Saturday 4th April

Gary sent some birds through....
"Some sightings from yesterday & today,
Yesterday, a male Hen Harrier at Finlaggan, 1 male Wheatear in field above Finlaggan. Second male Wheatear was seen up behind Scanistle. Today, a Peregrine flew over my house."

I was speaking to James earlier on this evening and he was saying that he had seen a White tailed Eagle at the head of Loch Indaal this morning and then shortly afterwards he saw a White Wagtail out from Mill cottage.

I was in touch with Dave Pierce regarding a Golden Eagle that Jim Dickson had seen over Jim's house at Cairnbaan this morning, but sorry to say that Jim's bird was not the same one that Dave had made initial contact with me about. But, on a positive note from Dave who told me that his bird was back in the district on Thursday night. It passed through Mull after departing Jura, then roosted in Morven. In the mean time, Dave has offered to try to find more details for us on Jim's bird, so watch this space...

David Barr was in touch today as well, reporting from Lochearnhead where he now lives. He had a Red Kite fly past the other day. He is enjoying having the sound of Curlew echoing around the glen in early evening . Seem to be resident in  the fields in front of the house. While out with the duo Ted and Ella, his 2 dogs, this morning had two Nuthatch together searching the trees for breakfast !

Karen Graham today was in touch as well..
"Looking out of kitchen window and a male Goldcrest was going round back door spiders webs in search of insects. During the winter I did not see a Goldcrest at all as I have done in past years so was delighted to see this one. A nest must be nearby."

Wednesday 25th September

Distillery Dave was in touch to say that he had counted 10 White Wagtails out on his lawn at Rockside.

Tuesday 24th September

Oops sorry folks but just realised that today was the last Tuesday in September, a that I forgot to "arrange" the monthly meeting of the bird nerds.

I was speaking to James a short time ago, and the Barnies seen on Fair Isle are some of the Svalbard geese, probably en route to eventually down to the Solway.

Birds seen today on the reserve at Gruinart by James included an Osprey, a Merlin, 24 Wigeon out on the estuary and also 15 White Wagtails were present  as well.

Sunday 25th August

A better sort of a day out here with the weather today, and yes, I believe that some of the farmers had their combines out cutting their Spring barley...

Today, James was over this afternoon, and he was saying that he had seen 4 Wheatears and also a couple of Whinchats as he drove over here from Gruinart. He had seen 3 White Wagtails this morning, on the reserve at Gruinart. Here at home, I feel that we have been seeing more Stonechats around this summer. James was telling me that he also feels that there appear to be more around over at Gruinart as well... This evening, after tea, we have been watching a Buzzard sitting on top of the crag, with nothing else to do.. a Peregrine flying around with a couple of Ravens and also  3 Chough seen flying around too. Almost forgot to say that, we had a Blue Tit on the cctv system around midday.

Saturday 24th August

Mandy had seen a male Hen Harrier down below Carnduncan. Shortly afterwards, she saw a Sparrowhawk fly across the road betwen Coull and the Coastguards and to finish her sightings off Mandy had a Grey Wagtail down at Kilchoman House... This morning I had a White Wagtail down on the grass beside our wee pond...

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 29th August

Mandy has returned from a holiday over in Sweden. Top birds seen by her were some Cranes, a Black Woodpecker, Marsh Harrier, Whooper Swan with young. Other birds seen including a Willow Warbler, Goldcrest as well as a Willow Warbler.

Today, Mandy along with her neighbour Irene had watched 2 Buzzard mobbing a juvenile Golden Eagle up behind Carnduncan over towards Gruinart. James this afternoon had counted 43 Blackwits and 4 White Wagtail out from the North hide at Gruinart.

Sunday 28th April

Gary had been out for a walk down to the Lily Loch. His sightings included 2 Great spotted Woodpeckers, a Tree Pipit, a male and also a female Hen Harrier, a Whitethroat and also a Blackcap. Also some sightings from James Butcher,  a long term "vol" with the RSPB on Islay who will be with us over the summer. Today, James had seen 29 Whimbrel down at Claddach, 2 Cuckoos heard calling at Kelsay, a Grasshopper Warbler heard reeling away out of Portnahaven. Back on the reserve at Gruinart, he had a Ruff and also a count of 15 White Wagtails. Also today Distillery Dave had heard his first Cuckoo of the year this morning, up at behind Rockside...

