Thursday 23 September

Nice westerly blast today which brought some activity with it.  Round the village here I watched a merlin harass the starlings, but flew away unsuccessful. Later in the afternoon c.20 pale bellied Brent flew south over the house Port Wemyss towards Ireland.

Ed had a green sandpiper at Cornabus, accidentally flushed from a small pond when walking the dogs. 

Dave had a successful sea watch from The Oa - 1 Arctic Skua, 2 great northern divers, 2 red throated divers, 10 Manx shearwaters, plus razorbills, kittiwakes and gannets. Generally quieter than expected. The highlight was 32 pink feet heading south. 

Gutton for punishment, Pete returned to an other sea watch at Frenchmans Rocks:

" I did another hour crouched in the mist, wind and rain. A total of 110 Auk sp. went by - today the weather was too poor to identify many of them to species, but quite a few were Razorbills. 22 Kittiwakes also wandered eastwards along with 3 Manxies, a single Bonxie, a flock of 12 Turnstones and 2 Curlews. A flock of 22 Barnacle Geese passed overhead. The main interest was a small passage of divers: 26 in all - 5 unidentified, 3 Great Northern, the rest (18) Red-throated. The bulk of the latter came by in two flocks of 9 & 6. The most impressive sight was the continuing presence of 100+ Gannets close offshore, somehow managing to see fish and dive after them in turbulent sea conditions of high, breaking waves, spume and white-horses."

Wednesday 16th September

Visiting Birder from Nuneaton, Colin Green had seen the following birds today on Islay ...

"Ring tailed Hen Harrier. Over the hillside above Carraig Fhada Lighthouse, The Oa.

2 Red throated Diver, seen off Blackrock, Loch Indaal. Wheatear on beach."

Thursday 10th September

Visitor Peter Norgate had sent through a couple of sightings seen by him so far.   "We found the Choughs at Ardnave Point , and 2 WT Eagles on Loch Indaal on small island between Bridgend and Bowmore..."

 Gary e mailed through the following birds..  "Two great sightings of WTE,  Yesterday one adult bird, hunting & catching Red breasted Merganser in the shallows as the tide came in. And then today both adult birds hunting and catching Red breasted Merganser around the wreck as tide was rising this morning."

 Jim Dickson today had seen the Bonaparte's Gull in along with the gull flock at Gruinart, seen from the East side of the loch. Apologies to Jim regarding my comment about the poor visibility, noting to do with Jim's eyesight, it was simply that the actual light was coming through from the wrong direction when he was doing the sea watch down at Frenchman's Rocks yesterday afternoon....

Peter had counted 13 Red-throated Divers - several still in good summer plumage, all seen off Bruichladdich Pier this afternoon -

 

Friday 7th August

 Gary had been out up at Bunnahabhain earlier on today, and sent through some of his sightings..

"Plenty of Gannets fishing Bunnahabhain Bay.12 Turnstone north end of Bunnahabhain bay.

1 Red throated Diver on Ardnahoe Loch. 

At Loch Finlaggan 3 Little Grebe & 1 Red throated Diver."

Thursday 7th May

Matt Jackson sent me through this e mail, earlier on this evening....

"I had 2 Corncrakes calling all night at Rockside. Also a Peregrine at Foreland on my commute to work this morning."

This morning Gary e mailed some sightings through
" A couple of days ago had an Osprey flying south bound over house.

Yesterday had several different warblers through the garden, Willow Warbler, Sedge Warbler, Whitethroat & Blackcap. Golden Eagle overhead when we were having lunch outside.

Red throated Divers still flying overhead moving between lochs."

Tuesday 21st April

Not much to say on the bird front tonight folks... Having said that Gary had seen a pair of RTD on one of the lochs on Islay... Margaret checked the cameras at home today and she saw a Swallow in one of our sheds, so I am wondering as to whether it is one of the Swallows returned back there from .last year, There were 2 pairs that reared successfully youngsters there last year..

Sunday 12th April

James was in touch today. Today, he saw 4 Wheatears seen out from Mill Cottage, and then yesterday in his garden he had 2 Willow Warbler, a Redpoll, a Goldcrest and also a Sparrowhawk.

Gary had sent me through some sightings
"Some birds from today, on Loch Finlaggan. 17 Tufted Duck, 5 Mallard, 1 Mute Swan, 1 Whooper Swan, 1 Red throated Diver.  7 Common Crossbill were present in trees at the house."

Monday 30th March

James yesterday had a Wheatear on the reserve at Gruinart, seen from his garden.

Peter has just noticed this evening from the house here in Bruichladdich, the first decent count of GNDs I’ve seen all winter out on Loch Indaal. A number of small groups were visible offshore totalling 36 birds. There were only 4-5 RTDs with them.

