around 11am a Buzzard was seen  again, out along the crag

Thursday 3rd September

 Some birds seen by Gary today...

Carnain 9 Sanderling, on sand between Whin Park & Springbank,  two adult WTE hassling the gulls and scavenging their prey. Two Osprey on sand when tide out and the hunting the shallows as tide rose. 49 Black tailed Godwit, 2 Ruff from lay-by at Donald Bell's. He had been watching the Ospreys for over 3 hours. Mid afternoon, and he e mailed me through to say that over 20 Wigeon had just flown in, and then just after 4pm, he contacted me to say that there were now 3 Ospreys present....

Wednesday 9th October

Another mixed bag with the weather here again today, possibly not so many heavy dirty showers around, but certainly the wind has huffed and puffed for most of the day. On a really positive note, we have not had any of our ferries cancelled, with Port Askaig being the preferred port of arrival and departure, the advantage of having 2 ferry ports on Islay...

Some sightings from yesterday came through to me after I had written the blog last night....Top birds seen by Iain and Fiona from the North hide at Gruinart during a 2 hour stint in the afternoon included a male and also a ringtail Hen Harrier, a Ruff, 2 Redshank, over 250 Redshank, 100+ Wigeon, 30 Twite, 15 Pintail, 10 Shoveler, 150+ Golden Plover, 50+ Lapwing, 4 Herons, 15 Curlew, a juv. Gannet, 50 + Mallard, 15 Mipits, 10 Pied Wagtails, 2 Buzzard, 2 Song Thrush & 6 Snipe. They also had  seen some Rooks, Jackdaws, Starlings, Hooded Crows as well. They also commented on the "lack of geese" but put it down to the weather..  Also yesterday, Nick and Kath had seen 2 GNDs, and a RTD plus 19 Curlew and also 3 R b Merganser, all at Claggain Bay.

Today, Richard Belter had seen 16 Whoopers  over at Gruinart, down on the dunes at Machir Bay he had 4 Choughs. Along the road from here, at Sunderland, he had  30/40 Pinkies and also a further 20 Whoopers. To finish off his day he has spotted 2 Barnies back over at Gruinart. 

Here at home, the kettle has been whistling away good style, at first we had George E. Jackson and his wife Pat before they headed out to the ferry and just as they left here, Richard came in for a catch up, great to see you all folks, all made very welcome....

Tuesday 3rd September

Another wet day out here again, so yet again the combines were not out, and not much birding reported in either....

JD had ventured  out today and his top birds were a juv. Ruff on the ponds at Saligo gate and then he also had an Osprey flying over the merse at Bridgend . Up here this evening, we have been watching a Raven and a Buzzard having a tussle, up in the air outside, great to watch.

Sunday 1st September

Might as well put you all out of your misery,.. Yes, August has turned out to be the wettest month so far for 2019, only a mere 6.25 inches in total, so it was just as well that I emptied out the gauge before the end of the  month, as I doubt that it would not have held it all...

Today, "JD" has been out and about... At Frenchman's Rocks, he had a Whimbrel and also a Great Skua. At Gruinart, he saw 8 juv. Ruff, 48 juv. Black tailed Godwit and a Greenshank, up at Ardnave, he counted 12 Greenland Wheatear and saw another 8 on his travels. Finally, on his way back to his cottage, he counted 18 Mistle Thrush at Gearach/ Gleann Mor.

Saturday 31st August

Well, in some ways it turned out a better day than I expected, in the aspect that it did stop raining and has so far remained dry since then.. Wait for the monthly figure which I will have for you tomorrow...

Old friend "JD" is back over for another "Islay bird fix".. Coming over to where he is staying on the Rhinns early afternoon, he had a count of 89 Red Knot at the head of Loch Indaal. Later on in the afternoon, a visit to Gruinart provided him with the following birds seen and counted...112 Red Knot , 96 Blackwit, 4 Ruff, 3 Greenshank, 16 Turnstone, 12 Pintail, a juvenile Peregrine,   a ringtail Hen Harrier. Up the East side of Loch Gruinart, he had 6 Greenland Wheatears as well as plenty of Dunlin, Sanderling, Barwits, and also Ringed Plover all seen but not counted. As he drove around "JD" had seen another 6 Greenland Wheatears.