Sunday 4th March

Yesterday, George E. Jackson had commented on the amount of fresh goose droppings that he had seen down on the Machir Bay, presumably barnacle goose dropping after roosting on the bay after the full moon that we have had this week. Beside the pool at the carpark there, 3 Ringed Plover, 4 Golden Plover, (1 complete with black under belly) and also 4 "alba" White Wagtails were seen. On the dunes, there were 3 Lapwing along with 20 Oystercatcher and then a group of 40/50 boisterous Chough. Finally, he managed to flush a Jack Snipe out of the marram grass. In the afternoon returning up from Port Ellen along the high road, he saw 4 Redwing and also 3 Fieldfare. Finally back at Rockside, George had a distant Golden Eagle out over the distillery. Yesterday, Distillery Dave had seen a Snipe and 2 Woodcock down at Cornabus Plantation. Today, down on the "duck pond" behind Machir bay, Dave saw 6 Whooper Swan and counted 36 Chough poking and probing in the Machir itself. Gary and Sam had seen 2 Crossbills in the trees at Staoisha and when returning home, a Golden Eagle flew over Heather house beside Caol Ila.

Sunday 14th May

Yesterday Steve and Mandy  from Rossendale arrived here on Islay, their first visit and are staying over at Kintra, Port Ellen while they are here, so here goes their sightings from yesterday.. On the beach, they saw 40 Oystercatcher, 8 Dunlin, 2 Ringed Plover and 3 Pied Wagtail. They also heard a Cuckoo, and spotted 3 Sand Martin nest sites in use. Other birds included 6 Arctic Terns, 2 GND, Hooded Crow, Jackdaw, a Buzzard and 6 Swallow. Today, they walked in behind Kintra, out to Tokmal noting a male Hen Harrier out quartering, a Buzzard, pr of Stonechat, and a Cuckoo calling, other birds seen/ heard during their walk included a Robin, plenty of Willow Warbler, Whitethroat, many Skylarks, along the coast, they had 6 Fulmar and 3 Tysties and back at base at Kintra, 39 Oystercatcher, 2 Wheatear, 8 Lesser Redpoll, 7 Sand Martin, 2 Ringed Plover, 4 Dunlin and a Sanderling. The Bowland birders had watched a passage of 100+ Manx Shearwaters pass Port Wemyss.. They also had similar numbers of Gannets, Awks mainly Guillemots, Arctic Tern and Fulmar. Further on along the coast they saw 12 Turnstone, Ringed Plover, Common Sandpiper while in the fields behind them, a pair of Golden Plover in summer plumage. Finally round at Claddach Loch, they had a male Whinchat. The weather held good for us this morning so Bob, Lesley, Distillery Dave ad myself did the WeBS  count from Bowmore down to Gartbreck.. the birds were as follows: 1 Grey Heron, 1 Cormorant, 3 Shag, 3 Lbb Gull, 2 Gbb Gull, 2 BH Gull, 30 Common Gull, 20 Herring Gull, 4 Mallard, 2 Rb Merganser, 73 Eider, 9 Shelduck, 9 Curlew, 6 Whimbrel, 91 Ringed Plover, 3 Knot, 187 Dunlin, 65 Barwits, 74 Oystercatcher, 2 Turnstone, 1 Sanderling, 9 Lapwing, 1 Grey Plover and 2 Redshank. Other birds seen included a White Wagtail, 2 Sand Martin, 3 Sedge Warbler, 2 Wheatear and several Rock Pipits.

Monday 8th May

Another great set of sightings today for you to peruse...

