Wednesday 14th October

David and Nancy Massie sent me through the following birds seen  by them yesterday..

"Loch Gorm: 6 Redwings

Loch Skerrols: 160 Whoopers, 48 Tufted Duck, 100+ Wigeon

Finlaggan: 16 Fieldfares

Glen Road: 20 Fieldfares

Gruinart, North Hide: 4 Black Tailed Godwit, 18 Bar-tailed Godwits, 300+ Golden Plover, 1 Wood Sandpiper, female Sparrowhawk tried to take a Lapwing right in front of hide-spectacularly close!"

Ron McNab who hails from Linlithgow had seen the Wood Sandpiper as well at Gruinart from the North hide yesterday.

There was a reported sighting of a Short eared Owl seen over at Gruinart from Jack Fleming. 

Richard Belter had the Wood Sandpiper at  Gruinart this morning, he also saw a Merlin chasing a pipit on the woodland trail at Gruinart and then  mid morning, he saw a Cackling goose amongst the flock of Barnies over at Ballinaby.

Our good friend, Bob Davison had ben looking out his kitchen window, just after lunchtime today had a Golden Eagle spoofing the geese up from the field below his house, down towards Port Charlotte. It continued on flying out over Loch Indaal towards the Oa..

Visitor Johnathan Alder too has been making full use of the better spell of weather which we are having on Islay at present...

At least 2 WTE at Ardnave, ringtail Hen Harrier, many Chough, flock c150 Twite, 2 Razorbills, Raven, Golden and Grey Plover.

Sunday 9th June

Yesterday, Roger and Hazel Ferris had been over on Jura where they had seen 2 male Hen Harriers as well as a Short eared Owl
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Today, James had heard a Wood Warbler singing away when he was out on his bike and then shortly afterwards he saw a Swift flying over the river... No, not on Islay as James had been over on the mainland entering an "enduro cycling competition" which was based down in Innerleithen in the Scottish borders. The forest in which James was in was at Traquhair, with the river being the River Tweed!!!

Wednesday 24th April

A grand chance to clear out the sightings sent through over the past few days, so off we jolly well go!!
Gary on Saturday had seen a "nice mixed flock of Linnet and Twite" at Rockside, 3 Hen Harrier above Gruinart, a juv. Golden Eagle on the wing above the moorland trail being mobbed by a Buzzard, and then a further 3 juv. Golden Eagles noted over Killinallan. Finally down at Bruichladdich, Gary had seen 4 Purple Sandpipers there.
James and Sally had gone out for a walk on Sunday, seeing 2 Golden Eagles, a Peregrine, a Merlin, 2 Hen Harriers, 2 Yellowhammers and a Common Sandpiper up and around Gortantoid.
There were several reports of folk hearing a Cuckoo, Dave P. had one over at Ardtalla, Lesley had heard one while on the walk up to Beinn Dubh and Steve Wrightson had heard one close to his house at Bolsay.
On Monday, Dave P had heard a Corncrake calling when he was down at Portnahaven.
Louise Muir had some sightings through from Jura.. All seen on Monday, a juv Whitetailed Eagle seen at the mouth of Loch Tarbert, a Yellowhammer present at Tarbert, 4 Short eared Owls on the Ardmenish flats  and also 2 Hen Harriers.
Down on the Oa yesterday, David Wood had seen 3 Dotterel. He also had Sedge Warblers, Groppers and a few Whinchats, all ticks for the year list!!!
Good friend, Armin sent  through a list of top birds seen so far on the Walkislay program so far... On Sunday, they had seen a Golden Eagle, a male Hen Harrier, Shags, Gannets, Sand Martins and an Emperor Moth. Monday's walk produced another Golden Eagle flying out over the sound of Islay. Yesterday, up at Loch Cam they had seen an Otter. Thanks to Armin!!
Also yesterday on the reserve at Gruinart, James reported through that there were SedgeWarblers around....
Yesterday, Peter Gill had seen a Whinchat on top of a fence while down on the Oa, also seen were some Chough there too  and a small flock of 50 - 60 Twite. Coming back up from the Oa, at Gartmain out of Bowmore, he had 70 Barwits and 20 Dunlin.
Yesterday, down at Rockside I saw 6 Whimbrel.
Another good friend was saying that she had seen a Bonxie  (Great Skua) yesterday, up beside Tain, not here on Islay!!

