Thursday 7th November

MB had been out in the cold and wet yesterday, a dedicated birder for the blog, well done lad... Mind you, going by the weather that was around yesterday, it was the same everywhere and not just solely on Islay in that it was cold and wet!!!

Over at Octovullin, he had seen 43 Fieldfare and also present were 14 Red legged Partridges there as well. Down below, on the water at Loch Skerrols, he had 19 Mute Swan, 39 Whoopers, 176 Wigeon, 105 Teal, a single Pintail, 28 Tufted Duck,with a Woodcock, 4 Bullfinches seen nearby and he heard some Siskins there as well. He also had seen  2 adult W t Eagles in the air . A wee while later, up past Loch Cam, over Carn nan Gillean 2 Golden Eagles. Down over the merse at Bridgend, he had a Golden Eagle flushing out 72 Mallard, 117 Ringed Plover, 2 Grey Plover, 23 Knot and 76 Dunlin. Along at Blackrock, the usual 32 P b Brents were still present. In the air , up behind Craigens, he saw an adult and also a juv Golden Eagle. Up at Bun an Uillt, MB had seen 6 GND, 5 R b Merganser and also the 2 Long Tailed Duck. Down on the floods at Gruinart, he counted 470 Teal, 34 Pintail and a Hen Harrier, (no Shoveler seen). Finally, below Carnduncan, he had seen another Hen Harrier

Wednesday 6th November

Yesterday MB had seen a  male Hen Harrier up at Kilchoman, and before I forget he had seen 8 Carrion Crows down on Machir Bay on Monday. Back to yesterday again.. MB had seen 12 Whooper Swans flying South when at Kildalton Cross. and also 2 Yellowhammer,  a single Redpoll.  Around Aros  Bay, 2 Mute Swan and also a juv Whooper Swan. Other birds present there included a Pink footed Goose, 490 Barnies, a Canada Goose (British type), 89 Wigeon, 2 Lapwing, 22 Curlews, 3 Goldcrest and 2 Long tailed Tits. Ovr Loch an-t-Sailein, he saw an adult W t Eagle,. he also counted 160 Whitefronts, 100 Greylag, 35 Wigeon, 10 R b Merganser, 27 Curlew and a Tystie there as well. Back at Port Ellen, he saw 23 Ringed Plover. Finally back at Kilchoman, he saw 16 Chough going into the roost with 84 Hooded Crows seen flying to their roost as well.

James yesterday had account of 11,715 bBarnies, 397 Whitefronts 8 P b Brent geese, 1,660 Golden Plover and a Golden Eagle, all seen on the reserve at Gruinart.

Tuesday 5th November

Yesterday for Colin Bushell along with his birders who have been over for the past few days, it was their final day. Up at Bunnahabhain, they saw a Golden Eagle and also had a count of 12 Lesser Redpolls there. Down at Ballygrant, they had 25 Fieldfares and also a Mistle Thrush present.. Loch Skerrols had 13 Mute Swan, 23 Whoopers, 57 Wigeon and also 24 Teal. At Loch Gruinart, they saw a Todd's Canada Goose, 8 Whoopers, the drake Green winged Teal was present out from the North Hide. Out over the flats they had seen 2 W t Eagles and also a Golden  Eagle with 34 Sanderling seen up on the East side of Loch Gruinart itself.

MB yesterday had counted 38 Ringed Plover and also 46 Curlew down on Machir Bay. Over at Whin park/the merse at Bridgend, he had seen 2 White tailed Eagles . 9 Shelduck, 72 Knot, 2 Grey Plover, 104 Ringed Plover, 23 Dunlin, 14 Barwits and also 31 P b Brents were present there as well. Down towards Kilchiaran, he saw an adult Golden Eagle and then shortly afterwards, he had a male Hen Harrier seen close to Tormisdale. A walk along beside Claddach, proved quite productive... He watched a flock of Barnies being spoofed by something and then he watched a W t Eagle take a Barnie out in mid flight, but the Barnie managed to break out of the eagle's grip and escape....The Eagle was not too pleased about that.. He also saw a Sparrowhawk , 6 Ringed Plover, 8 Curlew, 6 Redshank, 3 Turnstone, 191 Whitefronts, 24 Shag, 5 Cormorant and also 39 Hooded Crows. He also counted 141 adult Grey Seals along with 9 Pups . Another species of interest, was the sighting of a "Blond" Hedgehog...

Also yesterday, James had a Water Rail while walking through the Woodland Trail at Gruinart.

This afternoon, Malcolm had seen 110 Shag in a feeding frenzy out on Loch Indaal from his house. There were solely Shags seen with no gulls present, with the whole event taking around 20 minutes with Shags flying away in small groups rather than in in one large groups. Earlier on this week, I had been coming up from Port Charlotte  and I had seen Shags perched up on the rocks just North of Bruichladdich and thought that there was a large number of Shags present, "standing room only"

Monday 4th November

Another glorious day with the weather out here again today, with the sun streaming in through the window as I attempt to write this entry... 