Yesterday morning at 7am Mike had counted 79 Common Scoter, 13 GND, 4 RTD. Later on Mike walked up to Bolsay from Port Charlotte and had Grasshopper Warbler, Whinchat, Cuckoo, he also saw a juv. Golden Eagle being mobbed by Raven, Buzzard and Hooded Crows. On Kilnaughton Bay, yesterday, Dave saw 6 Whimbrel, 2 Arctic Tern, 2 Sandwich Tern and a GND. Today, Mandy had heard Whitethroat and Sedge Warbler at Carnduncan with a Reed Bunting calling nearby as well. Phill sent some highlights from Kinnabus on the Oa this morning, "lots of Skylarks and Mipits, 8 Linnets, 4 Redpoll, 4 Wheatear, 2 Common Sandpiper, 4 Oystercatcher, 2 Curlew, 2 Stonechat, and 5 Swallow. Phil also saw the Magpie at Upper Cragabus on his way home late afternoon. "The Olds" today had seen a male Garganey at Gruinart, heard 2 Corncrakes calling on their way to the South hide, 4 Snipe were roding, up at Ardnave they had 12 Whimbrel, and down on the River Sorn below Bridgend they saw a Grey Wagtail. Bob heard a Whitethroat in his garden and then saw a female Blackcap over at the water works. The Bowland Birders had been up round Ardnave today counting 3- 400 Dunlin, 100 Ringed Plover, 100 Whimbrel, 5 Sanderling, 2 Chough, 4 Little Tern, 20 Barwit, a BTD, 6 Swallow, 25 Sand Martin, 3 White Wagtail, and a dog Otter. Other birds seen were GND, Sedge Warbler, Turnstone with a Corncrake as well. Ardnave Loch held, Teal, Tufted Duck, Mute Swan, Mallard and Redshank. Here at home, last night we heard a Corncrake calling down towards the Coastguards' and today Margaret counted 4 Hares out beside the "game crop" and a further 3 on the machir at the same time. Also on the machir were 22 Chough. 

Saturday 29th April

The wind may have veered round from the North, but it still feels rather cold.... 

Bob yesterday evening had been over at Gruinart for some birding. He had counted 600 Barnies,  also present were 7 Whitefronts and a Pink footed Goose. On the flats, he had 58 Blackwits. Out from the South hide, he had a further 90 Blackwits, 30 Redshank, 20 Snipe, the drake Green winged Teal and also 14 Whoopers. While he was there Bob reckons that around half the Barnies flew off North, straight up Loch Gruinart....James yesterday had seen/ heard a Cornrake along the flats, saw the Pinkie too, counted 9 White Wagtails, counted 72 Pale bellied Brent at Blackrock and saw 4 Gadwall on the floods. Today, James had a Chiffchaff in his garden and heard another Corncrake on the reserve. This afternoon, we counted at least 180 Golden Plover at Ballinaby. Also seen there were 15 Greylags, 2 large Canada Geese, 3 Shelduck and 2 pairs of Stonechats.

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.

Saturday 22nd April

What a glorious day it has been with wall to wall sunshine, better still, the sun is streaming in though the windows as I write the blog..

Gary yesterday had a count of around 200 Pied and White Wagtails on the sand, down at Crosshouses. Gary reckons that there were at least 15 White Wagtails present. Some sightings also yesterday from James at Gruinart. On reserve he had the Green winged Teal, a male Garganey, a Greenshank, 162 Blackits, 10 Whoopers, a Golden Eagle and also a Merlin. Peter Gill yesterday evening had seen 4 Woodcock calling and flying low over the moor up behind Port Charlotte. Today, Peter had walked round the far side of Loch Skerrols and then down past the North Lodge and along the "Strath" back to Bridgend. At Skerrols itself, a Great spotted Woodpecker was heard drumming and soon afterwards, it was seen. 6 Blackcaps were heard there as well, more than down in Bridgend Woods. 2 Chiffchaff were also heard on his walk, with 2 Grey Wagtails seen on the River Sorn as he approached The Woollen Mill. Just past Uiskentuie, 10 Whimbrel were seen, while up at Gruinart, an Orange tipped Butterfly was present. 

Thursday 20th April

Visitor, Simon Cohen had heard a Blackcap singing close to the North hide at Gruinart  on Sunday, and later on the same day, he had a Merlin over close to Sanaigmore. Yesterday,  over at Kilchiaran, he saw a Common Sandpiper and 2 White Wagtails. Gary yesterday had seen a Grey Wagtail on the stream beside Ballygrant Quarry, and later on, he heard a Cuckoo calling in Ballygrant Woods. Today Sam had been out with Gary, down towards Knockangle Point on the Big Strand, below the airport, they saw 10 Sanderling and also 40 Golden Plover. While going home along the Glen road back to Ballygrant, they saw 3 different Hen Harriers, a Merlin and also a Golden Eagle. Mark this morning had a count of 19 Blackwits on Ardnave Loch. Louise had seen a pair of Merlin as she drove round Loch Gorm. Peter Gill today had seen a large Canada Goose, South of Bowmore, in the trees around Avonvoggie, he heard and then saw a Cuckoo, and finally over at Blackrock, he had a Whimbrel and also 6 Dunlin.

