Friday 7th February

Yesterday morning, Chris Mills had seen a Fulmar fly away from the crag out towards the sea, little wonder the wind has picked up... In the afternoon, Chris had seen  2 different Golden Eagles soaring away, over above at Coull. They appeared to be taking great delight in spoofing the big group of Barnies....

On Thursday, Gary and Wendy Ruffell had seen a Golden Eagle in front of the cottage that they are staying in, when over on Islay, down close to Carnain.
Today (Friday): Carnain,  Grey Plover, Barnies,  Bowmore; R b merganser, Scaup, Redshank, Song  Thrush, Eider, Wigeon. Up at Cnoc Don:  Snipe, Buzzard, Raven and some Greylags were present. Late afternoon, they had a ringtail Hen Harrier fly over the pond behind their cottage.

Thursday 6th February

Some more sightings through from the "Hampshire birders", Gary and Wendy seen yesterday.

Golden Eagle, White tailed Eagle (both on beach at Carnain after killing a barnacle goose), Raven, Dunlin, Ringed Plover, Hooded Crow. The following were seen while driving to Bowmore from Carnain; Red throated Diver, R b Merganser, Redshank, Scaup and Wigeon.

Chris Mills  along with his clients from Norfolk birding had been down on the other side yesterday..

At Rockside, they had a Merlin. Over at Kinnabus on the Oa, they saw a flock of 150Twite, 2 Golden Eagles displaying, and also a male Hen Harrier as well as loads of Whitefronted Geese. At Ardbeg, a Grey Wagtail was present as well as a Redpoll, while along at Loch an t Sailein, an Otter was out for a swim.. 2 White tailed Eagles were spotted as they drove out towards Claggain Bay. At Claggain Bay itself, they had 10 GND, 2 Tysties, Common Guillemot, Kittiwake and Gannets seen there. Back along at Callum Sharp's house at Kildalton, they saw 8 Yellowhammers present on the feeders. Finally on Loch Indaal on their way back to their accommodation, they counted 70 Eider, 9 Slav. Grebe, 2 RTD,  Common Scoter, and also 2 L t Ducks

Wednesday 5th February

Some sightings in from yesterday, from our various different groups of visiting birders who have kindly sent them in for me to use... 

The "2 Steves" and Julie had been out in the strong winds down on the Oa, where they had a small flock of Twite and also a Peregrine. Later on, they had seen  2 juv  Golden Eagles when they were along at Claggain Bay over the moorland. Offshore, a Razorbill was present.

Chris Mills and his clients from Norfolk birding had seen 2 White tailed Eagles soaring past as they were getting ready to go out for the day where they are staying this week. Between Kilchoman School and Grainel, they saw a ringtail HH, only about 10 metres away from them...at Craigens, a male Merlin was present. Down on the head of Loch Indaal, a White tailed Eagle was sitting around... 2 Snipe, 6 Redpoll, 2 Crossbills and also 2 Tree creepers were spotted in at Loch Skerrols. Over at Bunnahabhain, they had another Crossbill, then down at Finlaggan a further 9 Crossbills were added to their list for the day. They then saw 3 Golden Eagles as they drove down the Glen road past Storakaig. On their way past Cash Kelly's house and in the bay at Blackrock, they had seen 6 Slavonian Grebes, 12 GND, 3 RTD, 3 L t Ducks, a Scaup and also a Tystie. To finish their day off,  they counted 20 + Chough flying in to the roost  at Kilchoman.

Returning birders from Hampshire, Gary and Wendy are back over for another trip... Round and about their cottage at Carnain, they had seen a ringtail Hen Harrier, 19 P b Brent Geese, Ringed Plover, Curlew, Shelduck, Snipe and some Dunlin.

Jack Fleming was telling me this morning, that he had been hearing a  Tawny Owl as well as a Barn Owl last night down at his house on the Gruinart Flats... 

Tuesday 4th February

Gary sent through some sightings seen yesterday..

2 Crossbills at the fir trees at Bunnahabhain, two Red breasted Merganser at the mouth of the river.

Up at Finlaggan, a Grey Wagtail at the cattle feeding station and also a Merlin hunting the Willow bushes over the moorland.