MB had a good day's birding yesterday, his birds started off with 95 Fieldfares counted in the wood down at Kilchoman. A look out over Loch Indaal bewteen 08.25 and 10.00 betwen Port Charlotte round to Carnain/ Smelly Corner produced 33 RTD, 42 GND (including a raft of 21 Divers), 39 Slav Grebe ( all seen between Gortan and Smelly Corner), 21 Scaup, 153 Eider, 113 Common Scoter, 18 L t Ducks (11 drakes), 75 R b Meganser, 3 Goldeneye, and at where the Grey River enters Loch Indaal at Uisketuie, he saw a Grey Wagtail. On a rising high tide, up at Gruinart he had 8 P b Brent Geese, 24 Shelduck, 2,120 Golden Plover, 11 Knot, 46 Sanderling, 540 Dunlin, 351 Barwits, 7 Greenshank, 62 Turnstone with 2 L t Ducks in from Bun an Uillt. Killinallan held 42 Whitefronts, 2,700 Barnies,  35 Ringed Plover, 62 Golden PLover, 253 Lapwing, 31 Sanderling, 31 Sanderling, 12 Curlew, 80 Redwing, 40 Twite and also a Mistle Thrush, an imm. Golden Eagle flew over from Ardnave and flew on Eastwards.  On the hills inland from there, he saw  a W t Eagle and another Golden Eagle. Ardnave Point held a Golden Eagle, and a Hen Harrier. On the floods at Gruinart MB counted 960 Teal, 51 Pintail and a Hen Harrier . Coming back to his cottage where he is staying when over here, he had seen another H H along below Carndunacn with a final ringtail seen  at Kilchoman.

Yesterday, Colin Bushell along with his group from Limosa Holidays had also carried out a watch on Loch Indaal, from Bowmore round to Bruichladdich. They had some birds which MB had not spotted including 2 Purple Sandpipers, 20 L Tt Ducks, a Pinkie, 19 Whoopers, 78 Wigeon, 42 Teal, 9 Goldeneye, 9 Tysties, a Bt Diver as well as a distant Golden Eagle and a W t Eagle. When driving up to Gruinart, they saw a ringtail HH and then a Brambling was seen out from the Visitor Centre. 

On Loch Gorm, they had seen 2 Pochard, 38 Tufted Duck and a Slav Grebe, they also had another W t Eagle and another ringtail and saw 20 Rock Doves. Along amongst the Barnies seen down towards Machir Bay, they had 4 Dark bellied Brent Geese, on the beach itself they had 41 Ringed Plover. Also seen there were 20 Chough, a Peregrine as well as a Merlin. 

The other day Gary had seen a small flock of Redpolls down towards the Lily Loch,. Today, he had a Merlin at Kilchiaran and then later on, another one seen at Foreland. This morning, we saw a Golden Eagle away out over the far crag with 2 Roe Deer on the top of another part of the crag. As per usual, the Sparrowhawk came through the garden and decided to have a wee rest for a few minutes sitting on top of one of the garden fence posts...Up at Sanaigmore today, LT had a count of 50 Fieldfare.

Marsali was in touch with her rainfall for October coming to a heady 7.12" while James told me yesterday that his figure for the month came to 6.5", so I can hear you all moaning about up here on the dry West with our tally coming in at only 6.0" exactly...

Sunday 3rd November

Back on Thursday evening when driving home, James had seen 2 Tawny Owls and also a Barn Owl, all sen on the reserve at Gruinart. He has had a "regular"  visitor of a Grey Wagtail of late in his garden.

MB had counted 29 Ringed Plover down at Machir Bay. When driving up to Ardnave, he had a Golden Eagle sitting perched up. In the garden at Ardnave House, he counted 64 Redwing present.  Over at Traigh Nostaig, he had seen 29 Ringed Plover, 3 Grey Plovers, 5 Sanderling, 5 Barwits, 13 Turnstone, 40 Twite and also 39 Chough. Back down on the floods at Gruinart, he had 37 Pintail and also 32 Shoveler. Out on the estuary, he had counted 22 Shelduck, 254 Barwits, a Knot, 11       Turnstone, 117 Ringed Plover, 18 Sanderling, 490 Dunlin with 1870 Golden Plover present as well. A count out on Loch Indaal from Bruichladdich back round to Bowmore provided him with some more birds... 21 RTD, 7GND,  8 Slav Grebes, 34 Common Scoter, 5 Long tailed drakes flew in, 2 Goldeneye, 67 Eider and 97 R b Merganser. Below Carnduncan, he had 2 Chough while along at Coull, he had counted 60 Curlews together.

The Rochdale birders had seen seen a total of 6 Eagles when they were out and about yesterday, they also had seen a Sparowhawk in Port Charlotte as well.

Yesterday also, Colin Bushell and his group from Limosa Holidays had a great day again, not just with the weather... But they had been on the Oa and at around Kinnabus, they had a male and also a ringtail Hen Harrier, with 284 Whitefronts, a L t Duck and a Tufted Duck seen on Kinnabus Loch. They also counted around 75 Twite and at least 20 Rock Doves close to the steading there as well. Along the Cornabus valley towards Kintra, they saw 351 Whitefronts, 8 Mistle Thrush, a Fieldfare, 5 Ravens and also they watched a Merlin hunting Mipits over towards the Machrie Hotel. Later on up at Ardnave, they had counted over 110 Redwings in and around the house there, with 2 Dabchick seen out on Ardnave Loch itself. They had counted 26 Ravens mainly in small groups of 3 to 4 birds flying South along the West side of Gruinart, they also saw another ringtail .. Down at the reserve at Gruinart, they had seen another male Hen Harrier, a White tailed Eagle, 6 Whoopers and also the large flock of Golden Plover.