Thursday 22nd August

Yesterday, James had seen a Ruff and also 34 Black tailed Godwits on the reserve at Gruinart. This morning, before the weather broke down (big style...), James had the following birds seen again at Gruinart.... 43 Bar tailed Godwits, 20 Knot, 2 Osprey, a Merlin and a Peregrine.

While I remember, the monthly meeting/ catch up of the Islay bird nerds will be held on Tuesday 27th, at 6 pm. We shall be meeting at the car park at Killeyan on the Oa. If the meeting is in doubt, please contact David Wood on 01496 300118 by 5 pm for an update if there is a change in venue. Pleae note the earlier start....

Friday 26th April

A bit colder out here today, glad to have a jersey to wear...

Distillery Dave had seen 4 Canada Geese, a Barnacle goose and 10 Greylags on the newly germinated Barley fields at Rockside this morning. An early morning walk by Mike along the track to Bolsay gave him his first Whinchat for the year. He also had 5 Sedge Warblers and 2 Groppers while out on his walk. James had a Ruff on the reserve at Gruinart. Also seen were 24 Barnies, 4 Whitefronts and a Greylag with a neck collar fitted. On one of the grass fields at Rockside, George E Jackson had seen 34 Golden Plover and 7 Barwits and also a count of 13 Whimbrel. Mark Shields had seen a few Whinchats when he was carrying out his survey work today. Peter Gill had a count of 80 Golden Plover in a field down at the Coastguard cottages early afternoon, earlier on he had seen a male Hen Harrier and at the visitor centre at Gruinart he had 6 House Martins. Mike this afternoon when along at smelly corner had a Greenland Wheatear and also a Northern Wheatear which was great for being able to compare them. Back at home in Port Charlotte, Mike had seen 2 White Wagtails, he also commented on the Common Sandpipers being back as well.

Wednesday 19th September

James sent through a couple of sightings which he had yesterday, sent through too late for the deadline for yesterday's blog ....

On Loch Gruinart itself, James counted a total of 84 Pale bellied Brent Geese while on the reserve he saw 2 Ruff. Today, well the wind certainly picked up with plenty of rain in the mix too... It certainly has not helped my hairstyle, say no more !!!

Stop the press.. Just been watching the small cruise liner the "Black Watch" sailing past Coull Point, heading south, a bit close in for my liking... The other liner which sailed past night was the same vessel which broke its moorings earlier on today, over at Gourock ...

Tuesday 4th September

Marsali sent through the rainfall figure for August up at Mulindry, it came to 4.8 inches, so that is the second month that it has been drier at Mulindry rather than here at Kilchoman...

The weather turned out not too bad today, although it was later on before the combines started up as the dampness took a bit longer to lift ... so as well as the combines working away, some of the farmers had the balers out, making the most of this spell of weather.

"JD" today was in touch to say that he has now seen 4 Med. Gulls, the 2 seen today are second winter birds according to himself... At Blackpark, he had a count of 140 Linnet and up at Bun an Uillt, he had 31 Barwit, 14 Knot and also the female Ruff , or Reeve as some folk call them..Over at Ardnave, he saw 25 Twite, 80 Linnet, 40 "Alba" Wagtail, and 120 Mipits.   Out on Loch Indaal, 11 RTD and 55 Common Scoter were present. Up close to Bob's house, behind Port Charlotte, he saw a juv. Sparrowhawk and counted a flock of 80 Woodpigeon.

Sunday 5th August

Yesterday, James Butcher e mailed through to say that "waders numbers were on the up on Loch Gruinart". By the sounds of his correspondence, James had a bit of problem trying to count the waders because of the presence of a Peregrine which caused the waders to be on edge and a bit flighty... James count was as follows, over 800 Dunlin mainly adult birds with a few juveniles, 250 Ringed Plover, 200 Sanderling, 16 Barwits and also a juv. Ruff, the first Ruff he has seen so far this Autumn.