Please remember that there is NO bird nerds meeting tomorrow evening....  "STAY SAFE"

Sunday 5th January

Graeme Ruthven (from Aberdeen) sent another e mail through with the birds that he had seen on last Sunday and also some seen from the ferry on his way back over to Kennacraig last Monday.

There was an adult White Tailed Eagle near Lagavulin also a Little Grebe on the sea near there in the morning with a Great Northern Diver. A large flock of Common Scoter in Loch Indaal right out in the middle of the loch, there was a small flock of about 10 Scaup close in at Bowmore.
Later on, in the afternoon he went back to Ardnave point where he saw an immature Golden  Eagle, 2 possibly 3 White Tailed Eagles and 2 ringtail Hen Harriers just north of Loch Gruinart cottage, it was an amazing hour of birding....

On the return ferry crossing on Monday morning he had 9 Great Northern Divers, 3 Black Throated Divers, 3 Red Throated Divers and finally 2 Slavonian Grebes near Kennacraig.

Another "Islay convert", by the sounds of the emails which I got through from Graeme, many thanks for your sightings, most welcome as ever...

Friday 2nd August

May be not as warm as yesterday, but up here certainly was great drying day with a  warm wind around as well, possibly some of the farmers might try to make some hay rather than silage in big bales...

Louise had seen a male Pied Flycatcher at lunch time, today at her house over on Jura.

Returning visitor, Martin Hughes and his family are over on holiday at present. He e mailed through to say that they had seen a Red throated Diver out on Kilnaghton Bay this afternoon. He also had an Otter  then too. Better still, he had 2 Otters there yesterday in the morning with another seen out from Port Charlotte Hotel in the evening...

Just thought I could include another image of  2 more Painted Ladies, seen on the Ragwort in the grave yard next door to us. We appear to be noticing more Red Admirals around now..

Saturday 13th July

This morning, Gary had gone over to Jura and along towards the school in Craghouse he had seen the Rose coloured Starling. It has been seen there in Craighouse for the most of this week, by the sound of things. While he was there, he also had seen a Red throated Diver flying out to the Small Isles Bay.

As the weather has been a bit drier today, this morning I took the chance and cut the grass, time for a tidy up...

This afternoon, Mike and Peter were up here for a catch up, a cup of coffee and some of Margaret's delicious Lemon drizzle cake. But the main point of their visit was to tell us about a sighting that they had had down at Bruichladdich. A 1st summer Mediterrean Gull was present in a group of around 150 Common Gulls, "a bootiful bird" quote Peter, but not a house tick list, as  out of the range of his garden etc!!! We then all took a wee stroll round the birdseed crop and also the the plots with the wildflower mixtures outside as well, and I think that they were both suitably impressed.

Wednesday 7th June

Andrew Cockcroft has been over on Islay again and sent through this image of a Red throated Diver which he had seen...

Other birds seen by Andrew were a White tailed Eagle, a pair of Golden Eagle and also a pair of Hen Harrier. Thanks Andrew.

Yesterday evening 8 hardy folk turned up for the bird nerds meeting, including a couple of visitors. The weather stayed dry but was quite windy, nevertheless we carried out our walk along the big strand down below the airport. We saw a few Terns, not as many as in previous years, some Eiders with their ducklings bobbling about on the water, 2 male Hen Harrier, a Peregrine Falcon , 15 Dunlin, a few Curlews, some Redshank as well as Skylarks and also Meadow Pipits.

On our way home, Bob and myself spotted a single Barnacle goose at "smelly corner" and some Shelduck were there too along with their youngsters.

Saturday 20th May

A fantastic image of a Red throated Diver sent through by visitor, Mike Boyes. Mike took it yesterday while out on a cruise led by Sea Adventures out of Port Ellen. There were a pair of Divers close inshore along the South east coast. Thanks for sharing your image Mike.

Gary on Thursday had a client out wishing to see a Corncrake, a difficult ask, but Gary came up with the bird, down at Machir Bay, another satisfied client... Yesterday while out with other cients, Gary had seen a White tailed Eagle and then an Osprey at Finlaggan, 30 Chough at Machir Bay, 3 Corncrake heard at Gruinart, a Greater spotted Woodpecker flew accros the road at Red Houses and finally 2 Dippers seen on the Rive Sorn close to the Woollen Mill.

Monday 25th July

Its Blog time and I have lots of birds for you all tonight. Bob has been out at Gartbreck - 3 Gannets, 7 Cormorants, 5 Shags, 1 Great Northern Diver, 72 Greylags, 18 Eiders, 38 Oystercatchers, 38 Curlew, 10 Redshank, 239 Dunlin, 1 Turnstone, 4 Ringed Plover, 1 Greenshank. At Gruinart he had a Peregrine and 20 Wheatears on the Killinallan road. Dave at The Oa has seen a Short Eared Owl and 3 Red Throated Divers - the divers were being very noisey on Loch Kinabus.

