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....

Friday 24th July

Yvonne McCrone who lives over close to Otterferry has been over on Islay for a few days , and Yvonne wrote to tell me that she had seen at least 12 Whimbrel on the newly cut field at Cornabus. Have there been any more sightings to confirm this? They were there yesterday and today. We also had one staying a while at Otterferry before I came over here. . by the sound of news coming through, I believe that there were Whimbrels that she had seen..

Gary had been out and about today as well, 
"Some sightings from today, 47 Bar tailed Godwits & 2 Black tailed Godwits amongst the curlew and oystercatchers. Male Hen Harrier quartering the moorland just outside Bowmore"

Saturday 18th July

I was speaking to James earlier on this evening and he was saying tat he had seen 3 Blackwits flying in from the North yesterday and they flew up to the top end of Loch Gruinart. Today, he had seen an Adder out sunning itself.

Gary was in touch, last night, just after I had posted last nights'  entry on the blog, he was telling me that he had seen 3 Peregrines fly past Bunnahabhain while Sam had seen a ringtail Hen Harrier while she was waiting for Gary coming to pick up from her work at Ardnahoe Distillery...

Thursday 29th August

Rather a mixed day, as in a poor day with the weather, not much sun shining between some lively, squally showers.. Last night, just after writing the entry for the blog, boy it was black outside, and then shortly afterwards there was a flash of lightning and then after quite a pause, a very distant rumble of thunder was heard... but only the one flash, along with some heavy rain !!!!

Yesterday, James had seen an Osprey flying over Lyrabus, also yesterday Shona Isla had counted 17  Black  tailed Godwits on the flats at Gruinart as she was driving over to her work at Gruinart.

Up here at home, there do not appear to be as many Swallows around, so perhaps some did fly away last night. The birds, in on our feeders, certainly have polished the food which I put out for them this morning.

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....

Tuesday 18th June

Armin had seen a Heron when he was packing his car up, over on Jura before coming to here on Islay for his second week of this present visit. When he was about to set off the said Heron was seen returning, flying along the shore.. The other day, Armin had been down on Machir Bay where he had seen quite a few Sand Martins battling into a headwind.

John Wilson is over this week, great to see you this morning John... Some birds seen by himself included 6 Blackwits, 2 Wigeon, some Shovelers at Gruinart, he had heard a Corncrake calling away down close to the church at Portnahaven. On the feeders at The Woollen Mill, he counted 10 Siskins with another 5 present at Ballygrant Inn yesterday evening. This morning, John had 2 different male Hen Harriers seen as he drove round Loch Gorm. Finally, he had seen 3 Buzzards out flying out over the crag at Kilchoman.

Bob had carried out his WeBS count from Port Charlotte round to Blackrock yesterday afternoon, when his scores on the doors came to 2 Gbb Gull, 1 Lbb Gull, 76 C Gull, 49 H Gull, 41 Oystercatcher, 2 Kittiwake, 13 Arctic Terns, 20 Greylags, 4 Shelduck, 35 Eider, 4 Dunlin, 6 Ringed Plover and 4 Tysties. Lesley had helped Bob on his count.

Thursday 6th June

Yesterday was Karen and John's last day of their present visit to Islay...They had seen at least 5 different Hen Harriers as they worked their way down to Port Ellen for an early start this morning on the ferry.... On the Oa they had heard several Corncrakes calling and they also saw a distant Golden Eagle there as well. They also had seen Twite and Whinchat on the Oa. Other birds seen include Whinchats at Bunnahabhain, and Gary kindly showed them a White tailed Eagle on their way up to Bunnahabhain. Many thanks to Karen and John for their sightings and all going well, we look forward to catching up with you down at the Birdfair in August.

Gary himself had been out with clients including Morag Rae and her husband who are both stalwarts of the Argyll Bird Club... They had seen 5 Hen Harriers on their day out with Gary. Down at Rockside, they had an Osprey on top of a telegraph pole. As well as the shared White tailed Eagle that Gary had shown to Karen and John, the said bird was sitting in a field over close to Keills.

James, this morning, had seen a Peregrine and also a Black tailed Godwit on the flats at Gruinart.

Friday 2nd November

Yesterday morning, Bob had seen a Woodcock and then a small flock of  20 Fieldfare were present along the track to Bolsay.

