Monday 9th May

No more news of the junco, but despite the rain there's about a gazillion other sightings to get through, so here we go.

Scott and his 10 pals from the Royal Air Force Ornithological Society had 1 canada and 1 barnacle goose amongst the 50+ greylags near Kilchoman, 14 eider and 19 rb merganser at Bowmore, 2 GND and 6 gannets at Claggain Bay, 1 hen harrier at the airport, 40+ knot between Bridgend and Bowmore and 2 dippers at the Woollen Mill. 

Jim spent the day enjoying the weather and seeing a little egret, 79 barwits, 2 blackwits, 5 whimbrel, 19 knot, 1 sum grey plover, 238 ringed plover, and a whopping 80 swallows, all at Gruinart. He also had 7 golden plover at Ballinaby, 24 whimbrel at Coull and 8 sum GND on Loch Indaal. 

James gets BOTD for the 2 tree sparrows on his garden feeders, and David Dinsley had a corncrake at Machir Bay in mid-afternoon and a solo house martin at Laphroaig. 

After letting herself down with BonxieGate yesterday, Mary has bounced back like a champ with this one - the grisly scene left by the larvae of parasitic braconid wasps emerging from the unfortunate marsh fritillary caterpillar that they've been eating away internally since they were injected directly into it as eggs. I think the wasps are cotesia bignelli or cotesia melitaerum, and I had heard that one of them is rarer than the marsh fritillary, so I don't want any wasp witch hunts going on as a result of this. Anyway, pretty cool, and it took your minds off the junco for a minute, I guess?

Thanks to all. 

Monday 17th May

Yesterday, David Dinsley had seen a Ring Ouzel in Glen Astle down on the Oa , George E. Jackson had seen 4 Gannets flying over Loch Indaal yesterday as well. He also managed to ring a few more birds in the morning as well, 8 Siskins, 3 Goldfinches, 2 Chaffinch and a single House Sparrow. Up here at Shepherd's cottage, late afternoon, Margaret saw 2 male Hen Harriers flying along the front of the big crag together. 

Some birds through from today included the following....

David Dinsley had 4 Tree Sparrows at Kinnabus.

James How reports lots of waders still at Gruinart: 2035 Dunlin, 525 Ringed Plover, 95 Sanderling, 1 Knot, plus a Ruff and 2 blackwits on the floods.

Peter had 4 Canada Geese fly over the house - a new "garden tick"

Sunday 25th October

Back on Friday, Steve Percival caught and rung another 79 Barnies down at Smelly Corner.....                "It was 2 January 1987 before we had a successful catch of Barnacle Geese on Islay. Under the stewardship of Malcom Ogilvie, we caught 302, a total for a single catch that still remains unbeaten! He helped train me, together with the Durham University cannon-netting team headed by Peter Evans, and a  few years later I had my own cannon-netting licence. In February 1989 my wife-to-be Tracey joined the team and we’ve never looked back. 33 years later we’ve now ringed over 3,500 Barnacle Geese on Islay. We are now also ably assisted by our 2 girls, Emily and Lucy, who have grown up with October and February half-term goose-catching trips to Islay".

The other day, George E. Jackson had seen a flock of over 50 Chaffinches in the bushes down at Aoradh cottage which the wee cottage on the roadside just at the foot of the road leading up to Rockside and Kilchoman Distillery.

Yesterday had been Richard Belter's last day of this present visit, so thanks to Richard for sending in his sightings of birds seen by him when he has been over. Yesterday morning, Richard saw a Barn Owl at first light along the Gruinart flats. Down at Claddach, he had a passage of Gannets and some Auks as well. Finally in at Loch Skerrols, he saw the Whooper Swans that are present there. 

I received an e mail through from the Naturetrek group led by Neil McMahon who are over at present with their sightings of various birds seen by them yesterday.. 

