monday 29th February

It is that time again, the 29th of February, with the entry being    the only one  on this date for another 4years... The weather today, has, well, not been great, with smurry rain falling all day, not great for bird watching for sure, what a difference a day makes, it was almost a Spring day...Mark Holling yesterday had a Golden Eagle over at Bunnahabhain with another 2 seen up at Sanaigmore. At Sanaigmore they also had seen 90 Skylark flying past, Mark wondered could be some birds on passage.. He also had a count of 38 Chough at Machir Bay with 5 Tufties seen on the pool there as well. Ardnave Point, 900 Golden Plover were seen, and down at Bridgend, 2 Dippers were carrying nesting materials.  They also had a Grey Wagtail at Kilchiaran and another in Port Charlotte. Mandy and Fiona had walked out to Knockangle Point where they saw 77 Golden Plover basking on the rocks! They also saw 10 Whoopers flying North along the strand. Other birds on the rocks included 13 Dunlin, 12 Oystercatcher, 3 Ringed Plover. 17 Wigeon were on the water on Loch Indaal while on the shore were 3 Sanderling. Finally over the dunes, 25 Lapwing and a Golden Plover were on the wing. And as it was such a great day, we took ourselves out as well. Round at Ballinaby, in one of the fields were 96 Lapwing and 116 Starlings on the ground, then a Golden Eagle appeared and then round the corner 4 Hooded Crows took off from the rushes, but no sign of what they had been up to....From Gruinart, we went over the hill towards Bridgend and at the side of the road 5 Reed Buntings were seen and then 2 Red legged Partridges were spotted as we came to the road junction at Carnain. Over at Loch Tallant, past Cruach towards Red Lodge on the high road, a Cormorant flew overhead. Ballygrant Quarry, a couple of Collared Doves were on the roadside and finally, on the sheep carcase at smelly corner, the Glaucous Gull was present.

Sunday 28th February

Saturday is day that most folk either come or leave Islay and yesterday was no exception. Pat and Angie from Yorkshire headed on to the Cairngorms while Gordon and Pauline Yates ("The Rochdale birders") headed home. David and Jenny left on the early evening ferry, but fitted in some more birdwatching, and what a day, seeing 4 Golden Eagles, On the loop round the Rhinns, they saw 2 Goldies, another was seen up past Killinallan and the final Goldie was seen over the hills out past Loch Skerrols.. Other birds seen were  8 Goldeneye on Loch Gorm, a flock of over 30 Chough at Machir Bay and some Twite at Killinallan. In fields adjacent to Loch Skerrols, they counted 66 Woodpigeons, their largest number of Woodpigeons during their stay. Thanks to you all for sharing with us your birds. Martin had taken a walk round Loch Skerrols mid week seeing Wren, Blue Tit, Coal Tit, Tree creeper, Buzzard, Grey Heron, Goldeneye, Tufted Duck, Mallard, Teal, Wigeon, Mute Swan and Whitefronted Geese and then he tucked into a couple of Marshmallows for his efforts....New arrivals, Mark Holling with his 2 colleagues had seen the cackling Goose over amongst the flock of 500 Barnies at Kinnabus. They also spent time looking through another flock of around 1500 Barnies in the Cornabus valley and found a pale bellied Brent amongst them. Further along the road towards Kintra, they saw 130 Chaffinches, 60 Skylarks, and 10 Mipits. While down on the Oa itself, they also saw a distant Golden Eagle and also a pair of Chough. Late afternoon, they saw 3 Scaup and a raft of 25 Common Scoter on Loch Indaal. Chris Mills and his group from Norfolk Birding also arrived over yesterday. At Kennacraig, before the ferry left, a pair of Goosander flew past, while in the water was an adult female Velvet Scoter. From the ferry during the sailing, they saw 6 RTD, 36 GND, 7 Slav Grebes, a raft of 14 BTD, 20 RB Merganser, 2 Common Scoter. As they approached Port Askaig, a Golden Eagle was seen over Jura. Coming along Loch Indaal, a Glaucous Gull was spotted and finally 2 Whooper Swan were seen flying in off the sea at Machir Bay, flying in towards Loch Gorm. On our way out Bowmore yesterday, there were 13 Eider, along at Blackrock, 4 RB Merganser were close in with 9 Pale bellied Brents on the water's edge there too.

