Tuesday 29th and Wednesday 30th July 2025

A nice sunny day on Tuesday was followed by a day of drizzle, murk and very poor visibility,.

On Tuesday afternoon on the Oa, David D saw a family of an adult and 2 juvenile Peregrines with a kill which was stolen from them by 2 sub-adult White-tailed Eagles. He also had a high count of 6 Greenshanks. Fiona McG added to the Peregrine tally with two heading off the Bridgend Merse over the West Tower, also in the afternoon.

On Wednesday, 1 White-tailed Eagle and 1 Greenshank were still present on The Oa, while Gary T had the delight of Willow Warblers singing around his house near Ballygrant and later saw a White-tailed Eagle on the sand at Bridgend.

David Jardine, presumably on the Colonsay ferry, counted 43 Black Guillemots and no less than 17 Mute Swans in the Sound of Islay. 

Visitor Karim Labib was out and about again on both days, with Hen Harriers seen in three different places. He also saw 5 Manx Shearwaters from Saligo Bay and, on the way round Loch Gorm, had the unusual spectacle, of a pair of Sparrowhawks sitting together on the wires beside the road.

 

 

Monday 28th July 2025

A fine and calm day with a little sunshine, though not particularly warm.

A good number of observations today, especially from Gary T and Clive McKay. Gary was in the Cornabus-Kilnaughton area in the early afternoon and saw a White-tailed Eagle spoofing the Greylags there, and watched a Peregrine fly into Kilnaughton Bay over the skerries and disappear over Cairnmore wood, and then, while he was sitting above the lighthouse, he saw it moving around over the plantation and around the skerries. Ed B saw 3 Peregrines at Cornabus earlier in the day, probably an adult male and two juveniles. Gary also reported 30-40 Shags and Cormorants landing in the middle of Kilnaughton Bay where fish were jumping. This gives me the opportunity to pass on a useful tip on how to distinguish these two  species, which is that the Shag has 12 tail feathers and the Cormorant has 14!

In the evening, Clive was down at Port Wemyss watching a constant stream of Manx Shearwaters moving west with a total of 680 in half an hour from 8pm, coming out of Loch Indaal or crossing from The Oa. After seeing 330 Greylags on Loch Gruinart below Garra Eallabus earlier in the day, he counted 110 more at Claddach Loch, with Mary R's pair of White-tailed Eagles munching on number 111.

Meanwhile, on Sunday, visitor Karim Labib saw 2 Common Terns and 2 Sand Martins at Port Charlotte, while today, at the same place, he saw a Bottle-nosed Dolphin, 3 Red-throated Divers and 2 Razorbills in the morning and 2 Guillemots in the afternoon, when 2 Redpolls flew over calling. He was at Machir Bay in the early afternoon and saw 3 Choughs and 5 Sand Martins, and watched an immature White-tailed Eagle flying over heading south.

Thank you all for your contributions. 

 Sunday 27th July 2025

A wet morning was followed by a gradually improving afternoon.

Mary R. reported that the pair of adult White-tailed Eagles in the Claddach/Cladville area have been actively hunting Greylag Geese. Around lunchtime, Ed B had a Great Skua flying over Cornabus, and, at much the same time, Clive McK counted 95 newly arrived Dunlin in Loch Gruinart with a Peregrine "annoying them". He also saw 2 Whimbrel flying south, while 210+ Sand Martins were feeding over the estuary.

Wednesday 23rd to Saturday 26th July 

The mixed weather has continued, with a bit of rain, a bit of sun, a lot of cloud, and sometimes breezy, sometimes calm.

Bird records have been few and far between. Mary R has been seeing a pair of adult White-tailed Eagles around the Claddach to Frenchman's Rocks area in the last couple of days, and also a ringtail Hen Harrier in the area on Friday, while on Saturday a (the) Osprey flew over Gary T's house just outside Ballygrant heading for Loch Finlaggan.

On Friday, Gary saw thrushes and Starlings checking out berry bushes, but commented that the berries were not yet ripe, though that didn't stop a Song Thrush and a Blackbird from eating some of my gooseberries. Do birds get indigestion? Another report on Friday came from David D who saw a juvenile Cuckoo on The Oa.

Yesterday, Martin A. found a dead adult Puffin on the Big Strand. These are usually casualties of storms, but this must have died from some other cause. Puffins apparently bred in some numbers on The Oa in the 19th century, but have long since died out there. One or two pairs possibly breed round our coasts, but they don't seem to be a regular breeder.

Late last night, Fiona McG saw two Barn Owls on the Rhinns, either side of Craigfad, so here's a Gordon Langsbury photograph of one.

 

 Tuesday 22nd July 2025

A dull, slightly murky, day, with a very few brighter spells and not many birds.

Following Monday's sighting by Gary T of a juvenile Arctic Skua at Loch Gruinart, today Clive McK saw two dark-phase Arctic Skuas flying up the loch in misty conditions in the early evening. Clive also posted details of a wader count at Bridgend on Monday consisting of 115 Dunlin, 45 Knot, single Lapwing and Common Sandpiper, and a brood of 3 very small Ringed Plover chicks.

 

 

 Sunday 20th and Monday 21st July 2025

The weather continues to be a bit on and off with sunny spells and some showers, though the heavy rain forecast for Monday afternoon failed to materialise.

On Sunday, Clive McK visited the Big Strand near the airport and found 8 Dunlin (2 juvs), 25 Sanderling, and 15 Ringed Plover, as well as Ringed Plover with newly hatched chicks on the old runways. The constant wave action on the Big Strand prevents the sand from holding significant amounts of wader food, but, as this shows, it is always worth a visit. Clive also saw 2 Greenshank at Bridgend Merse.

On Monday, Gary T reported a skua on the sand at Loch Gruinart which was identified as a juvenile dark phase Arctic Skua and produced the interesting speculation that it might have been reared locally. This species used to breed regularly on Jura, with about 50 pairs reported in the 1980s but only 12 pairs in 2000. Since then, there seem to have been no records of confirmed breeding, but, given the size of the island and the remoteness of some of the nesting areas, their continued presence cannot be ruled out.

Here's what Gary saw through his camera, and also what Gordon Langsbury saw through his a few years ago.

 

Thursday 17th, Friday 18th and Saturday 19th July 2025

 

When Peter goes away and I take over the blog, it often seems to happen that the bird records dry up, though this doesn't extend to the weather. We've had some rain, some sun and some wind in the last few days, which together make up a typical Islay summer.
Literally the only record received in the last three days was one from Gary Turnbull of a Little Egret on the Bridgend merse on the 18th. Where are all the other Little Egrets that were here through the winter? It does seem that it is only a matter of time before this species, and for that matter Osprey, breed here, but they are taking their time.
To brighten this blog just a little, here's a photograph sent in by Christine Menzies of a young visitor to her garden. Thank you, Christine.