"A female Long-tailed Duck and a Black Guillemot were around the pier and breakwater at Bowmore this morning plus the usual Rb Mergansers, a few Eider and a Goldeneye. A nice flock of Ringed Plovers and Dunlin have roosted on the breakwater at high tide the last two days. 

We looked down on Loch Skerrols from the road that leads to Scarrabus and saw nearly 100 Whooper Swans plus some Mute Swans on the water plus good numbers of Tufted Ducks and Wigeon. 1-2 Sparrowhawk(s) showed interest in a flock of ca100 Chaffinches in a stubble field which also contained at least a Skylark. A very windy north shore of Loch Indaal attracted a small flock of Knot and a Bar-tailed Godwit.

We spent the rest of the day at Loch Gruinart where the group fully enjoyed the amazing spectacle of thousands of Barnacle Geese and much smaller numbers of Greenland White-fronts, Greylags and a couple of families of Whooper Swans. Didn't see the Wood Sandpiper but there was a Black-tailed Godwit from North Hide and Roe Deer, a flock of Pintail and distant Bar-tailed Godwits from South Hide. The woodland trail sheltered at least 3 Goldcrests and we heard Bullfinch. A Tree Sparrow flying around the barns at the farm was a surprise! The road through Gruinart Flats was good for 200 Golden Plovers, Stonechats and 3 Lesser Redpolls.

The track on the east side of the loch provided us with a first calendar year White-tailed Eagle, a 'ringtail' Hen Harrier, 3 Goldeneye and 5 Greenshanks. A stubble field on this side contained a few Yellowhammers and up to a dozen Skylarks. A flock of ca40 Linnets flew through and a Roe Deer was present too."

James was in touch with some birds seen by himself, he had counted 257 Barwits, 16 Grey Plover and also 37 Knot yesterday. This afternoon, he had a male Hen Harrier seen close to An Sithean on the edge of the reserve as you head down towards Loch Gorm

Tuesday 29th September

Forgot to mention last night that there would not be any meeting of the Islay birders, due to the restrictions in place with the covid problems

I was speaking with Pat Jackson earlier on this evening and she reckons that some of the Tree Sparrows were along towards Sunderland Farm now.

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.

Sunday 13th May

George Newall forgot to mention that the other day he had seen a male Goosander when in at Loch Skerrols. Yesterday Mike Peacock had watched an immature White tailed Eagle being mobbed for a total of 57 minutes, before being able to fly away. The attacking mob were a male Hen Harrier,  a pair of Ravens, 7 Hooded Crows and a Gbb Gull... Today, Mike had seen a GND in full summer plumage off Port Charlotte, 2 Common Sandpipers on the shore and also 18 Whimbrel flying high in a Northerly direction. This afternoon, George Newall had a probable Redstart when over at Claggain Bay. This morning, Distillery Dave, Bob and myself carried out a survey from the Woollen Mill down along the River Sorn to its mouth below Bridgend. top birds seen/ heard were 2 Bullfinch, a Spotted Flycatcher, 2 young Dippers and at least 6 Grey Wagtail. Distillery Dave had 3 Whimbrel as he walked down to his lift with me from Rockside. Down on Loch Gorm, we counted 30 Greylag on the water.

Some sightings now from today from the RAFOS team who over for this week, great to see all you folks again.. At Kilchoman, they saw a ringtail Hen Harrier. Down at the reed bed beside the Coastguards a Grasshopper Warbler was present, 3 Dunlin and also 3 Common Sandpiper were at the pool just past Saligo towards Ballinaby. A Whitethroat heard at Gortan, a ringtail at Gortan. South of Port Charlotte they saw 5 Greylags along with 5 young gosling and soon afterwards 9 Whimbrel. At Port Wemyss, they  had a Corncrake calling away, with 2 Common Sandpipers there as well. Back up at Port Charlotte, they saw both Arctic and Sandwich Terns, while at Bruichladdich, another Artic Tern was spotted with 9 Ringed Plover on the shore

Back here at home, late afternoon, some of the RAFOS team along with Distillery Dave and his wife Ann along with Margaret and myself did a wee bit of birding, noting the Tree Sparrows, a few Sand Martins, some Swallows as well as the antics of the Chough, great to watch as ever!!!