Mike Bell yesterday had a another good day's birding. Just after breakfast, he had a count of 50 Whoopers along at Sunderland. On the floods at Gruinart, he counted a further 52 Whoopers before they flew off in the direction of Sunderland Farm.. He also had 1,490 Teal, 7 Blackwits and  40 Redwing. While driving up the East side of Loch Gruinart, he had seen the Little Egret in one of the creeks. He had 550 Golden Plover near by with 119 Barwits, 345 Dunlin, 57 Sanderling, 2 Greenshank and also seen were 2 different Ringtails. On the flats at Gruinart he had a count of 240 Linnets all feeding on the ground. On the barley stubbles at West Carrabus, there were 11 Whoopers. Over at Coal Ila, he saw 2 imm. White tailed Eagles and 3 distant Golden Eagles seen way over on Jura. Mike saw 3 Tysties flying North up the Sound of Islay with 32 Eider, 2 Common Scoter and 3 GND seen  on the water. He also saw 2 Goldcrest in the trees there as well. Up past Dunlossit, Mike saw a further 2 Golden Eagles, shortly afterwards he had 17 Fieldfare and as he approached Storakaig, 65 Hooded Crows were counted and then along the road, a flypast 38 Fieldfare flying South. Down on the stubbles beside Mulindry, he saw 394 Whoopers, 3 Pink footed Geese, 230 Whitefronts, 480 Greylags and also a flock of 70 Chaffinch

Here at home, this morning the Ringtail flew past following the garden fence .... Lunchtime the Sparrowhawk spoofed the wee birds from the feeders and then mid afternoon, a Merlin zipped past.

Wednesday 31st October

Yesterday,  Mike Bell had been out birding, but after the meeting last , I was too tired to write up a list of Mike birds, better late than never.. Yesterday at dawn, he had 30 Chough fly out from the roost at Kilchoman. Along the West end of Loch Gorm, he had a ringtail Hen Harrier. At Blackrock, he had seen 34 Scaup. He carried out his "own" WeBs count from Bowmore along to Gartbreck with his tally coming to a RTD, a GND, 68 Whitefronts, 90 Greylags, 9,400 Barnies, 46 Wigeon, 40 Teal, 36 Mallard, 27 Eider, 30 R B Merganser, 57 Oystercatcher, 42 Ringed Plover, 210 Golden Plover, 1 Grey Plover, 32 Lapwing, 4 Knot, 16 Dunlin, 17 Barwits, 30 Curlew, 21 Snipe, 5 Redshank, 9 Turnstone with 21 Ravens seen at the Refuse tip.  Over at Mulindry, Mike had seen 192 Whooper Swans. Now on his return leg to where he is staying, Mike saw a Golden Eagle and also a Peregrine as he drove from Carnain over the hill towards Coullabus. Up the East side of Loch Gruinart, he had 1,200 Golden Plover, 22 Knot, 86 Barwits, 3 Greenshank, 27 Turnstone, and 90 Redwing. On the floods at Gruinart, he saw 16 Whoopers, 1100 Teal, 64 Pintail, 15 Shoveler a ringtail Hen Harrier and a Blackwit. Up at Sanaigmore, Mike saw a Golden Eagle, a Merlin, a Peregrine, 7 Ringed Plover, 3 Turnstone, and 35  Redwing. Ballinaby held 3 Chough and finally 102 Redwing were counted at Saligo. A good day's work Mike, many thanks!!!

This morning, out on the grass we had a female Blackcap munching its' way into the apples on the ground...

Earlier on the ringtail flew through the garden, and just kept going. We had another fly through this afternoon, the same bird no doubt... There was another female Blackcap seen further down in the garden, this one was enjoying the Rose hips as was a male Blackbird. The other Blackcap was up at the apples at the same time. Margaret came through to say that the Blackbird was now enjoying the berries on the Cotoneasters.. please leave some berries/ hips for any Waxwings that may come and visit us... 

Saturday 4th August

Today, Distillery Dave had counted 76 Sanderling down on Machir Bay, he also had seen a Black tailed Godwit as well.

This morning, I saw 3 Wrens down below the house, the first seen for a few days. Out on the seed heads over towards the reed bed were a family of 4 Whinchats. Late afternoon, while visiting friends, we saw 2 juvenile Robins in their garden. Finally this evening, the flock of birds coming to feed on the crop has greatly increased, again mainly Linnet and Twite with a good number of Goldfinches enjoying the thistle seeds on offer. The other "locals", the Siskins, Chaffinches and House Sparrows seem to be content on the other purchased seed on offer!!!!

Tuesday 1st August

This morning, Peter and Mike had gone up to Ardnave to see if they could se the Rosy Starling, no joy but they did have a group of 11 Blackwits at Ardnave Loch itself. Just as well that they had gone out this morning as the weather closed in this afternoon, a "gie driech" time since then. Maybe just as well I raked some grass cuttings as well, and I put them away down on the compost heap....On his way home, earlier this evening from here, Distillery Dave had a mixed group of 50 Curlew and Oystercatcher out on the Machir. Talking about the weather, the rainfall here came to an exact 4 inches for the month, Marsali at Mulindry was saying that for once she has not had as much as us, her figures tallied up to only 3.43 inches...