Wednesday 23rd May

Well the "Farmers' tan" continues, perhaps if I wore a short sleeved shirt, rather than rolling my sleeves up, my tan might look better...

Janice and Tim Scott, from North Yorkshire had been over last week and sent through some of their sightings. They had been staying up at Sanaigmore.. They heard a Corncrake calling several times. Other birds seen/ heard included Swallows, Sand Martins, Skylarks, Meadow Pipits, Linnet, Lapwing, Snipe, Curlew, Starling, Jackdaw, Sedge Warbler, Wheatear, Blackbird, Wren and Song Thrush. Out on the water below their cottage, they saw GNDs and Tysties with Common Gull, Herring Gull, Oystercatcher and Ringed Plover on the beach. Other top birds seen while here on Islay included a White tailed Eagle being mobbed by a Raven, Whinchat and Golden Eagle. They saw several Buzzards but no Hen Harriers. Thanks folks for your birds.

Yesterday, Pia had seen an Osprey with a fish along below Carnduncan. Last night in flat calm conditions, some of us ventured out to carry out our corncrake surveys on our predetermined routes. Mike had heard 4 calling birds and on his way home he had a Short eared Owl. We went out on our route and sorry to say, we heard no birds at all, the first time of that happening with us..

Here at home there were 7 Collared Doves in at the feeders today...

Monday 14th May

Yesterday, visitor Steve who is staying over along the Distillery road out of Port Ellen had had a good start to his visit. Around Ardbeg, he had a possible Hobby, seen a few Wheatear, saw some Swallows, a Bonxie seen, heard a Cuckoo and then a Great spotted Woodpecker was drumming away. . He also had a Pheasant with 10 chicks as well. Bob was in touch this morning to say that the survey which David and myself had helped him with produced a total of 37 Species, a "healthy" figure as Bob put it.

James was in touch to say that on the reserve at Gruinart, he had 3 Blackwits, a Chiffchaff and heard 2 Groppers. Gary today, had seen an Osprey on Loch Gruinart, out on the sand bar. He also had had 13 Whimbrel flying North and back up behind Ballygrant, 2 White tailed Eagles were present. Some of the  RAFOS team had seen a Short eared Owl and also a 3 cy Glaucous Gull, and also an Osprey eating a fish supper...The Bolton Birders are back for their Spring fix. From Octomore, they heard a Corncrake calling, a Cuckoo close by and saw a Moorhen on the former Distillery pond up behind Port Charlotte with Twite, Wheatear, Fulmar and Pheasant also seen further along the road. At Blackrock, they had seen both Arctic and Common Tern, Turnstone, Dunlin Whimbrel, GND and also some R b Merganser. 

Here at home great excitement, 6 Tree Sparrows were seen around midday, then mid afternoon Petr came up and scanned round the ground, not 6 but 8 Tree Sparrows were present!! We also had a pair of Siskin and a wee while earlier on a pair of Greenfinch were on the feeders.

Friday 15th November

Martin was in touch last night to say that the Lesser Whitethroat he had been seen the Lesser Whitethroat in his garden over at Glenegedale. He has not seen  since the 19th of November... Good one Martin!!!
Also yesterday, James had seen a Short eared Owl at Bolsay, only the second one he has seen one in the winter time on Islay. Also yesterday, James had seen 5 Hen Harriers on the reserve at Gruinart, 3 female, a brown male and a grey male.

Saturday 8th JUly

This morning, Tom G had seen a Short eared Owl out hunting as he came out of Portnahaven. Later on and over the other side of Islay, while walking from Ardtalla up to the summit of Beinn Bheigier, Tom took this image of a Buzzard carrying of an Adder in its' talons..

Tom had also seen 4 Golden Plover in breeding plumage and many droppings from Red Grouse while on his walk.

This evening, we saw 2 juv White tailed Eagles as we came over the hill from Loch Gruinart to Carnain.