Friday 11th May

The weather as forecast has not been that great today, and three was an edge to the wind as well.. Visiting birders from Sheffield, Graham and Pam reported in to say that that they had been seeing a regular passage of around 30 - 40 Whimbrel flying North on hill road over past Borichill Mor each day while they have been here this week. They had seen a ringtail  Hen Harrier up past the former Kilchoman School and soon after a male bird seen along at Culbuie.  Forgot to mention last night that Andrew and Amanda had seen 6 Golden Plover as they walked back down from Gortantoid. Today here at home, the 4 Tree Sparrows were still around.. This morning before the rain set in, there were 28 Chough helping themselves to whatever in the ground, boy who needs a rotovator when you have some Choughs at work!!!

Thursday 10th May

Back on Tuesday, George Newall had seen a Blackwit on the pool at Ballinaby. Yesterday, he heard a G s Woodpecker drumming away while he was in at Loch Skerrols. It was still present there today.

Today, Zul Bhatia had seen 17 Whimbrel at Bruichladdich, a pair of Twite were there too and also a Purple Sandpiper as well. Close to Finlaggan Zul had a pair of Whinchat, 2 different male Hen Harriers were also present. Back down at The Woollen Mill, he saw a pair of Grey Wagtail carrying food...

This morning, Andrew and his wife had started their day of at the reserve at Gruinart, where they had a Greenfinch, heard Song Thrush, saw 3 Whooper Swans, heard many Snipe drumming, Whitethroat and Sedge Warbler singing as well as spotting many Sand Martin out hawking. After a walk up to Gortantoid, they saw an juv. Artic Skua as it flew past them.

This morning, we counted 18 Whimbrel round at Ballinaby, with a Dunlin and a single Redshank spotted on the pools there. Back here at home the 4 Tree Sparrows were present again. This afternoon, we had a hen Pheasant out with her 4 young chicks, an early sighting for here!!! 2 weeks ago, on the Wednesday, I saw 2 sets of Greylags with young goslings when at Leighton Moss. This evening, we saw a Peregrine out along the crag. Andrew and his wife had seen a distant Golden Eagle away out past Kilchiaran earlier this evening.

Wednesday 9thMay

Not to much to report tonight, as the weather has not been that good, but still some birds seen. Off Bowmore, Andrew and his wife had seen 25 R b Merganser swimming together doing some synchronised swimming as they all dived in a group, and then appeared on the surface in a oner.. They also had a GND on Loch Indaal as well. James Butcher had seen 2 Curlew Sandpiper out in front of the North Hide at Gruinart. Out over Loch Gruinart, he saw 2 Bonxies fly past. Here at home, we had seen 4 Tree Sparrows, a new tick for the garden bird list!!! The Greenland Wheatear was still present along with the Linnets and some Twite. A pair of Greenfinch were added to our list for today, along with a Heron that flew past.

Thursday 26th April

Some more sightings for you, all from yesterday apart from Tim and Emily's record of hearing a Gropper calling away on Sunday out towards Ardtalla. Yesterday, they had a male Blackcap and also a pair of Treecreepers in the wood beside their cottage. Mike Peacock yesterday had heard 2 Blackcaps calling in the trees round Loch Skerrols and also a Cuckoo. He saw 2 male Bullfinch and a pair of Bullfinch and a Treecreeper there as well. On Loch Skerrols itself, 3 Tufted Duck and over 20 Shelduck were on the water. Gary had seen 11 Sanderling, a Merlin, 3 Whimbrel and also 22 Little Terns on the Big Strand. He had also seen 5 Tree Sparrows at Caol Ila

