Thurs 5th July 07

Over at R.S.P.B. Loch Gruinart Reserve helping with the guided walk in the morning. The first bird to be seen was a Short eared Owl out hunting, and soon after a male Hen Harrier quartering its patch. Down on the estuary, there were quite a few Shelduck about, but again not a lot of ducklings with them. In the afternoon, I was out trying to locate the Stone Curlew that had been reported again, but to no avail! M.A.B.
There was a sighting last week of a Black Redstart down on the Rhinns. J.S.A.

Wed 4th July 07

Great excitment at the home today, as one of the House Martin nests had fallen down on the ground with 4 young. After the initial panic, the problem was easily solved, but would it be successful? The remedy was to use an articial Marin nest, which we had not erected, and place the youngsters in it and hope for the best, we could not site it on the eaves but placed it securely on the window sill. By the looks of it, we have been successful as there are plenty bird droppings now by the new nest and several gaping mouths waiting to be fed. Hard to really establish whether we have 3 or 4 yougsters. M.A.B.

Tuesday 3rd July 07

Out today with George Jackson, for a welcome spot of bird watching! Several Gannets on the move out at sea, with a Sedge warbler heard being very vocal in an overgrown ditch on the roadside, but too elusive to be seen! Plenty stonechats, whinchats, wheatear, both adults and young were abundant in numbers. Skylarks were heard singing away in numbers up at Sanaigmore, as were a few Curlew. On the water there, were a few Eider along with youngsters. Meadow Pits were out and about with grubs for their young. At the end of our trip we commented on the lack of Harriers, a solitary Buzzard sat on a telegraph pole was the only raptor seen, no Owls either at all. G.J. and I.K.B.

Mon 2nd July 07

Islay chough summary, 2007
There are currently 50-53 nest sites occupied on Islay. Of theses nest sites, only around 30 pairs bred successfully. It has been a mixed year overall, with some pairs rearing large broods, up to 5 young, but others struggling to feed their young and losing part of or the whole brood during the nestling period.
The young choughs, of pre-breeding age, are at present in 2 flocks here on Islay at the moment. Around 65 - 70 can be seen at Ardnave peninsula and 25 - 40 around the Machir Bay area. At this time of year, the flocks of young birds are also joined by adult pairs with their recently fledged chicks. These noisy families are usually easy to spot as the fledglings are often following the parents relentlessly, begging for food! M. McC.

Sat 30th June - Sun 1st July 07

A Merlin was seen to be acting oddly in a garden over at Ballygrant, it had got a blackbird shouting off its alarm call from within a bush. The Merlin responded, by coming in to land on its perch, sourced the blackbird and took off, smashing its way into the fuschia bush, but to no avail with the blackbird flying off unscathed! S.McG.
The weather here on Islay has gone downhill, now that we are in July. We only had 3.5" of rain in June, mostly in big falls overnight followed by nice suuny days, a big contrast compared to the flooding endured and ensuing damage done to property over on the mainland. So today it is rather dreich outside, with not much sign of many birds on the wing, although the young Choughs from the roost were quite vocal earlier on, as is their norm, they cannot go about quietly! I.K.B.

Wed 26th - Fri 28th June 07

Barn owls and also Tawny Owls were seen out hunting over at R.S.P.B. Loch Gruinart Reserve, while 2 lizards were seen out sunning themselves during the day. There have been several sightings of Adders around the island, during this spell of sunny weather! Also over at Gruinart, 3 of the Hen Harrier broods were rung with a total of 7 fledglings, apart from the normal metal B.T.O. rings, they also have a white plastic ring with black lettering, the female has its ring on the right leg while the male is on the left leg, so if you see any of them, please let us know. J.R.H.
Down on Loch Indaal, there was a good sighting, close inshore, of a Great Northern Diver. G.J.
Also on the other side of the Loch, there were 4 Red Throated divers, and a Peregrine Falcon while on an inland lochan there were a pair of Whooper Swans who may now be here the whole summer, having missed out on the Spring migration! G.D.Y.
Here at home, this afternoon, I watched the Peregrine high up, flying with the Swallows, nobody taking any notice of either party! M.A.B.

Mon 24th - Tues 25th June 07

These are 2 of the young owls that were rung last week.

This morning, on the bird table there were 12 young Starlings, while on other occasions we have had young Greenfinches trying to get their parents to feed them. I am not sure whether we are right to feed through the summer months, but it certainly makes life a lot easier for the adult birds, if there is a really good source of readily available food to feed the emerging brood.

Whilst out today we saw 2 male Hen Harriers flying together within 25- 30 yards of each other, and certainly flying together, rather than one bird trying to see the other off. There was a group of 5 chough at one place and another 3 further along the coastline, possibly still family groups together. I.K.B.

George has just returned from a few days over on Mull, where he had some spectacular views of the Sea Eagles, but unfortunately did not have his big lens on his camera when they were really close at hand! He also had a Turtle dove over at Ardbeg before going away, possibly the same one that was at Kinnabus. Andy is away to St Kilda, so I wonder what he will see out there.