Sunday 2nd April

Yesterday, David Fallows, Jackie's other half had seen a Marsh Harrier at Gruinart. John and Kenny's tally for the week came to 105 species. they had a passage of Gannets at Frenchman's Rocks of 75 Gannets/ hour. Round at Kilchiaran, they saw Swallow and also House Martin. Richard today had an Otter at Bunahahabhain and also a White Wagtail. Over on Jura, he saw a Golden Eagle, Turnstone and 3 Otters. Back on Islay, Richard had a male Hen Harrier while driving along the Glen road. Malcolm, this morning had a pair of Siskins on his feeders in Bruichladdich, a year tick for his garden. Botswana Dave this morning had been up at Ardnave and on the East side of Loch Gruinart he saw 4 Greylag, pr of Wheatear, 13 Goldeneye, 2 Redshank, pr of Mallard, 2 Oystercatcher and 4 Lapwing. Coming back down from Ardnave, along the road to Bushmills he had 3 Stonechat, 5 Meadow Pipit, 3 Skylark, 1 Pied Wagtail and a flock of 70 Linnet. Margaret was out working in the garden this afternoon and counted 22 Chough as they flew around. The pair of Greenfinch were seen on the feeders again today as were the Blue Tits.

Friday 9th September

Rather a blustery day with strong winds blowing this evening. Gary this morning had seen 2 Pale bellied Brent Geese over at Port Ellen, along with a mixed flock of Dunlin and Ringed Plover. Along at the pontoons, Gary counted 3 GGB Gulls and also 45 Herring Gulls resting up. Returning from Port Ellen along the low road, Gary had several small flights of Snipe over the road. Jim Dickson arrived over today for his "Islay September stayover". On the ferry coming over Jim had a Pomarine Skua and saw the Brents when he arrived at Port Ellen. Over the sewage/ water treatment works on the edge of Bowmore, Jim counted 15 Sand Martins and also lots of Swallows. At "smelly corner",  Jim had 2 Arctic Terns, 4 White Wagtails and 6 Knot. Along at Uiskentuie, close in to the shore, he had a Manx Shearwater. Up at Gruinart, he counted 29 Blackwits, 8 Barwits, 2 Curlew Sandpiper, 2 Greenshank and 53 Pale bellied Brent as well as, at least 15 Greenland Wheatear. Finally, Jim had seen 60 Goldfinch at the Coull farm road end and then a female Sparrowhawk over the wee wood at Kilchoman. This afternoon, Bob had spent some time in the new hide at Gruinart where he saw 2 drake Pintail in eclipse plumage, 10 Wigeon, 3 Shoveler and 80 Teal.

Sunday 10th May

Not a great day with the weather today, rather dreich, even put the big fire on, rather than turning the thermostat up!!! Some birds from earlier on for you now instead...At the start of last week, Carl had Arctic Terns off Port Charlotte. Vising birder Andrew Pears from Co Durham went back home yesterday after spending his last full day up at Ardnave where he had a flock of 50 Golden Plover, 40 Whimbrels and 24 Chough with Twite and Linnets present there too. His highlight of the day was when a female Hen Harrier flew overhead, and then hovered above him, spoofing all the wee birds around... Thanks for all your sightings and sharing them with us...Another visitor, Peter Donaldson had seen 2 White Wagtails down at Portnahaven. Mary had been out and about on the Rhinns yesterday, and sent her birds through as follows, 2 Ravens, 4 Buzzards, a second year Golden Eagle, Otters, Sedge Warbler, Black Guillemot, 14 Shag, 8 Greylags, 2 Common Sandpiper, Fulmar and Oystercatchers. A Corncrake was heard up behind the church at Portnahaven with both Grasshopper and Sedge Warblers heard near to her house.