Wednesday 30th May

Steve Davies from North Wales was on the phone last night. He had been visiting Islay last week, and by the way he spoke to me, it  was his first visit and certainly not his last... Down on the Oa, he had seen a male Hen Harrier out quartering out over the moorland. On his way back from the Oa, he had another great sighting, this time a Buzzard dropping on to its' prey successfully, an Adder was the victim.. Up at Gruinart, he saw an Osprey taking a fish from the water. Another day during his visit, he had seen an adult White tailed Eagle and also a sub adult close together, forgot to ask exactly where.. Great to speak to you last night Steve...

Some birds  heard at Gruinart yesterday evening at the Bird nerds meeting included a Blackcap, a Willow Warbler, Robin and Skylarks. Birds seen were Swallows, House Martins, Sand Martins, Mallard with young, Redshank also with young, Lapwing, Teal,  Shoveler, Rooks, Jackdaws, a couple of Hooded Crows and also 8 Black tailed Godwit in full summer plumage. And, we never heard a Corncrake calling... though we did see some Hares.

Bob was in touch this afternoon to say that he has got 2 pair of House Martin using his cups/ trays that he has put up for them to use as nest sites. James emailed through late afternoon to say that he had seen a pair of Garganey out in front of the South hide at Gruinart.

Friday 23rd March

After a damp start, the weather picked up and what a beautiful sunset to end the day with. Morven kindly sent through the figures for the International goose count carried out here on Islay on Tuesday and Wednesday. The tally came to 34,750 Barnies, 4,422 Whitefronts and 483 Greylags. Many thanks to Morven and the team from SNH for these figures.

I also recently a couple of e mails through from visiting birders who have been over on Islay recently.. Derek Stanyard along with his colleagues have been coming over to Islay for a short 5 day visit normally in February/ March since 2010. This year they had seen 86 species , a few down on previous years but the weather kept them in for one of their days. By the sound of things, it was Derek et al who had seen the Sandwich Tern down on Machir Bay last week.... The other person who sent through an e mail was Philip Cohen from Dundee. Philip was over last weekend from the 16th to 19th March and saw a total of 78 species with another 3 heard but not seen. A great list for only one set of eyes to see in such a short spell, and especially as it was Philip's first visit to Islay, hopefully not your last!!!... So many thanks for your birds to you both, as ever, much appreciated.

The Horwich birders had seen a Black tailed Godwit out from the South hide today.

Thursday 13th July

Yesterday, Gary had seen a White tailed Eagle fly over Keills and then up towards Bunnahabhain, he saw a pair of Bullfinches. Yesterday We saw a Red legged Partridge on our way to Bunnahabhain just after Ardnahoe. Today, Gary had been out with clients. They saw a male Hen Harrier at Finlaggan, later on, a ringtail was seen up towards Ardnave. At Ardnave Loch, they saw 4 Black tailed Godwits in summer plumage and while going over the Glen road 2 Swifts were spotted. Here at home on the feeders, earlier on, an adult Greenfinch plus 3 youngsters, proof that they must have bred!!!

One of the House Sparrows out behind the garage yesterday morning..

Friday 21st April

Yesterday, Michal had seen 2 Whimbrel at Easter Ellister, a Common Sandpiper was on the shore with 2 GND offshore. Michal is back over for a few days carrying out some survey work, great to see you Michal...  Peter Gill yesterday evening had seen a Red throated Diver in breeding plumage on Loch Indaal out from Port Charlotte. Over at RSPB Loch Gruinart, today Peter had seen 9 Whoopers, the Green winged Teal was present out from the South hide, a Corncrake was heard calling briefly. Up at the North hide he counted a flock of 300 Blackwits and finally on the ploughed fields down at the Coastguards between 150 - 200 Golden Plover were there. Mike Peacock had seen a Peregrine up behind Port Charlotte this afternoon. Here at home, while I was looking at the birds on the ground at the base of the niger seed feeders, I saw that one of the Redpolls had a BTO ring on, but sorry to say that all I could read was "29", never saw the letters at the start, let alone the other numbers... and we have not rung any Redpolls here, so wonder where it has come from...
Before I forget, on Tuesday evening at 6.30pm, the "Islay Bird nerds" will be meeting up at NR 271617 for a walk through the Woods at Foreland House, wellies could be advisable as I believe that it may be muddy in certain places, so if you are around, see you there...

