Tues 8th Dec

Tracey e mailed me through the figures for last week's goose count, held on Tuesday and Wednesday, in total over the two days there were 35,462 Barnacle Geese and 6,111 Grennland Whitefronted Geese. Many thanks to all those involved.

George had seen a female Kestrel near to his house at Bruichladdich this morning, while down at the waters edge on Loch Indaal, there had been 18 Pale bellied Brent Geese.

Mon 7th Dec

This is an image that I took when I was on holiday last month. It was taken down at Gretna Green just as the daylight was starting to fail, of the amazing sight put on by Starlings just prior to them going into roost. A friend had told me about it and we arranged to meet them there to see it. Initially there were a few Starlings starting to gather, and then some more and so it went on. It was a fantastic experience as the birds twisted and turned, we were really fortunate with the weather that day, one of the few dry days we had! It was well worth the effort, so if if you are ever near to Gretna, go and enjoy. I believe that it is the second largest showing of Starlings in the UK, the exact number I am not sure of.

Sun 6th Dec

An image of a group of 25 Pale bellied Brent Geese, sent in by Malcolm Ogilvie. Malcolm took it this morning. This evening, the wind is up, the ferry has been diverted to Port Askaig from Port Ellen, at least it has come and not simply cancelled! Come to think of it, back on Friday I did see a Fulmar flying past the crag (honest)!

Yesterday, James had a Woodcock on the reserve at Gruinart and 13 Whooper swans came in from the sea. Today, the Little Egret was up at the reserve (it was there yesterday too) along with 2 Little Grebe. On his way out this afternoon, James had a Merlin at Lyrabus.

Sat 5th Dec

Apologies if in last night's entry that I might have misled some of you in relation to the counting of the Geese when counts are carried out by the various teams for SNH. Infact all the geese are counted regardless as to whether they are in fields, or if they are roosting at either the head of Loch Indaal or Loch Gruinart. Sorry about that!

At lunchtime, as I went out to feed the dogs, there was a bit of excitement in one of the willows between a Blackbird and a Sparrowhawk, the Blackbird got away okay, with the Sparrowhawk flying off to find another source of food. Earlier this morning, just before we got down to the coal yard, a ringtail Hen Harrier flew across the road just in front of us, and on the way home a Merlin was seen on a fence post before it flew off.

Fri 4th Dec

Another good day weather wise, a slight edge to the wind, but at least it stayed dry!

The Little Egret was seen down at Carnain again today. With the weather being better, James and carried out a count on the reserve at Gruinart. 10,265 Barnacle Geese, 423 Greenland Whitefronts, 34 Greylags, 1 Canada (hutchinsii), 2 Hen Harrier (1 male and a female), 1 Sparrowhawk, 1 Peregrine Falcon, 275 Golden plover and 5 Fieldfare.

The figures are not through from Tracey yet for the Goose count carried out earlier this week yet, but it will be interesting to see them as the weather was not great when they were carried out, also there has been a full moon this week, and often when that occurs the geese eat through the night and roost up through the day, as so possibly are not seen on the fields to the same extent.

Thurs 3rd Dec

A better day for a change, weather wise, no rain but we did have a shower of hail stones briefly this morning!

James saw 20 Woodpigeon yesterday afternoon at the reserve at Gruinart, the largest number there that he can recall. The Little Egret was down at Carnain again today. James was discussing with me about the Egret this morning, as the one that was with the Cattle Egret earlier on, was last seen over at Port Ellen and "disappeared" for a while and then this one came, coinciding with a sighting of one up in Oronsay, so possibly this is a diiferent bird! 3 Whooper Swans flew over our house this afternoon, no doubt heading out and over to Ireland.

Wed 2nd Dec

Apologies for nothing being entered last night, but the broadband connection was playing up yesterday.....

To start the month off, look backwards to the rainfall in November and we only had 9", but the total for the year so far is 3" more than we had in total last year!

In between the showers and the wind I had to go out briefly, but I did manage to see a Merlin over at Grainel yesterday. Today, down at the top of Loch Indaal, there were 2 groups of Pale bellied Brent Geese, one of 40 birds, the other only 5 birds, and they possibly would join up together later on as they were quite close to each other. Further on, down at Carnain, (or "smelly corner" as we call it), the Little Egret was present again. Coming home at around 4pm, and there were 39 Shelduck present where the Little Egret had been earlier.