Monday 17th February

A miserable kind of a day out here today, after having a great day yesterday, just as well that I have some sightings from yesterday for you!The Hampshire birders had a juv White tailed Sea Eagle putting the Barnies up at "smelly corner", offshore they had 4 Red breasted Merganser, GND, Teal and Wigeon with Barwits there too. They also spotted a Canada Goose hutchinsii sp amongst the Barnies. Down on the Oa they saw Chough, Rock Pipit and also Rock Doves. Mary had 5 Purple Sandpipers at Bruichladdich, over at Coal Ila, she had 4 Black Guillemot along with 2 Otters. At Kilchiaran, Mary noticed the Fulmars back in, Mistle Thrushes were present too and later on a juv Golden Eagle. The Rochdale birders had also seen the White tailed Sea Eagle, over at Finlaggan, they had a Woodcock with 11 Red legged Partridge at Ardnahoe and then a Sparrowhawk bothering the lbj flock at Corsapol. Ed had see 6 Long tailed Tits and a Treecreeper on his way out towards Ardtalla

Wednesday 5th February

Another good day out here with the weather, not that a lot of folk can say that today. Carl, today had counted 75 Curlew down at Port Ban. The Lochwinnoch birders shared some sightings through as well, yesterday they had 3 Purple Sandpipers at Bruichladdichh, a Black Guillemot on the Sound of Islay off Coal Ila. Today they had 11 GND and 11 R B Merganser in the bay at Port Ellen. Later on up behind Port Charlotte they had 16 Fieldfare and 24 Redwing, along at Kilchiaran Bay a Glaucous Gull was present.

Saturday 30th November

Visiting wildlife photographer, Marcus Conway sent through some sightings he had yesterday, at Bruichladdich, Purple Sandpiper were present. Up at Ardnave, Marcus had a Pochard present on the loch there, a Hen Harrier and also 25 Twite were also seen, while over at Bunnahabhain, a Black throated Diver was in the Sound of Islay. Today Ed, who is over doing work on behalf of WWT into the Greenland Whitefronts, had a quick scan along the shore at Bruichladdich with Purple Sandpiper, Ringed Plover, Turnstone, Sanderling and some Pipits noted. Earlier on, in the bay at Port Charlotte, Ed had a GND. He was also saying that he has been listening to Starlings mimicing other birds, with one the other day trying to be a Barnie...The other day, I heard that the large flock of Starlings down at Gretna had caused a power outage when they landed on the overhead power lines!!!

Saturday 16th November

Thanks to James for yesterday's entry, could you really see me kayaking??? Thanks also to John Wilson for some of his sightings while he was here last week. As some of you may already know, John was the original warden for RSPB at Leighton Moss and remained there until he retired. Yesterday down behind Machir Bay, John had around 120 Golden Plover and also over 20 Chough seen there too. Dave Pierce had been over with another group from Naturetrek, think it is their their 3rd trip to Islay this Autumn , with another group over just now! They had been seeing Long tailed Ducks on Loch Indaal, 3 Purple Sandpiper at Bruichladdich, a flock of around 400 Twite on the Oa, around  90 Ravens on the Glen road, with 4 Black Guillemots and 1 Black throated Diver seen off Port Ellen as they left on the ferry.  

Monday 6th May

Running late and with a deadline to meet to get a comfortable seat before 9pm in front of the TV, here we go...Colin and Mandy  who have been over for a few days, left today but had seen a male Hen Harrier  on the Rhinns on Saturday. Down at Portnahaven they heard and then saw a Corncrake. Yesterday over on Jura, they had 2 female Hen Harriers and also a male too. They also had a male Yellowhammer and saw a White tailed Sea Eagle while on Jura. Over their stay they had seen a total of 6 Otters, 5 on Islay and 1 on Jura. Martin today had been down at Loch Allan and saw 4 pr of Tufted Duck, a Whitethroat was seen, lots of Willow Warblers around, 2 Grasshopper Warblers heard and seen, plenty of both Wheatear and Swallows about too. Over that way, they had 2 White tailed Sea Eagles. Down at Bruichladdich this morning, Andrew and Jane had 5 Purple Sandpipers, 1 House Martin, a Ringed Plover, White Wagtail, pr of Common Sandpiper and also Rock Pipits all along the shore opposite the Distillery. Along the shore, opposite Bruichladdich Hall, 2 Sanderling were present. Out on Loch Indaal, 3 Long tailed Duck, 4 Scaup were seen, at up at Gortan, 19 Pale bellied Brent were counted. Later on up at Killinallan, a male Hen Harrier was seen and also a White tailed Sea Eagle being chased by a Raven. There appears to be no further sightings of the Shorelarks today, none that I have heard of anyway yet.