Thursday 27th April

Yesterday evening Mandy had seen a Short eared Owl on her way round Loch Gorm. Later on, Mandy had a Stonechat, heard Willow Warbler, heard Sedge Warbler , seen a Swallow, 2 Chough and a Meadow Pipit all seen close to where she lives, not bad eh???  Coming away from Foreland and the bird nerds on Tuesday evening she had a Goldcrest and yesterday afternoon she saw 20 Greylag with 5 Whitefronts on the lochan below Rockside roadend. Yesterday, James had seen Lapwing chicks on the flats on Gruinart. He also heard at least 3 calling Corncrakes  and counted 6 White Wagtail, over 200 Barnies still present and also 10 Whitefronts on the reserve, Down at Uiskentuie, he had seen a Little Tern and also 7 GND there as well. At Blackrock today James had a count of 72 Pale belied Brent Geese, on the reserve he saw a Pink footed Goose and counted 9 White Wagtails. Mark saw a Sparrowhawk up at Kilnave. Peter Gill had spotted a male Hen Harrier over close to Bun an Uillt. On his way along the road leading to Finlaggan, he saw a ringtail Hen Harrier with another seen over the forestry. He also had seen 2 Sparrowhawk in the air over the trees the too. Finally, he had a Great spotted Woodpecker as he went along the "Glen Road" just out of Ballygrant.

Wednesday 5th October

Back on Saturday, Louise had seen 3 Pomarine Skua off Scarba which is an island North of Jura. Yesterday, on the guided walk on the Oa, Phil Catton had seen a Golden Eagle, with a Merlin also noted out towards the American Monument. Earlier on, Phil had seen a Sparrowhawk at Lower Cragabus and just as he was heading home last night, he had a Short eared Owl, on top of a fence post close to Kinnabus. Gary yesterday, had been over at the reserve at Gruinart where he saw a juv Golden Eagle fly over the Visitor centre! From the new hide he had a male Sparrowhawk and then a ringtail Hen Harrier while he was on the moorland trail. From the  old hide yesterday, Bob saw 2 Blackwits. Today, on Bolsay Moor, Bob saw a Redwing, the first report of one on Islay this Autumn.

Monday 25th July

Its Blog time and I have lots of birds for you all tonight. Bob has been out at Gartbreck - 3 Gannets, 7 Cormorants, 5 Shags, 1 Great Northern Diver, 72 Greylags, 18 Eiders, 38 Oystercatchers, 38 Curlew, 10 Redshank, 239 Dunlin, 1 Turnstone, 4 Ringed Plover, 1 Greenshank. At Gruinart he had a Peregrine and 20 Wheatears on the Killinallan road. Dave at The Oa has seen a Short Eared Owl and 3 Red Throated Divers - the divers were being very noisey on Loch Kinabus.

Saturday 9th July

A better sort of a day after last night's rain. Yesterday, David Barr had seen a Golden Eagle while down on the Oa, a new Islay tick for David.  Yesterday evening, Martin had seen a Short eared Owl along the high road. Late last night/ early this morning we did our stint on the Corncrake survey, and believe it or not, we had heard more than we thought we might have done considering the weather recently. We did not hear some where we heard them calling on earlier surveys. In all, we had heard 7 in total, our best count for the year... I will keep you up to date once the figures are complete, but overall, I think the tally will not be as high as last year....

Tuesday 24th May

After a misty start this morning, the sun came out and burnt it off,  giving us a nice sunny afternoon and now a beautiful evening.

Last night was the first night when we carried out the Corncrake counts round the island, not sure of the grand total, but we heard 6 in total on our patch, but heard no Sedge Warblers calling anywhere on our travels....  James had covered the reserve at Gruinart and heard 8 Corncrakes, a Water Rail, a Barn Owl was seen and also a Short eared Owl. Michal today had seen a male Hen Harrier mobbing a juvenile female Golden Eagle up at Ardnave. Over on Nave island, Michal had spotted 3 Barnies still present and also a pair of Great Skuas there too.

Thursday 19th May

A miserable sort of a day with the weather, another dreich sort of a day, the weather last week is long forgotten by now!!

