Sat 9th Aug

Michal had been out prowling again this afternoon and managed to capture this image of Dunlin and Sanderling in flight.

Some visitors with whom I was speaking to, told me of being on the guided walk with Michael down the Oa on Tuesday, and they had seen Golden Eagle, Buzzard, Peregrine, Hen Harrier and Kestrel. They were really impressed with 5 different raptors within a short space of time, along with tremendous views all around, over to Ireland and back to the Mull of Kintyre. Here last night the views were someting else too, with a tremendous view from Bruichladdich over the top of Loch Indaal towards the Paps of Jura.

Fri 8 Aug

After a few days on the mainland, I have not had much time yet to catch up with the others to hear what has been going on when I was away. Andy had a Dipper on the Sorn earlier on in the week, while a friend who was staying with us had seen an Otter track down on the beach, but better still was the close sighting of an Otter the following day at another beach for the best part of half an hour. All I could claim was seeing several Magpies along the Stirling -Edinburgh road!

Mon 4th August

The other day, James had 178 Greylag on the RPSB Loch Gruinart reserve, along with 2 Greenshank, a Peregrine and also 7 Black tailed Godwits. The question is, are these the same 7 Godwits that have been around for the last few days, or are they different birds? JRH

Coming home tonight, 18 Greylag flew over down towards Loch Gorm, and there were 6 Red Deer Stags in a field of silage aftermath. They did not get spooked when we stopped to have a look at them.

Sun 3rd August

Michal had been out on the prowl with his camera and sent me this one of a Dunlin. There were 30 Dunlin in total, along with 13 Common Tern, 8 Redshank, 10 Ringed Plover and 40 Common Gulls.

Today was Stacey's last day on Oronsay and quickly e mailed to tell me that 3 Ruddy Shelduck have been over there for the last 3 days. Next job for Stacey is in the Deep South, Antarctica for the next 30 months or so, non stop, no holidays from there, but not starting until November! Stacey will be doing her own blog from there, so I will try to give you her address later on. In the mean time, thanks for your Colonsay input.

Sat 2nd August

Well, the rain did stop through the night, with a friend catching one of the first Salmon of the year on the Laggan this morning. Another fisherman was over on Loch Gorm, the Osprey! Possibly, finding it a bit harder as the causeway out to one of the small islands is covered in water again, actually the first time for a good number of years that the causeway has been seen so visibly. JSA

Back home and there was a Grey wagtail earlier this evening.

Fri 1st August

There was quite a lot of rain through the night, in fact by the time it finished there was just short of an inch had fallen. The total for July was 3.6", slightly wetter than last July, but the running total so far this year is similar to 2007.

Some friends who are over staying had ventured out in the hills on Thursday and were fortunate to see not only Golden Eagle, but also Golden Plover.

Thurs 31st July

As forecast, the weather has broken down, although the forecasters had been saying it was going to happen earlier on in the week. There is no pleasing some folks! As the weather has broken down, the visible birds have gone down too as most of us find something to do indoors, but James has seen an increase in numbers of Black tailed Godwits from 7, up to 18.

A visitor reported in to the Islay Natural History Trust, to say that they had seen a Basking Shark in the Sound of Islay at Caol Ila.