Wed 7th July

A Chough family sent through by Carl, the adult bird has the bright red beak with the 2 youngsters sporting the duller beaks!

Carl yesterday had done better than me, not that hard to do... He had a Common Sandpiper at Gortan, a hungry Buzzard hanging on the rain soaked wind above the raised beach at Uisketuie. A Snipe was heard at Springbank, while back at home in Port Charlotte the pesky Herring Gull is still persisting at knocking on the windows!

Tues 6th July

Well, the weather forecast turned out to be correct with the rain coming in by just after midday, not a lot, but it is still damp outside and now the wind is starting pick up too, just as forecast! With the wind coming in from the South west, in previous years it often leads to the leaves on the trees getting a bit of a salt burn. So with the change in the weather, to cut a long story short, not many birds on the go today, but I did see a family of 4 Chough out this morning, they have fledged later than the other sites and have been like that for the last few years.

Mon 5th July

At breakfast time this morning there was a family of Chaffinches on the bird table, and on closer examination of them I noticed that one of the youngsters had a leg but no foot. It certainly was not ailing, eating away quite the thing and then it flew off.

Working outside later on and the Fulmars were soaring again on the air currents out from the crag, with the ever present Ravens never far away with their distinctive call. A Rock Dove flew past at a great speed, had some of his mates already been preyed upon? Earlier on we had been up towards Sanaigmore and saw several young Wheatears out and about and a ringtail Hen Harrier flew over the road on our way home.

Sun 4th July

After speaking to Clark yesterday, we are both in agreement that our rainfall figures are similar for the month, giving us a grand total for the first half of 2010 of only 13.5", last year for the same time it was around 29"..... Having said that, already we have had almost as much rain in the first few days in July as we had in total in June, almost an inch!

Carl commented on that today was not exactly the best of days to be out, but from one of his windows at home there were plenty of Gannets and a few Terns to be seen fishing over Loch Indaal. Willow Warbler and Wren were present on the bushes in the garden at Coultorsay, with a young Song Thrush on the drive leading up to the house.

Here at home today, there were some young Greenfinches on the feeders, and on the wall up at the churchyard last night a Linnet was getting pestered by 4 youngsters looking for some food. This afternoon, I saw Marcus Covell out for a run along the road at the Strand at Uiskentuie, with Marcus having to watch out for a couple of dive bombing Arctic Terns!

Sat 3rd July

Another image through from Carl, this time of a Willow warbler. Down at Portnahaven Carl had seen families of Willow warbler, Mistle Thrush, Linnet, Stonechats and Goldfinches. Back at home at Lorgba in Port Charlotte, Carl had Goldcrest in the Pine trees.

Back here at home, this afternoon it was good to watch some of the Fulmars soaring on the uplifts from the crag, not much effort needed there, a bit like when I used to go gliding on Deeside many years ago...

Fri 2nd July

A topic that came up for discussion the other night at the meeting of local birders was, where have all the Arctic Terns gone? There used to be quite a few pairs along the top of Loch Indaal, but they appear to be a lot fewer this year. I have not noticed folk walking along being "dive bombed" by the Terns protecting their patch so far!

Carl was commenting today on the drake Eiders starting to gather together into male only groups on the edge of Loch Indaal as they enter eclipse. Yesterday he saw an Eider with 4 ducklings at Gortan. Today at Gartmain, the tide was well out as he passed by, with plenty of Bar tailed Godwits still around, but with the tide being out, counting proved difficult as they were spread out over a larger area than normal.

Thurs 1st July

Another month in, another dry month at that, with just around an inch, so we are really in dry times. Having said that we did have some rain through last night, not a lot but some... I will speak with Clark and get an update from him!

Another neighbour was in touch today to say that she has been seeing a male Hen Harrier out hunting from her house most evenings of late. The Chough that are nearby fledged 3 young and have moved on. On the whin bushes, there are a lot of Stonechats to be seen while the Swallows in her shed have all fledged their first brood.