At the weekend, Fiona MacGillivary had seen a Short eared Owl on the wing, at the far end of Loch Gorm. Yesterday, the Bowland birders had walked from Gartbreck back to Bowmore (the reverse way to Bob's WeBs count) with largest flocks (not totals) being 100 Dunlin, 100 Ringed Plover including 2 chicks, 3 Shelduck, 10 Eider, 3 Red br Merganser, 15 Whimbrel, Grey Plover in summer plumage, Rock Pipit on the rocks, 4 Arctic Tern, pr of Stonechats + 2 youngsters, Whitethroat, pr Redshank, 5 fishing Gannets and a Heron. Along at Gartmain, 3 Turnstone were present with a further 2 over at Gortan. Yesterday, forgot to mention that we had a Grey Wagtail at The Woollen Mill and then later on a distant White tailed Sea Eagle over towards Bunnahabhain. Louise yesterday had led a walk out from Craighouse  on Jura. She had a Grey Wagtail and alsolocated nests of Robin, Starling, Great Tit and Blue Tit. Louise had also seen a Short eared Owl down at Ardfin on Jura. Michal had been down on the Oa and had seen 2 Whinchats as well as a Peregrine yesterday. James told me today that the Spotted Flycatcher is back in his garden. Peter's house guests had seen an Osprey while waiting for the ferry at Kennacraig yesterday

Friday 6th May

What a cracker of a day  it has been out here and for a short time, no wind, so we took the chance and got 3 large areas sown with various wildflower seed mixes, and tomorrow they are talking of some rain, fingers crossed. Louise on her way home last night had seen a Marsh Harrier over on Jura. Also yesterday, a visitor was in touch to say that they had seen a Short eared Owl, while driving round Loch Gorm. Carl today had a couple of Blackwits just out of Port Charlotte. Michal on the reserve had seen a male Hen Harrier along 2 ringtails. The Cuckoo was at Moulin (again!!!) and now joined by a calling Corncrake!!!! Along at the office at Bushmills a Whitethroat was singing away, with 5 Sedge Warblers heard by Michal as headed into work. This afternoon, Michal saw a male Sparrowhawk chasing a Meadow Pipit at Ballinaby. James today had a count of 35 Whimbrel just the Bridgend side of Bowmore. On the reserve today, James had a Peregrine, heard a Corncrake calling, 2 Whitethroats , 1 Whinchat, 1 Cuckoo, 6 Stonechats, 3 Groppers, 1 Waterrail and a Blackcap. This morning coming back up the road, no sign of the Canada Geese, but there were 6 Whimbrel across the road and a Cuckoo was seen down below Foreland entrance, towards Tynacolle. Martin today had been working a job at Ballygrant and had to put with very vocal Cuckoo, it never stopped calling while he was there for over 4 Hours!!! Back at his house, Martin had a couple of Twite on his feeders, the first he has had this year, he has also had 4 Common Redpoll there of late. A quick walk outside around 8 pm, and I heard a Corncrake calling down the reedbed just over the wall from our former house, with the "local" Cuckoo calling away up the glen, long may it stay there...

Thursday 14th April

James did a Loch Gruinart reserve goose count on Monday and the total was 2923 barnacle geese and 77 whitefronts. Yesterday Carl Reavey had a willow warbler at Bruichladdich, greenshank at Gortan, chiffchaff at Foreland, great northern diver and sandwich tern at Port Charlotte. Today another sedge warbler was heard at Gruinart. Yesterday Mary saw a short-eared owl on her buggy prowl near Claddach, and this morning 3 Canada geese and she also heard a willow warbler. Garry did a bit of birdwatching from his garden at Ballygrant and saw/heard 2 fieldfares, 3 willow warblers, 2 chough. He also saw a ring-tail hen harrier and a barn owl in Ballygrant Valley.

Today we received an e-mail from Carl Mitchel from WWT who has been studying Islay white-fronted geese in the past few years and he reported that two of the GPS tagged whitefronts left Islay last Sunday at 9pm and headed for Iceland. However strong easterly wind pushed them off the course. Half way between Islay and Iceland they changed the direction and must have been flying directly into the strong wind. They finally landed south-east of Reykjavik. Total crossing time was 48 hours! Migration across open ocean is surely not a fun... See the attached image. Thank you Carl for the information. You can find more info here:

http://telemetry.wikispaces.com/Greenfront

Thursday 31st March

Another good day here with the weather, but better still some more birds and new birds at that...James this morning had heard a Chiffchaff on the reserve at Gruinart. At lunchtime I received a message through from Richard Belcher to saw that he had a drake Mandarin over on the River Sorn at The Woollen Mill, so managed to get in touch with Peter and Gary as the other were out working and not contactable. Boy, did that duck give us the run around, but it was seen by us all eventually... a new tick for Islay, as far a we know, it has not ben recorded here before.....Yesterday, Richard had ben over on Jura and had seen 2 GND as he crossed over to Jura, seen from the ferry, Up at Tarbet, he had a Short eared Owl and also a Peregrine there too. Just out of Craighouse, a male Hen Harrier was seen and then a distant Golden Eagle. Along on Small Isles Bay, 30 pale bellied Brent Geese were spotted. Dave Protherough's guests had a Golden Eagle spoofing the Barnies and Whitefronts along the "Cornabus" valley. Later on they had a couple of Chough and then 2 Buzzard. Michal had seen a Redshank up at Ardnave with some colour rings on its' legs. Bob today had seen a 1st winter Iceland Gull at Ardnave Loch, and also 8 Goldeneye and 22 Tufted Duck. Bob also had a Peregrine along at Coillabus.. . Think the weather is downhill tomorrow with rain and rain and wind forecast!!!

Thursday 24th February

Another good day for the time of year all be it with a slight edge to the air, still it is only February.... Gary had carried out his WeBS  count yesterday from Port Charlotte round to Blackrock, seeing the following, 4GND, 2 RTD, 4 RB Merganser, 8 Cormorant, 1 Slav Grebe,4 Tysties, 79 Eider, 3 Mallard, 1 Goldeneye, 78 Oystercatcher, 4 Curlew, 55 R. Plover, 51 Dunlin, 13 Turnstone, 16 Purple Sandpiper, 2 Lapwing, 2 GBB Gull, 85 H Gull,  55 C Gull, 46 Barnies and a Kittiwake. Along at "smelly corner" 37 Shelduck and 8 Long tailed Ducks were seen. David and Jenny had spotted the Glaucous Gull down at Machir Bay, later on just past Craigens, a ringtail was present and then a Greenshank was seen. A female Merlin was seen flying along the shoreline, while up  near the end of the road, a 100 Barwits and also a male Hen Harrier. Finally close to Carnduncan, a Sparrowhawk was seen. James yesterday had carried out a count of the geese on the reserve at Gruinart, traditionally always the lowest count for the year, but all the same 4,765 Barnies, 266 Greenland whiefronts and 53 Greylags were there. Visitors from Liverpool had met in with the Rochdale birders yesterday and told our friends that they had seen a Short eared Owl on the reserve at Gruinart. The Rochdale birders themselves had seen 4 male Hen Harriers and 2 ringtails at different locations yesterday, with one of the ringtails on the ground at a road kill. Over close to Cruach, they saw a Golden Eagle. Back at Port Charlotte, they saw an Otter on Loch Indaal with her cub... Pat and Angie had 2 Golden Eagles up at Sanaigmore,and also a flock of Reed Buntings. Over at Machir Bay, they had Twite and close views of  Chough. This morning, here at home, a new garden tick was 2 Blue Tit on the feeders. The vols at Gruinart had carried out a farmland bird survey noting 60 Skylark, 26 Fieldfare, 6 Redwing and 20 Reed Bunting 

Sunday 22nd November

What a glorious day it has been, a beautiful sunrise, and as I write today's entry a sunset over to Ireland, well words are hard to find to describe it, and in between the day was not bad either.... Just great to live out here!! Yesterday the Aberdeen RSPB group had spent their day down on the bottom end round about Port Ellen . On their way out to the Oa, they had seen 2 Red Grouse and a Golden Eagle. They also had a flock of 250 Twite at Kinnabus. Around 500 Redwing, Fieldfare, Blackbirds and Song Thrushes were seen on passage. 2 Kestrels were seen as they headed out to the American monument on the Oa. On their return too the car park, they saw a stunning Snow Bunting. A total of 5 GND were seen as they headed out towards Claggain Bay. As Lesley put it, the "group" are well impressed (choughed?) with birding on Islay! Just what we want to hear... This morning, Bob, Gary and myself carried out the WeBS count, a week late but the weather has not been that kind to us ... Our birds were as follows, 2 GND, 1 RTD, 32 Shag, 2 Whoopers, 2 Greylag, 900 Barnies, 8 Whitefronts, 52 Mallard, 210 Teal, 432 Wigeon, a female Pintail, 22 R B Merganser, 2 Goldeneye, 1 Heron, 57 Oystercatcher,31 Curlew, 1 Purple Sandpiper, 20 Redshank, 1 Greenshank, 44 Dunlin, 15 Knot, 6 Sanderling, 14 Turnstone, 3 Snipe, 1 Grey Plover, 8 Golden Plover, 40 Ringed Plover, 41 Lapwing, 9 GBB Gull, 296 H Gull, 109 C Gull, 18 BH Gull. Bob also counted 61 Scaup at Blackrock on his way home, and this afternoon Bob and Pat had a Short eared Owl up on Bolsay Moor. Today also, James had 7 Long tailed Tits and 2 Goldcrests in the wood at Gruinart. In front of the hides, he had a Goldeneye and a Tufted Duck, which are not that common in the hides! At his house, there was a Woodcock amongst his chickens and a count of 55 Redwing in the trees close to his house. Here at home this morning, Margaret had a Redpoll out on the bird table.