Sunday 7th May

Yesterday, "Distillery Dave" (David Barr) had been down at Port Wemyss where he saw a Common Sandpiper and 2 Comic Terns. He also heard a Corncrake calling away while having a piece of cake and a cuppa.. Later on, as it was getting dark, and hardly any wind, I took a quick run round Loch Gorm  to try to locate any calling Corncrakes... Not much joy apart from one at Ballinaby!  I also heard some Lapwings, a few Grasshopper Warblers and Sedge Warblers and also a Snipe drumming. Round below Leek, a Hedgehog was on the verge with several Wheatears sitting on the road, not wanting to move out of my way. Bob, last night had a Barn Owl through the willows at the Water works opposite his house....The "Olds" from Pagham are back, great to see you again folks, rather than a voice on the phone... Today, they had seen 12 Whimbrel and a Curlew over at Coull, heard the Corncrake at Port Wemyss, saw a Siskin there too, heard Cuckoos at Rockside and down at Ellister, finally they saw 2 Little Terns along the top of Loch Indaal. The Bowland birders are back for another "Islay fix". Today, they had a raft of over 100 Common Scoter out on Loch Indaal from Port Charlotte, also seen out on the loch were Terns, Razorbill, GND, RTD and Gannets. A walk up through the Octomore trees/ hill proved productive with a Redpoll, Willow Warblers, Song Thrush, 3 Siskin, a Tree Sparrow, 3 Goldfinch, 2 Wheatear, too many Greylags, Whimbrel, Reed Bunting, Moorhen on the Distillery pond at Port Charlote. They too had a Barn Owl last night, possibly the same Owl that Bob had seen as they are staying quite close to Bob...Phill from down on the Oa had taken a walk from Ballygrant out to Beinn Dubh and then back along the "Glen road". The birds Phill saw/ heard were as follows, 2 Red Grouse, 4 Grasshopper Warblers, 3 Whitethroat, a Golden Eagle, Buzzard, 15 Lapwing, Common Sandpiper, 2 Pr of Stonechat, 3 Swallows, Mipits, Skylarks and Song Thrush.

Friday 14th August

Earlier this week, one evening on our way up to Ardnave, a Merlin zipped across the road in front of us. Mary, yesterday morning, had seen a Tree Sparrow down at Portnahaven. Bob, this morning also spotted a Merlin close to his house up behind Port Charlotte. This afternoon, over the big crag, a Peregrine and a Raven were having a tussle with each other, no real winner as in the end they flew off in different directions...and then this evening a Sparrowhawk was sitting on the garden wall for a few minutes before flying off in the hope of catching a Starling for its' supper!

Thursday 30th July

Yesterday Gary and Sam had 4 Tree Sparrows over at Coullabus at Gruinart. Later on, over at the airport, they had a ringtail Hen Harrier and along at the rocks on Loch Indaal, they counted 30 Sanderling, 100 Eider, 30 Common Gull and an Adult and a juv GBB Gull. Also yesterday, James had 2 Great Skuas take out a Black headed Gull before they in turn were chased off their prey by a GBB Gull on Loch Gruinart. This morning, we saw a ringtail as we headed over to Gruinart. On the guide walk at Gruinart today, Mandy and Heather had seen Sand Martins with young out from the second hide and also had several family groups of Pied Wagtails. We too had Pied Wagtails out on the lawn here at home with the young pestering their parents for food. This afternoon, Clive Mackay had an Osprey fishing on Loch Gruinart opposite Bun an Uillt, possibly the same bird that we saw on Tuesday evening at bird nerds! Clive had seen another Osprey shortly beforehand at the top of Loch Indaal, and was sure that it was 2 different Ospreys. Clive worked with RSPB here on Islay for a good number of years but now lives in Perthshire.