Wednesday 24th August

Paul Hathaway had seen a Magpie at lunchtime last Friday at Nerabus. On Sunday, Malcolm had spotted an Osprey perched on a tree on the wooded island  on Loch Gorm, and also a Coot, the first he has ever seen on Loch Gorm. Today, Peter had done an hour down at Frenchman's Rocks. There were over 200 Gannets, adults and sub adults, feeding actively between the rocks and Islay. There was also a constant stream of adult Gannets passing right by without stopping to fish. Peter wondered if these birds had already fed and were returning to Ailsa Craig. Manx Shearwaters were noted flying from West to East at around 10 - 20 per minute. Also seen were a few Fulmar, Razorbills, Guillemots, Kittiwakes and Common Gulls. James had been up at Ardnave where he saw a Sparrowhawk, 42 Chough,  50 Black tailed Godwit and 2 Hen Harriers. Back down over the reserve at Gruinart, he saw a Peregrine

Wednesday 24th August

Paul Hathaway had seen a Magpie at lunchtime last Friday at Nerabus. On Sunday, Malcolm had spotted an Osprey perched on a tree on the wooded island  on Loch Gorm, and also a Coot, the first he has ever seen on Loch Gorm. Today, Peter had done an hour down at Frenchman's Rocks. There were over 200 Gannets, adults and sub adults, feeding actively between the rocks and Islay. There was also a constant stream of adult Gannets passing right by without stopping to fish. Peter wondered if these birds had already fed and were returning to Ailsa Craig. Manx Shearwaters were noted flying from West to East at around 10 - 20 per minute. Also seen were a few Fulmar, Razorbills, Guillemots, Kittiwakes and Common Gulls. James had been up at Ardnave where he saw a Sparrowhawk, 42 Chough,  50 Black tailed Godwit and 2 Hen Harriers. Back down over the reserve at Gruinart, he saw a Peregrine

Friday10th June

Gary yesterday at Loch Tallant, apart from hearing the Little Grebe calling, he had also heard Sedge Warblers calling there as well with some Sand Martins skimming over the water itself. Along at Blackrock, Gary had seen Cormorant, Arctic Terns, Common Terns, Lbb Gull, Common Gull and also Black headed Gulls, and on the shingle towards Blackrock itself Gary counted 47 Blackwits and also 20 Knot. Yesterday afternoon while Gary was up here visiting we saw 2 different Hooded Crows flying past carrying Pheasant chicks away, now I know where they are going... Today on the feeders there was a gathering of 29 Starlings, mostly youngsters getting the feel for the feeders!!!!  Later on, I saw a family of House Sparrows out dust bathing, the 2 adults showing their 5 fledglings what to do...

Monday 2nd May

Yesterday, Carl had a single Whooper on Ardnave Loch,  he counted 130 Barwits at Tayvullin. Back down close to Garra Eallabus, a Cuckoo was heard while in Bridgend Woods, Blackcaps and also Bullfinches calling. Back over at Port Bhan, 25 Whimbrel were present. This morning, Bob had 28 Blackwits opposite St Kiaran's Church and also the same number of Whimbrel present along at Port Bhan. This afternoon, we had 3 small groups of Whimbrel, 5 seen past the Coastguards towards Coull Farm, 7 at Ballinaby and then 15 over at the Killinallan gate. A couple of male Hen Harriers were over the East end of Loch Gorm. At home, the Greenfinches  were on our feeders, but no sign today of the Lesser Redpoll. Early this evening, James had seen a Lesser Yellowlegs out from the new hide at Gruinart , also present were 4 White Wagtails and 2 Gadwall. Back at Mill cottage, ( James's house) while were having a cuppa and catch up, 2 Common Redpolls were on James's feeders along with Greenfinches, a BlueTit and Goldfinches.

Wednesday 30th March

What a cracker of a day it has been, the old solar panel appreciated it, better go and look out some sun cream to rub on it...Yesterday, Peter Gill had seen a Slavonian Grebe off Port Charlotte, a Sparrowhawk was close to Bridgend, with another seen up beside Dun Nosebridge, a pair of Hen Harriers were seen further on and returning to their cottage, 7 Pale bellied Brent were along at Blackrock. Forgot to mention that the bird nerds had a Blackwit in summer plumage on the floods at Gruinart. Today, there was a report of around 50 Wheatears seen here on the West of Islay. Michal had seen 2 Red Grouse up at Ardnave this afternoon. Peter Gill today had seen 2 Red legged Partridge as he approached Bunnahabhain, a Peregrine over Staoisha Forestry plantation and then a Golden Eagle high up, flying from Islay over to Jura. Down at the Lily Loch, a Treecreeper and also a Goldcrest were present.