This morning, Distillery Dave had seen some Dunlin along with the Sanderling on Machir Bay, back up at Rockside he had seen 2 Blackwits. This morning, I counted 23 Whimbrel as they flew off the Machir and down towards the sea.

Thursday 17th May

Last Saturday, Mandy had heard a Chiffchaff singing in her garden over at Carnduncan, this morning with the dawn chorus, she had a Whitethroat singing away. Mark today had a male Ruff displaying out from the North hide at Gruinart. Up at Ardnave, Mark saw 4 Bonxies, 6 Little Terns and 14 Arctic Terns. Back here at home, the Tree Sparrows are still here, that is over a week that they have been present now.

Wednesday 28th March

Can' t take much more of this, another day and another meeting,it is a bit like waiting on a bus, you wait for ages and then 2 come along together... just getting past it!!!

Last Friday, on the 22nd of March, Paul Hathaway heard a Cuckoo calling down in Port Charlotte and then the following day Cathy Woods heard one calling down close to Octofad Farm. Today Peter Roberts had seen 2 Sandwich Terns down at Bruichladdich. Richard Belter saw 2 Ruff out from the South hide at Gruinart, a quick visit at Ardnave produced 2 Goldeneye along with several Chough. At Sanaigmore Bay RTD and also GND were present while down at Machir Bay, he had seen 8 Tysties. Andy and Martin along with their wives had been in for a natter today and while they were here, there were 3 Greenfinch, 2 Siskin out on the feeders, and then who was on the garden wall for a brief showing, a Wheatear. The Fulmars were wheeling about along the front of the crag showing us how they make flying look easy... Coming home this evening we spotted a Barn Owl I the headlights as we approached Springbank.  

Yesterday evening, we had our monthly meting of the Islay bird nerds, with 21 folk coming along. It proved quite a long but interesting meeting, the main thrust being about the Barnacle Goose cull that has been taking place here on Islay over the past few years. Dave Wood also spoke of the forthcoming surveys taking place this summer, so hopefully most of our resident band of "happy helpers" will be getting some more info from Dave of what is all involved.

Tuesday 6th March

A bit of a late day, but been rather a busy day today. Been a busy day from the birding point of view as well, so off we go..

Yesterday, Distillery Dave had seen a Golden Eagle at Sunderland Farm on his way to work. Also yesterday, David Wood watched a juv White tailed Eagle trying to unsuccessfully catch and drown a Merganser close to the shore at Kilnaughton Bay. Yesterday also, in the afternoon, visiting birder William Earp had a Golden Eagle as the ferry approached Port Askaig. This morning William saw a an Iceland Gull perched on top of the school roof in Bowmore. On the feeders in the garden of where he is staying , a female Siskin was present. Another visiting birder, Kathy had seen 5 Snow Bunting along at Carnain. Over at Gruinart, she saw 2 Ruff in a large mixed flock of Starlings, Golden Plovers and Lapwing as she was driving along the flats, after the turnoff up to Craigens.. She had also seen a juv White tailed Eagle trying to unsuccessfully nobble a goose down over the merse at Whin Park

Tuesday 6th February

This morning Bob had seen 4 Snow Buntings along the shoreline between Cash Kelly's and smelly corner. Not to be outdone, Phill saw the Todd's Canada Goose out of the office at Kinnabus. Just before lunchtime, I saw a ringtail Hen Harrier close to Sunderland, and this afternoon, Margaret saw another one up behind West Carrabus. Today, Steve Holiday had a Slav Grebe, 29 Common Scoter, 17 Eider, a Goldeneye and a GND on Loch Indaal seen from Bowmore. Further round Loch Indaal, Steve counted a raft of 20 Scaup. At Gruinart, he saw 3 Ruff, and upon Ardnave Loch, 2 Dabchick, 13 Tufted Duck and 4 Goldeneye were present. Finally, round at Rockside/ Kilchoman Distillery, he had 25 Chough.