This morning, Gary had seen the Kingfisher seen down at Carnain this morning. Up here at home, we have been seeing  both  ringtail and male Hen Harriers as well as that pesky Sparrowhawk for good measure, just enough to keep the wee birds on their toes...

Saturday 2nd November

Well I must be getting a bit forgetful in my old age/ dotage... the rainfall up here at the cottage came to 6 inches exactly for the whole of October....

Colin Bushell came over on Thursday with a group from Limosa Holidays, a good friend who we met over the past few years at the Bird Fair at Rutland... Despite the poor weather, yesterday, they still managed a great day's birding... Highlights included 30 P b Brent on Loch Indaal, a Todd's Canada Goose amongst the Barnies on the flats at Gruinart, up the side of Loch Gruinart, they had a Long tailed Duck. They had seen a total of at least 4 W T Eagles and also a Golden Eagle there as well. Also seen on Loch Indaal were the following, 21 Greater Scaup, 4 Common Scoter, Eiders, GND , RTDs and also 2 Tysties.

On Thursday, the team from RAFOS had 20 Siskins down at The Woollen Mill. Yesterday round on one of the stubble fields at Ballinaby, they counted 230 Whitefronts, 28 Greylags, 480 Barnies and 2 Pale bellied Brents. Below Carnduncan, they had  a ringtail Hen Harrier.  Over the flats at Gruinart they had seen over 1,000 Golden Plover in the air. One of their group had also seen 2 Goosanders out on the estuary at Gruinart.

Yesterday morning, the Rochdale birders had seen a Peregrine out from Ardnahoe Distillery and then shortly afterwards, they saw a Golden Eagle being mobbed by 2 Buzzards as they drove up to Bunnahabhain. In a walk through Bridgend Woods in the afternoon, they had seen a Great spotted Woodpecker.

MB yesterday had counted 31 Knot, 95 Ringed Plover and 109 Dunlin at the head of Loch Indaal at Bridgend. Ballygrant Loch held a Dabchick, 2 Mute Swan, 2 Cormorant and 2 Herons. A walk down to Loch Allen proved more productive with MB counting the following birds... 32 Scandinavian Blackbirds, a G s woodpecker, 160 Fieldfare (40 +120), 20 Redwing, a British      Chiffchaff, 2 Goldcrest, 3 Treecreeper, 45 Siskin, a Redpoll and he heard a Bullfinch calling away.

This morning, Distillery Dave had a Little Egret round at Kilchoman Distillery, it was also seen by 2 of the members of the RAFOS team as they headed out to the ferry.

Friday 1st November

Late on Wednesday afternoon, Louise Muir had seen and counted a flock of 62 Snow Bunting, between the South end of Machir bay and up along the track leading up towards Granny's Rock

Yesterday morning, Carol Andrew had seen a small flock of geese down at Bruichladdich, they were flying around over the rear of her house, and on closer inspection, Carol reckons that they succeeded in putting some waders up, moving them down the coast beyond the fuel depot towards the ponds behind Shorefield.

MB had been out and about yesterday... In the fields at Skerrols, he had seen 5 Pinkies amongst the flocks of  Barnies there. he also had 4 flocks of Fieldfare totalling 200 birds, as well as 25 Redwing and also 7 Scandinavian Blackbirds there too.  On Loch Skerrols, he counted 23 Mute Swan, 58 Whoopers, 285 Wigeon, 112 Teal, 21 Mallard and 61 Tufted Duck.  In the surrounding trees, MB had seen 9 L t Tits and a total of 12 Bullfinch (4 + 8). Along at Eallabus, he had another 50 Fieldfare, 30 Redwing, 14 Sc. Blackbirds, a male Blackcap and also 9 Siskins. In at Bowmore, he saw 23 P b Brent and  counted 142 Wigeon.  Finally, he had the following on the floods at Gruinart... 136 Wigeon, 590 Teal, 27 Shoveler, 6 Pintail, 2 White tailed Eagle and a ringtail Hen Harrier was present as well.

This morning, the Rochdale birders had seen 2 White tailed Eagles over Port Charlotte. Yesterday afternoon, they had spotted 2 Golden Eagles out on the wing above Beinn Bheigier, along at Kildalton they saw 2 Yellowhammers.. This morning they had seen 3 Turnstone and a Snipe down beside the wee burn that goes to Machir Bay. Shortly afterwards while enjoying a welcome cuppa, up here at our house, they saw the female Sparrowhawk perched up on the feeding station. Then just before lunchtime, the ringtail Hen Harrier flew through the garden, less than 15 metres away from the house. Mid afternoon, we saw another Hen Harrier out from the house, but a male bird this time!!!