Monday 13th October

Another beautiful day, again with a sunset at present to finish the day off, and yes another shirt sleeves day out in the garden. Becky sent through some highlights from George Newall from Dunoon who was over last week. Mon 6th Oct, a Great Skua over Port Ellen Bay, Swallow Ardbeg on Thurs 9th, on Saturday, male Blackcap near Ardbeg , 2 Pochard on Loch Skerrols, Swallow nr Ballygrant. On Sunday, he had over 40 Shag fishing in Kilnaughton Bay along with an Otter! Yesterday George Jackson had a count of 25 Whoopers flying over the land along the coast line, could they have been the same Swans that we saw while doing the count? Today he had a large female Sparrowhawk at home at Bruichladdich. Yesterday Andrew and Jane ("The Bowland birders") had done the loop round the Rhinns from Port Charlotte. They started off at Octomore with a Greenfinch, down at Port Charlotte a Great Tit and a Grey Wagtail were seen, along at Carn, out on Loch Indaal a Red throated Diver and 5 GND. Off Nerabus, there was a Shag and a raft of Common Scoter. At Easter Ellister 3 Wrens, 3 adult Whoopers along with 6 juvs, pr of Wigeon, 2 Chough, Collared Dove, Goldfinch,and 2 White Wagtails. A female Long tailed Duck was seen between Orsay and Port Wemyss with a steady passage of Gannets noted towards Frenchman's Rocks. A female Hen Harrier at Portnahaven, at Tormisdale, a Dunnock and also a Song Thrush were seen. Finally at Gearach, 2 Tawny Owls were spotted. They reckon that they saw between 40 - 50 Stonechats while they were out. Yesterday as well, Carl had seen the Whoopers at Ellister. Today he had a Goldcrest and Grey Wagtail at Lorgba, Port Charlotte and also a Blackwit at Bruichladdich. Bob and Johno had Willow Warbler and a Redwing up on Bolsay Moor, up at Bun an uillt there were 20 Redshank and an Otter. Out from the visitor Centre at Gruinart, amongst the geese, they saw a Pink footed goose. Up at Ardnave Loch there were 18 Whoopers and 50 Wigeon and at the top of Loch Indaal they had a a GND. Tom Morton along with 5 friends, members of the Wigan RSPB members group had done an hour between 5 and 6 pm this evening below Bruichladdich. On Loch Indaal they counted 14 RTD, 3 GND, 1 Black throated Diver, 6 Slavonian Grebes, 3 Long tailed Ducks, 40 Common Scoter, 16 Whoopers and 20 Red breasted Merganser, They also counted around 20 - 25 Pink footed Geese fly overhead. Mary this morning had a count of the geese at Gruinart which tallied through at 16,201 Barnies, 92 Whitefronts, 97 Greylags, 30 Pale bellied Brents. Just after Mary completed her count, 2 juv Golden eagles flew up Gruinart and spoofed the whole lot and they then flew upwards out of eyeshot. Up at Kilnave, Mary had a juv Sparrowhawk with a male Hen Harrier at Ardnave. Back at the visitor centre, a Brambling was seen amongst the Chaffinches present. In the morning too from the old hide, 15 Snipe were seen feeding away and out on the sea wall, a dark belied Brent goose was seen. This evening here at home the Red Deer Stags are roaring away out on the hill...

Saturday 6th September

Emily has returned to Islay after her holiday up in Iceland, a great time by all accounts... On her return on Sunday, she had a Tawny Owl at Moulin on the reserve at Gruinart, with another last night. On the walk down on the Oa on Tuesday, there was a flock of over 100 Twite on the "bird crop". Over on Jura on Wednesday, there was a RSPB led walk with 26 folk attending, birds seen include a Golden Eagle, many Buzzards, a fly past of a White tailed Sea Eagle and an Otter as well! On Thursday, on the reserve at Gruinart, both male and ringtail Hen Harrier spotted from the Visitor Centre, while on the guided actual walk, large flocks of Goldfinches and Twite were seen. Down on Loch Gruinart, a White Wagtail was seen along with large numbers of Dunlin and Sanderling there too. A visitor told Emily that she had seen the Little Egret out past Ardbeg on Wednesday, probably the same one that others had seen earlier on this week.