Saturday 27th January

Yesterday, Gary had seen 4 Glaucous Gulls and 2 Iceland Gulls amongst other gulls in the fields on the high road, close to the junction that leads to Cruach and Bowmore. He also saw a Bullfinch flying across the road nearby from the plantation over to the scrubby trees beside the River Laggan. Today Distillery Dave had been up for a fix at Gruinart where he had large numbers of Dunlin and Golden Plover as well. Out from the South hide, Dave had 4 Greenshank and also 2 Ruff. On his way home, along the flats at Gruinart, Dave saw a Glaucous Gull. Mid afternoon, we had a Glaucous Gull flying towards us, as we approached Cash Kelly's former house and Blackrock.

As some of the BBC "Winterwatch" is being screened with footage from Islay, we have decided not to hold the "Islay bird nerds" evening out in the Lochside. We will be having it there, the following Tuesday, the 6th of February at 7.30pm when we will put a few pounds on eating some of Archie's finest food... a grand way to spend an evening and catch up with some friends....

Wednesday 25th October

This morning, Al Hart had done a "wee sea watch" from where the former wave power station was once, rather than brave the elements and go further out... Al had seen a Pomeranian Skua, 4 Bonxies, along with Gannets, Manx Shearwaters, Fulmars, Kittiwakes and Auks. Graham and Jo Morton today had seen a male Merlin, 3 Bullfinches, and a few Fieldfare as they headed up towards Bunnahabhain where they had 2 GND out on the water. Later on, they had seen 3 different ringtail Hen Harriers and an adult Golden Eagle, also a 1st winter Goldie there as well. They also saw Snipe and some Fieldfare as they drove along. At Neriby, 24 Whoopers and 20 Whitefronts were present while 2 Buzzard were seen over Claggain. Mike and Elspeth today had a "deliberately quieter" day, noting the GND in the harbour in Bowmore first thing, also there were 4 R B Mergansers.  Along at Blackrock, they had a Comic Tern. From the old hide at Gruinart, they had 2 Dabchick and a "very fine" male Ruff. The new hide had a lot of ducks but proved difficult due the lowish sun. Peter and Janet Roworth had over 550 Golden Plover, over 120 Lapwing and at least 24 Pied Wagtails on / over the flats at Gruinart today. Here at home, the Bramblings are still around, could it be all the food that is on offer that keeps them here? Along between Ballinaby and Leek, there were a few Fieldfares in the scrubby bushes along the roadside. Late this afternoon, I had a really close sighting of a ringtail as I walked round the back our garage, no need for the bins, and no camera to prove it either!! Richard and Pat Howells today had a juv Golden Eagle near to Feolin and also soon after 3 White tailed Eagles close by. They also saw a Woodcock at the other end of Jura, on the roadside, but no sign of any Ring Ouzels.

With the clocks changing this weekend, the Bird nerds meeting will be held inside, up at the Visitor Centre at Gruinart  on Tuesday evening at 7pm when our good friend Ed Burrell will give us an update on his work with the Whitefronted Geese

Saturday 30th September

This morning Gary and myself had a quick look around the in bye fields at Rockside. Highlights included a fly past by a Merlin and then nearer the end of our walk a single Ruff flew past . There were 10 Greylags close to the roadside with 12 Golden Plover seen in one of the fields adjacent to the march with Sunderland Farm. We also saw a single Red legged Partridge as well. We reckoned that there were over 100 Skylarks and a similar number of Meadow Pipits in the air. Other birds seen included Jackdaws, Hooded Crows, Starlings, Reed Bunting, Robins, Blackbirds, Chaffinches, House Sparrows with several Wrens lurking around the undergrowth as we walked around. Sam, Gary's other half, had been down walking their dog on Machir Bay where 39 Golden Plover were present. James had a Peregrine fly over the flats at Gruinart this afternoon. Down at Gortan, towards the spit, we saw a young Gannet on the water, close to the shore.