Wednesday 24th April

Yesterday, Carl had a count of around 500 Barnies down at Octofad, at home he has had his first Goldfinches and Siskins of the year on his feeders. Mary yesterday had a Canada Goose over on Nave Island, wonder if it has a mate over there too? Offshore there were 4 GND all in different stages of plumage and several Fulmars in flight around Nave Island itself. Back on Ardnave Point around the dunes, Mary counted a total of 12 Wheatear present and also 4 Sand Martin and a couple of Swallows. Today, Carl had some small groups of Whimbrel down between Craigfad and Octomore on the Rhinns, at An Gleann there were several hundred Barnies and on Loch Indaal, just outside of Bruichladdich Distillery, 9 Eiders were seen. The Rochdale Birders had 11 Whimbrel at Nerabus on the Rhinns, a male and then later a female Sparrowhawk down at Portnahaven, at Bruichladdich a count of 11 Purple Sandpiper. Over a Gruinart, on the reserve there was a Mallard proudly showing off her new brood of 5 young ducklings. They also counted over 300 Barnies on the reserve. Along at Sunderland Farm, late afternoon, we had 52 Greylags in one field alone, earlier on we had seen 4 Buzzards together on a thermal. Coming home, towards Rockside, there was a Raven seeing a Buzzard off... A male Stonechat was along on the fence wire at the side of the road, looked tremendous in the light, but as ever no camera to hand...

Tuesday 23rd April

A great image of a Black tailed Godwit taken over at Gruinart last week by Armin Grewe while he was here for Walkislay...  Yesterday, Carl had a count of 150 Barnies down at Port Charlotte. Today the Rochdale birders counted 1300 Barnies at Gruinart, but no sign of the Red breasted Goose! Along at Sunderland, they had 20 Whitefronts. On Loch Indaal, they had 8 Purple Sandpipers and 5 Whimbrel. Today at Gruinart, James reported that there were lots of Willow Warblers on the reserve, including 5 in the scrub up beside Gruinart farm itself.  James had 12 Whimbrel fly over the reserve today and also heard his first Grasshopper Warbler of the year.  Here at home , there were 4 Siskins on the feeders, 2 male and 2 female.

Thursday 28th February

Yesterday, over on the bird feeders at Keills Primary School, Sally , James's wife saw a Yellowhammer. Den Mather from Edinburgh had 10 Purple Sandpiper down at Bruichladdich. Gordon and Pauline Yates who have been over for the past 10 days or so headed home today, so thanks to them for sharing their sightings. Before they left, just as the light was fading on the reserve at Gruinart, they had 50 Reed Bunting coming in to roost on the scrub willow bushes at Culbuie roadend. Earlieron the spotted a female Brambling amongst the finch flock close to Coille. They also had around 20 Linnets there too. Speaking with them before they left, highlight, no rain at all during their stay, low point no sign of any Crossbills this visit. Today, down at Carnain we had a Moorhen on one of the rushy pools where the Mute Swans are often seen. Just before we arrived back home we counted 4 Buzzards and a Golden Eagle out high above the crag. There had been a few Fulmars seen this morning. The "vols" at Gruinart seen a male Hen Harrier, a Jack Snipe, 2 Buzzards and later a Golden Eagle walking on the ground.... Phil and Kath's top bird for the day was a male Hen Harrier and then shortly after a ringtail Hen Harrier out towards Kilchiran. Just at the darkening the mist rolled back in, the crag was lost in mist, wonder if the plane came tonight?