Saturday 27th February

The Rochdale birders had yesterday had been over at Bunnahabhain where they saw 2 Otters out in the bay. They also spotted Golden Eagle in the  distance carrying what they took to be "some nesting material" and then a couple of ringtails, talon gripping. Over on the "glen road", they had a Peregrine at the roadside plucking a Redwing, before the Peregrine flew off with its' prey. Finally at Carnduncan, they counted 100 Fieldfare and 10 Redwings. David and Jenny yesterday started their day seeing a Dipper on the River Sorn at Bridgend. In Ballygrant woods, they saw 10 Woodpigeon. Along at Finlaggan, a total of 8 Buzzards were present and also a ringtail. On the "distillery pond" behind Port Charlotte, they saw a Moorhen. Pat and Angie had been over on Jura, seeing a White tailed Sea Eagle, 2 Golden Eagle, several Stonechats, Long tailed Tits, a Kestrel, and GND. Felicity and David Pollard have been down from Mull for a few days... They had seen 4 Reed Buntings down on the Oa, and close views of Golden Plover. On Loch Indaal, a pair of Long tailed Ducks were off Blackrock, with 13 Pale bellied Brent further along the coast.

Friday 26th February

A not bad day out here with the weather, so much so that I took the chance to get the tractor out with the rotavator on and cultivated some of the ground which we intend to sow with a "Pheasant and Finch" seed mix later this year... watch this space! David and Jenny had a good day yesterday. Up at Sanaigmore they had a mixed flock of 10 Fieldfare, 20 Redwing, 50 Skylark, 30 Meadow Pipit and 12 Reed Bunting. Down on the beach there were some Ringed Plovers along with Turnstones. On Loch Indaal, close to "smelly corner" they saw 14RTD, 3 GND, 11 Slav Grebe, 6 Common Scoter and at least 6 L T Ducks. Bruichladdich held 6 Tysties, 2 GND, 3 RTD, 4 Common Scoter and 6 Purple Sandpipers. Off Portnahaven, their birds included 20 Gannets, a Fulmar, a Kittiwake, a passage of around 4,000 Auks (mainly Guillemots and a few Razorbills) in 30 minutes, all flying south. They also saw a ringtail up behind the village as well. Coming over the hill, back to Port Charlotte, they saw a Grey Wagtail at Kilchiaran and finally, a female Merlin was spotted in the Loch Gorm area. The Rochdale birders were over on Jura, first thing yesterday morning and commented on seeing so many Red Deer down close to the road, no doubt not liking the wintry weather on the hills! They also saw a distant Otter in the Sound of Islay. A ringtail was seen on the "glen road" while at the dusk, 4 Woodcock were at Foreland and also a Hen Harrier seen nearby. Mandy ad been down on the Machir Bay and found a dead Puffin.

Thursday 25th February

Down on the Oa reserve yesterday, Dave saw a juv. White  tailed Eagle being chased off by the resident Golden Eagles. DHe also saw a Merlin and was saying that there is still a flock of around 100 Twite still present. David and Jenny had a flock of 15 Long tailed Tits, a few Reed Buntings and a Yellowhammer out past Ardbeg. Out on Claggain bay, they had a GND. Over Loch Kinnabus they saw a pair of Golden Eagle, also coming back from the Oa, a Kestrel and also a pair of Stonechats were seen on the Oa. Pat and Angie saw a ringtail and also a pair of White tailed Eagles out past Ballygrant. James had a Barn Owl and 3 Hen Harriers at the dusk at Gruinart. This morning, Margaret counted 39 Goldfinches out on the feeders and later on, we saw a Stonechat on a fence at the side of the road close to Coull. Not so many Stonechats have been around of late...Visitors from Mull, David and Felicity Pollard were pleased yesterday afternoon to see some of the Chough out on the wing practising their acrobatic skills out behind Machir Bay...