Thursday 5th November

Really had to think what day of the week it was, knew the date but which day it was, another sign that I must be getting a bit old... say no more!!! At the weekend, Jack Fleming had a count of 40 Pale bellied Brent Geese at Bun an Uillt on Loch Gruinart. The other day when over on Jura, Paul and Avril Watchorn, the winners of the Gie's a brek (Give us a break) draw at the Birdfair back in August, had seen a juv Golden Eagle.. Visitors Alan and Viv Coy had seen a couple of Short eared Owls up past Killanallan on Tuesday. Mike Bell yesterday had counted 29 Whoopers, 820 Greylags, 3 Pinkfoots,19 Barnies, 214 Teal, 15 Mallard and 2 drake Pintails on the pool in the dunes behind Machir Bay. On the dunes, Mike had 12 Fieldfare, 60 Redwing, 2 Song Thrush and 3 Golden Plover. Along towards Rockside, 50 Fieldfare, 100 Redwing, 30 Chaffinch, a Brambling and a Yelowhammer were seen. Loch Gorm had a Great crested Grebe, a Dabchik, 5 Pochard, 7 Goldeneye and 11 Tufted Duck. Up on Ardnave Loch, Mike counted a Dabchick, 20 Mute, 218 Whoopers, a drake Pochard, 2 Goldeneye, 3 Tufted Duck, 1 RB Merganser, 5 Shoveler, 18 Teal, 372 Teal with a late Whimbrel also present. An Otter was seen at Traig Nostaig while out at Ardnave Point, 44 Chough and 25 Curlew were seen. In the afternoon, Laggan Point held a RTD, 8GND, 3 Eider, 39 Shag, 1 Gannet, a Black Guillemot, a ringtail Hen Harrier, 2 Chough, 2 Rock Pipit. The "Laundry Loch" held a Dabchick, 19 Mallard, 4 Wigeon, and 3 Tufted Duck, probably there could have been more if the farmer had not been past a few moments earlier on his quad bike and spoofed some away...

Wednesday 8th July

A better day again with the weather... A few sightings in from yesterday for you. Bob had taken a couple from Texas before breakfast and then again, late afternoon/ early evening. Over the 5 hour stint (in total) 63 species were seen with their highlights included seeing many Hen Harriers, 20 Snipe drumming between Blackrock and Gruinart, a count of 18 Chough at Kilchoman, on the River Sorn they saw the Dippers , at the top of Loch Indall, a Barwit was present. Through their time out birding they saw many family groups, especially Stonechats! Martin yesterday evening had taken a walk round Loch nan Gabhar close to the Golf course. Martin had 3 pr of Wigeon, 11 GBB Gulls, Common Sandpiper, Lapwing, Meadow Pipit, Skylark, Sedge Warbler, a ringtail Hen Harrier and then at the end of his walk, his last bird was a Short eared Owl! Paul Graham was in touch to say that the Corncrake is still calling down behind where he lives in Bruichladdich, Some of us were a wee bit worried that the farmer might have destroyed its' habitat the other day when cutting the grass. Paul also heard a further 3 Corncrakes calling, while he was out walking his dog last night, in the field behind the large Distillery warehouse as one goes out of Bruichladdich up the hill towards Conisby. Today Maggie Birtwell had an Arctic Skua while she was waiting for the ferry at Feolin on Jura. This afternoon, Bob had 3 families of Whinchats on Bolsay Moor, also there were 2 Hooded Crows pursuing a Cuckoo.