Sunday 24th February

Another great day although Mike's weather station recorded 3 degrees of frost at 5 am today...Phil and Cath had a juv White tailed Sea Eagle over towards Kilchoman with a Golden Eagle seen shortly afterwards.On Loch Indaal, just in front of Loch Gorm House there were 12 Pale bellied Brent, further along at the mini market in Bruichladdich 2 Purple Sandpipers and a Red throated Diver were spotted. Just before coming into Port Charlotte a ringtail Hen Harrier flew across the road ahead of them. This afternoon, Peter had a great time looking out over Loch Indaal from the pier at Bruichladdich. His sightings were as follows, 17 GND, 1 Black throated Diver, 48 Red throated Diver, 5 Slavonian Grebe, 85 Eiders, displayng and "cooing" away, 26 RB Merganser, 3 Long tailed Duck, 67 Common Scoter, 6 Scaup, 2 Mallard, 3 Wigeon, 16 Pale belled Brent, 2 Mute Swan, 2 Whooper Swan, 1 Black Guillemot in breeding plumage and 2 Razorbill. All that I could muster was a Buzzard sitting on the garden wall, a Wren in the wood with a Collared Dove out on the grass in front of the house.

Saturday 23rd February

This image of a Chough was sent through to me yesterday, taken earlier this week. Mind you the weather is still holding dry. In fact it has been trying to snow here all day but with no real effect....Earlier in the week Michal had been speaking with visitors who had seen a Purple Sandpiper up at Ardnave. Other birders who have left today  had 2 Brambling up towards Sanaigmore, a Golden Eagle at Ardnave, the leucistic Barwit also at Ardnave and had seen Pale bellied Brent Geese on Loch Indaal. . John and Carol Warner who also left today had seen a juv Golden Eagle up behind Sunderland Farm and later on a male Hen Harrier over at Kilchiaran. Michal yesterday had heard a Mistle Thrush singing outside the Visitor Centre at Gruinart and later on he had 2 Golden Eagles over the reserve at Gruinart and also a male Hen Harrier. Michal this morning heard another Mistle Thrush singing away outside his house at Moulin. Other visitors had seen a Brambling  along with some Linnets today at Coille in a mixed finch flock close to Coille. Going over the hill from Gruinart to Carnain, they had a count of 50 Ravens and also female Merlin. Earlier on at Ardnave, they had seen 9 Sanderling, 1 Barwit with 5 GND offshore. Bob this morning had more Thrushes around possibly due the cold weather on the mainland. They included 13 Song Thrush, 2 Mistle Thrush, 8 Blackbird and 20 Meadow Pipits. This afternoon, down on Machir Bay there was around 50 Oystercatcher on the wing, while just above the tide line there was a dead Guillemot, no sign of any oiling or being caught in any fishing nets. Over at the flats at Gruinart, amongst the Barnies present, Phil and Kath had the Canada Goose hutchinsii sp.

Tuesday 15th January

A better day out here although late afternoon the temperature dropped sharply... Gareth Stamp who was over on Islay for the weekend had a busy time birdwatching.On Saturday, on Loch Indaal from Bowmore, Gareth had 7 Pale bellied Brent Geese, 4 GND, 5 Slavonian Grebe and 12 Common Scoter. From the viewing platform at Gruinart, the Canada Goose hutchinsii sp was seen, 9 Whooper Swans, 1 White tailed Sea Eagle feeding on a Barnacle Goose, 1 Golden Eagle and 400 Golden Plover. Up at Ardnave Loch, 8 Whoopers were noted. Down at Bruichladdich, 1 Black throated Diver, 5 GND, 2 RTD, 4 Purple Sandpiper and 10 Common Scoter.  On Sunday, DaveWoods had 14 Long tailed Ducks, 7 Common Scoter, 6 Slavonian Grebe and 5 GND on Loch Indaal. Tom Wells who sends in his sightings when he is over on Islay, has given us a link through his blog, "Birds in Cumbria", so feel free to click on the link to Tom's blog and see what Cumbria has to offer.

Sunday 12th January

Yesterday Tom and Jo had been out and about, their highlight for the day was possibly seeing 5 Long tailed Ducks on Loch Indaal, 3 from Bowmore and other 2 at Blackrock. Along at Bruichladdich they saw 2 Purple Sandpipers, 9 Turnstone and 10 Ringed Plover.  At Neriby, they had a count of 2,700 Barnies, 90 Whitefronts, 1 Pink footed Goose and a Canada Goose hutchinsii sp. While at Bowmore they also had 14 Pale bellied Brent Geese, 16 Goldeneye, 8 GND and 11 Slavonian Grebes along at  Blackrock they counted 24 Pale bellied Brent Geese, 38 Common Scoter, 14 Red throated Diver and a Guillemot. James last night had a Barn Owl at Grainel. Earlier on he had a further 2 Barn Owls and a Tawny Owl at Erasaid and today had 4 Hen Harriers on the RSPB reserve at Gruinart, 2 males and 2 ringtails. We saw a Stonechat the "Eastern side" of Loch Gorm, just after dropping down "The Hedges" and another along the Southern side" of Loch Gorm, close to the memorial is to the Kilchoman Bards