Thursday 24th February

Another good day for the time of year all be it with a slight edge to the air, still it is only February.... Gary had carried out his WeBS  count yesterday from Port Charlotte round to Blackrock, seeing the following, 4GND, 2 RTD, 4 RB Merganser, 8 Cormorant, 1 Slav Grebe,4 Tysties, 79 Eider, 3 Mallard, 1 Goldeneye, 78 Oystercatcher, 4 Curlew, 55 R. Plover, 51 Dunlin, 13 Turnstone, 16 Purple Sandpiper, 2 Lapwing, 2 GBB Gull, 85 H Gull,  55 C Gull, 46 Barnies and a Kittiwake. Along at "smelly corner" 37 Shelduck and 8 Long tailed Ducks were seen. David and Jenny had spotted the Glaucous Gull down at Machir Bay, later on just past Craigens, a ringtail was present and then a Greenshank was seen. A female Merlin was seen flying along the shoreline, while up  near the end of the road, a 100 Barwits and also a male Hen Harrier. Finally close to Carnduncan, a Sparrowhawk was seen. James yesterday had carried out a count of the geese on the reserve at Gruinart, traditionally always the lowest count for the year, but all the same 4,765 Barnies, 266 Greenland whiefronts and 53 Greylags were there. Visitors from Liverpool had met in with the Rochdale birders yesterday and told our friends that they had seen a Short eared Owl on the reserve at Gruinart. The Rochdale birders themselves had seen 4 male Hen Harriers and 2 ringtails at different locations yesterday, with one of the ringtails on the ground at a road kill. Over close to Cruach, they saw a Golden Eagle. Back at Port Charlotte, they saw an Otter on Loch Indaal with her cub... Pat and Angie had 2 Golden Eagles up at Sanaigmore,and also a flock of Reed Buntings. Over at Machir Bay, they had Twite and close views of  Chough. This morning, here at home, a new garden tick was 2 Blue Tit on the feeders. The vols at Gruinart had carried out a farmland bird survey noting 60 Skylark, 26 Fieldfare, 6 Redwing and 20 Reed Bunting 

Tuesday 23rd February

This good spell of weather continues, I spent a few hours out in the garden tidying things up and planting some more willows in to provide cover  for some of the other bushes already planted, and some more rogosa cuttings in...  Yesterday Michal had carried out his WeBs counts with his top listings at Loch Gruinart being 33 Shelduck, 203 Oystercatcher, 13 Ringed Plover, 142 Lapwing, 48 Sandrling, 206 Barwit and 25 Curlew. On the floods at Gruinart, Michal counted 58 Mallard, 44 Curlew, 11 Snipe, 347 Lapwing, 53 Wigeon, 70 Teal, 12 Pintail, 6 Shoveler, 6 Red br. Merganser and a Slavonian Grebe. At Ardnave Loch, 8 Mute Swan, 13 Whoopers, 16 Tufted Duck, 2 Slav Grebe and also 2 Goldeneye were present. Gary yesterday had a male Hen Harrier out on the wing out over the moorland out in front of his house. Later on a Golden Eagle was out the back from his house being mobbed by a Raven. Down at smelly corner, he had seen a Glaucous Gull down on the remains of a sheep, with a couple of GBB Gulls close by! David and Jenny highlights' for the day yesterday included a  Golden Eagle from the Glen Road and then along at Keills, a male Hen Harrier was seen. Other visitors from East Yorkshire, Pat and Angie,  had spotted a ringtail on the reserve at Gruinart on Sunday, and on Monday they had seen Choughs and Ravens on theOa and then later on Long tailed Tits and Treecreeper down in the Ardilistry area.