Chris Mills and his group from Norfolk birding had seen the following birds yesterday,

W T Eagle in the morning 2 miles West of Kilchoman distillery & 3pm a Golden Eagle same area.

Bruichladdich, 2 Purple Sandpipers, 18 Turnstone, 18 PB Brents

Gartbreck - 3 Purple Sands, Slavonian Grebe, 6 Knot

Bridgend, Loch Indaal - 51 Ringed Plover, 60 Dunlin.

Gaelic centre, Bowmore  22 PB Brents

1 Golden Eagle over the ridge behind Kilchoman House.

Also yesterday, the "Southern migrants" consisting of the 2 Steves and Julie had been out as well.

We saw a little party of Scoters off Bowmore distillery and three male & one female Eider in Loch Indaal after Bruichladdich, on way to Bowmore.

No long tailed ducks yet!!!

I should point out that the weather yesterday was not that great for seeing birds, so well done folks...

Monday 3rd February

Some birds seen by Chris Mills and the guests over from Norfolk birding yesterday..

"Had a cracking day. Started with Male and ringtail Hen Harrier near Saligo, plus 16 Ringed Plover there. Then Gruinart from platform 2 WT Eagles both on the ground , the Drake Green-winged Teal, 2 Greenshank, 2 Snipe, 2 ringtail Hen Harrier, 6 Whoopers, 2 Little Egret, 3000+ Golden Plover & Stonechat. Also out on estuary 10 Grey Plover.

Then Sanaigmore road juv. Peregrine, 2 Male Hen Harrier, 2 Golden Eagle.

Ardnave Point mid afternoon - 36 Chough, imm male Hen Harrier, 40 Twite, a hunting Merlin chasing a Snipe, 7 Goldeneye, 2 G N Diver & an Otter feeding for 30+ mins mid Loch!

A pretty amazing day by anyone’s standards!" 

Distillery Dave had the really good sighting when out with his dogs, a Merlin screamed past, down at Rockside road end, late yesterday afternoon.

Julie and Steve Corney and their friend another "Steve" sent some of their sightings through seen on Friday and on Saturday. It is their first visit to Islay.

"Just finished second day on fabulous Islay, here are some highlights.

Friday.... Gruinart, ringtail hen harrier, and lovely flocks of white fronted & barnacle geese

Barn owl East Ellister later on.

Saturday,  Red throated diver at Sanaigmore Bay.  At Gruinart 2 whoopers , bar tailed godwit , thousands of golden plover, female goldeneye and an otter!"

Sunday 2nd February

Yesterday, Chris Mills along with his group of birders from Norfolk Birding arrived on Islay for hopefully a week of great birding here on Islay, weather permitting..

Coming over on the ferry yesterday, they had seen 2 W t Eagles over the Paps of Jura as they ,approached Port Askaig. On Islay, itself they had seen a male Hen Harrier, just out  of Ballygrant. Down on Loch Indaal, they had 4 Long tailed Ducks, 50 Common Scoters, 7 Scaup, a RTD and also 20 P b Brent Geese.  Last night on their way in to Bowmore, they had spotted a Tawny Owl perched on a tree close to the road around Carnain and the further on a Barn Owl sitting on a fence post at the side of the road. Thanks Chris and to your guests for your sightings, keep them coming.

James had seen a Golden Eagle flying overhead at Mill cottage yesterday, hope that it was not having a look at your chickens...

Saturday 1st February

A much better day with the weather here today, practically rain all with little wind either...

Talking about the weather, well, I have got the rainfall figures for here plus some other from round about as well for January. We had 3.75 inches up here, old friend Clark had 3.5inches down at the croft leading down to Machir Bay and also new contributor Dr Matthew Jackson was in today for a cuppa and he told us that his tally for the month was 2.9 inches. Matthew is one of our doctors on Islay and is George E. Jackson's son and lives down at the road end  leading up to Rockside.

On the bird front, so far, not much to tell you, but the Goldfinches were making the most of the food on offer. "Dr Matt" was well impressed with the number of Pheasants that come to enjoy our food as well....