Sunday 16th December

Yesterday, Paul Graham saw a White tailed Sea Eagle over the other side of Islay, up behind Ballygrant on the Glen road. This morning I was out as Bob's secretary, as it was time to do the count down from Bowmore to Gartbreck. Before I met in with Bob, I saw a Kestrel down towards Sunderland Farm, a Sparrowhawk at Foreland, a small flock of 10 Pale bellied Brent at Gortan, 4 Whoopers at Pennycraig and just out of Bowmore, a Merlin sat up a telegraph pole. From our walk, the following was the tally, 1 Pale bellied Brent Goose, 3 GND, 3 Heron, 11 Shag, 7 Shelduck, 97 Mallard, 443 Teal, 323 Wigeon, 17 Red breasted Merganser, 6 Eider, 6 Goldeneye, 4 GBB Gull, 80 Herring Gull, 1 BH Gull, 1 Purple Sandpiper, 65 Turnstone, 26 Oystercatcher, 17 Curlew, 8 Bar tailed Godwit, 4 Redshank, 224 Dunlin, 1 Grey Plover, 47 Lapwing, 5 Ringed Plover, 4 Mute Swan and an Otter.

Monday 21st October

The Rochdale birders yesterday had been a walk round Ardnave Point where they saw a Swallow, Wheatear,  Whinchat,  6 Sanderling,  2 Purple Sandpiper, 10 Twite and mixed flocks of Rock and Meadow Pipits. Back at Rock Mountain they saw a Merlin. Mike and Elspeth from Edinburgh had seen a ringtail Hen Harrier on their way up to Killinallan, also 4 Reed Buntings there too with another ringtail at Gortontoid. They had seen a total of 6 Buzzards, including a juv. bird with a huge rabbit up in the dunes!At the mouth of Loch Gruinart, they saw a Lesser Black backed Gull. The Leigh birders had seen 2 Goldeneye (male and female), 1 ad GND and 2 juv GND, Turnstones, R. b. Mergansers, Eiders, Barnies and Cormorants from the harbour at Bowmore. Amongst the Barnies as they came out of Bowmore, they had a lesser Canada Goose. Below Rockside they had a Merlin, over at Gruinart  a juv Golden Eagle. Up at Ardnave Loch, a pr of Mute Swans with 4 young as well as a pr of Whoopers with 1 cygnet, the male Mute was harassing the male Whooper trying to get it to leave. Also on the loch were 14 Tufted Duck and a Little Grebe. Over the dunes 60 Chough were seen. Heading back round Loch Gorm was a small flock of 18 Lapwing and just before that a count of around 200 Golden Plover. Coming home last night we saw 3 Barn Owls, one close to Sunderland, another further along the road and the final one was seen between Rockside and the Coastguard's. Today Bob had seen 2 Golden Eagle up behind Port Charlotte. Andrew Harrop who saw the Red breasted Goose yesterday had seen it again this morning along at Sunderland, and down on Machir Bay, he had a first winter Mediterrean Gull and round at Toranore beside Ballinaby 11 Lapland Buntings and a Greenland Redpoll were seen. Danny and the team had seen 34 Pale bellied Brent Geese at Blackrock today, and as they came back to the ferry at Feolin on Jura, they had an Otter. Mike and Elspeth had 80 Scaup at Blackrock this morning as well as 5 Slavonian Grebes.  On the Oa they had a Peregrine and also 20 Fieldfare. They counted a further 12 at Cluanach and also commented on the numbers of Stonechats that they have seen so far. On the reserve at Gruinart James had a count of 19,000 Barnies, 516 Whitefronts, 44 Greylags, 7 Pale bellied Brent, 1 Canada hutchinsii sp., 1 Golden Eagle 2nd  yr., 1 ad and 1 juv Peregrine, 1 ringtail Hen Harrier, 1 Sparrowhawk and 52 Whooper Swans.