Saturday 16th April

Some sightings through from Thursday, Karen Sims, one of the RAFOS team had seen a Garden Warbler down in Bridgend Woods and there was a reported sighting through from Maggie Birtwell of a Wood Warbler again in Bridgend Woods in from East Lodge. David Formby had a Whitethroat in his garden at Ballitarsin Smiddy with another 2 seen along the road his house towards Neriby. The Bowland birders on Thursday had a female Whinchat at Foreland. Over at Ardnave, Chough, Arctic Terns and 2 Little Terns were seen. They also had 3 male Hen Harriers, one at Ardnave Loch, another at the mouth of Loch Gruinart being harried by Arctic Terns and the third back at Octomore. Other birds at Ardnave included 2 Turnstone in breeding plumage, Sanderling, Dunnock with 2 Corncrakes heard calling, they also spotted an Otter eating a crab! On Friday, on the feeders at Gruinart they saw a Tree Sparrow, from the old hide a drake Garganey, Gadwall with Dunlin displaying. Through the woodland walk, a Spotted flycatcher was present while from the new hide, they had at least 6 Gadwall with dozens of Sand Matins hawking over the water looking for food.

Thursday May 7th

Yesterday I saw an Arctic Skua (pale) over Bridgend, and on the sand there were several mixed flocks of dunlin and ringed plover; on the bird feeders at the office there was a tree sparrow and a lesser redpoll among the regulars. On our evening walk we had 4 calling corncrakes between the visitor centre and Mill Cottages. This morning at Ardnave I had 28 whimbrel on the loch, and a short eared owl out on the moorland. Gary was out walking on the reserve yesterday evening; on the flats he noted good numbers of pied wagtails, including 5 white wagtails, a female bullfinch and two great skua's overhead. From the hides and trails there were 7 black tailed godwit and a treecreeper, along with the usual suspects. Andrew had a good day too yesterday; at Ardnave he had merlin, hen harrier, chough, whimbrel, great northern diver, golden plover, ringed plover, dunlin and twite. At Gruinart reserve 4 whooper swan (still there this morning). A cuckoo flew across the road on their drive back to base at Kilchoman. Once home there had 2 whimbrel nearby, a hen harrier in flight, and a corncrake calling outside the cottage.

Thursday 16th April

Down at Portnahaven this morning, Mary had a Grasshopper Warbler. Another glorious day , great for the folk on the walks today. Armin had been on Tam's walk out from Ardlistillery and out over the hills, there was a distant Golden Eagle. They also had a Buzzard on the wing too closer to them with many Skylarks singing away. Down at Kinnabus on the Oa, Dave today had 2 Tree Sparrows, at least 4 Willow Warblers and a male Blackcap. Yesterday Margaret had a Wheatear out on top of the Sanctuary cross out towards the War graves cemetery. Also yesterday, there was a report through to Gruinart of a Grey Plover amongst the flock of Golden Plovers over at Ballinaby, but not heard any more of this sighting today.

Friday 26th July

Dave saw 2 Tree Sparrows and he heard a Corncrake at in his garden Kinnabus on the Oa yesterday evening. Wednesday evening, Dave had a Peregrine , 2 Chough, 2 Golden Eagles and also 8 Black Guillemots down on the Oa. Bob yesterday counted 19 Mute Swan and 2 cygnets along with 2 Dabchick on Loch Skerrols. Along the track leading to Knockdon, he saw several groups of young Willow Warblers and also young Blue Tits.

Monday 19th December

Back to normal tonight, doing the blog at a more sensible hour of the day.... Mike from Bird Quest had left a message on the phone last night with highlights of their 3 day stay over here, 9 Slavonian Grebes in Loch Indaal off Gortain, a Canada Goose Hutchinsii sp was up the back of Bridgend on Sunday, and also another Canada, Taverner's sp up at Cennacroic on the way to Mulindry. At the head of Loch Indaal, there was a group of 19 Pale bellied Brent with another 8 also seen. A pair of White tailed Sea Eagles were seen over at Killinallan, male Hen Harriers were seen at Loch Gorm, Bunnahabhain and another one at Cennacroic. A ringtail was seen South of Port Charlotte while a Short eared Owl was seen on a fence post in the dark as they were coming up from Portnahaven. A Peregrine was at Gruinart and 4 Greenshank were out the front of the hide. Over at Bunnahabhain, 2 Guillemots and 9 Black Guillemots were seen as well as an Otter! A Tree Sparrow was at Blackrock while along at Loch Gorm, a pair of Chough, a flock of Reed Buntings and 3 Yellowhammers were seen. Today off the ferry as they headed back to Kennacraig their tally read as follows, 60 Kittiwakes,10 Razorbills, 20 Great Northern Divers, half of which were flying West. A Puffin was at the mouth of West Loch Tarbert, while in West Loch Tarbert, 7 Black throated Divers, 10 Red throated Divers. Many thanks for sightings folks. Today on Bob had a small Merlin at home, just the size of a Mistle Thrush . Later on there were several Snipe and Woodcock coming in to feed on the barley stubbles with around 300 Whitefronts coming in to roost. Mary had seen a Water Rail crossing the road at Easter Ellister as she came to work this morning. The figures came through from the team at SNH for the December International Goose count which was carried out last week, the scores on the doors were as follows, 42,595 Barnies and 4,670 Whitefronts. Many thanks for these stats.

Saturday 9th July

Another great day again, might even get a suntan at this rate rather than looking weather beaten..... George had new tick at his house yesterday, a Treecreeper. He also had 6 Blackbirds and 3 Song Thrushes, down on the shore there were 2 Arctic Terns. Bob yesterday had seen 2 Tree Sparrows over on Jura, just after leaving the ferry at Feolin. Today a large female Sparrowhawk crashed through his garden after the small birds, but to no avail.... Michael Shields who lives over on the high road had a great week this week past as he has seen 3 different Golden Eagles while he was out and about.

Tuesday 26th April

Another busy day, sometimes you cannot remember what's going on, or what you are supposed to be doing next, but it is time for the blog now...

Yesterday evening, Bob and Martin had seen a Short eared Owl up the back of Port Charlotte. They also heard a Corncrake calling out towards Bolsay and 6 different Grasshopper Warblers. Martin earlier on, down at Claddach at Portnahaven had a count of 27 Oystercatcher and heard a Sedge Warbler down there too. On the RSPB reserve at Gruinart yesterday, James had 9 Gadwall out in front of the hide, 37 Black tailed Godwit were present, 2 Bullfinch were in the wood, an Otter on the floods, 5 Barnies on the flats, and also 2 White Wagtail along with 20 Meadow Pipits.

Today on the reserve, there were 3 different Corncrakes calling, a Water Rail was also heard, 5 Grasshopper Warblers and 2 male Hen Harriers were seen. The Magpie is still present in the wood and a couple of Tree Sparrows have been seen there of late.

Bob today had 3 Sandwich Terns at Kilnaughton Bay, 2 Peregrines and a Golden Eagle on the RSPB Oa reserve, 60 Oystercatcher at Kintra, there were also 2 still in winter plumage, 6 Greenland Whitefronts at Cladville. George saw 10 Whimbrel at Bruichladdich earlier on this evening, and also 2 Razorbill on Loch Indaal. Today Martin had had a Grasshopper Warbler at Nerabus. Crystal had 300 Golden Plover at Killinallan, and also 6 pairs of Yellowhammer out towards Gortontoid.

A visitor e mailed some sightings this evening. He had seen a Golden Eagle being harassed by a Raven while up at Sanaigmore, 3 Chough were there too while in the sea, 3 Pale bellied Brent were swimming along with a Black throated Diver. A Merlin was seen at Saligo, along towards Machir Bay there were 24 Greenland Whitefronts and another Merlin was hunting along the the dunes. Every evening he has been seeing a male Hen Harrier where he is staying, and tonight a Cuckoo was heard calling.