Monday 18th July

After a dull start to the day, it has turned out to be a wee cracker late afternoon. It may only be 24 degrees, not as warm as other places, but it suits me fine...

On the bird front, David Formby who was our dentist on Islay before he retired, is back on here for a holiday along with his family. Yesterday afternoon while walking through the dunes behind Machir Bay, they heard a Corncrake calling  This afternoon, Mandy and Fiona had seen a Red throated Diver on Ballygrant Loch. also seen there were a 2 Dabchick and a pair of Mute Swan with 3 well grown cygnets, out on the island, a Heron was resting up. In the trees in the woods, juvenile Goldfinches, Willow Warblers and Robin were noted. Further on, at Loch nan Cadhan, a Dabchick and a Mute Swan were present. Lots of Common Blue Damselflies were seen mating, plus a Common Darter female and also Speckled Wood and Ringlet butterflies. This afternoon I saw 2 male House Sparrows with leg rings on. I spoke with George Jackson, a few minutes ago who told me that he had caught and rung 6 female and 5 male House Sparrows, as well as a Dunnock and a Goldfinch here last year, so short of catching the birds up, I suppose that the 4 House Sparrows with rings seen over the past 24 hours were some of George's...

Thursday 14th July

A not bad day with the weather, but there could be a change working, possibly the rain is not that far away there is not even a puff of air with the seed heads are not even moving when I look outside...

Yesterday, David Barr had seen an Osprey over Loch Indaal. Martin, yesterday evening had taken a walk out past Castlehill out toward some of the hill lochs. He saw a Red throated Diver on one of the lochs, 10 Golden Plover close to the wind turbine, some Meadow Pipits, Wheatears and also a Snipe perched on top of a fence post! Further out on the hill, Martin also saw a few Red Grouse. Here at home this morning, Margaret spotted a Red Damselfly down on the pond.

Thursday 9th June

Another good day with the weather again, wall to wall sunshine and hardly a cloud in the sky, although it is overcast this evening, and I believe, the planes should have come in today, no bother... Earlier this week Louise had seen 2 Red throated Divers on the Sound of Islay, probably a failed pair she thought. Earlier the same morning, Louise had seen a single RTD North of Craighouse on Jura. This morning, on our way over to Gruinart, we saw a male Hen Harrier between Ballinaby and the track leading up to Leek, further on, almost at Grainel road end a ringtail was spotted. Later on we saw another male Hen Harrier, this time between Lyrabus and Blackpark.  Gary today had heard a Little Grebe over at Loch Tallant, between Bowmore and Red Lodge on the high road.

Saturday 4th April

Nadia and Darren sent some more sightings from their visit... they had a tally of 80 species seen which was really good considering the weather that we have had this week!!!On Loch Finlaggan, they had some Tufted Duck, a pr of Dabchick, and a Red throated Diver. Later on, over that way too, a White Tailed sea Eagle was seen... At The Woollen Mill, 2 pr of Siskins on the feeders present. Over at Bruichladdich, on the Loch Indaal itself, Loch Tailed Ducks were added to their list with Turnstone and Ringed Plover on the shore there too. On Thursday they had a male Hen Harrier and also a Buzzard fly over the front garden of the cottage they were staying in. Other highlights included seeing an Otter over on Jura, just after Craighouse. On the Oa, they had a flock of Twite, Peregrine, Raven and some Fulmars present along the cliffs. Thanks for your input folks and safe journey home. Today, Carl had seen 4 Canada Geese at Easter Ellister as well as another 3 earlier on at Octofad. Down at Portnahaven, Carl saw a Peregrine was seen carrying prey, 2 Wheatear, 2 Ringed Plover and 10 Goldfinches at Claddach, a Stonechat was down at Currie Sands as well.

Sunday 14th December

Mid week when it was blowing a hooley, James saw a Red throated Diver over Grainel, well off course at we do not "normally" expect to see them over land. Today, between Grainel and the head of Loch Gorm (while in his car), he had a Sparrowhawk. Carl today had been out on is bike, braving the elements and round at Ballinaby, he had a Merlin. The wind has picked up again this evening with the ferry diverting to Port Askaig .

Wednesday 21st May

A great day with the weather here, and I awoke this morning at 4am to the Cuckoo calling, enough said.. Turn the clock back further, on Monday Bob and myself did the monthly count from Bowmore down to Gartbreck with the following tally, 4 GND, 3 Shag, 1 Pale bellied Brent Goose, 10 Shelduck, 4 Mallard,4 Teal, 49 Eider, 1 White Wagtail, 50 Oystercatcher, 11 Curlew, 6 Whimbrel, 114 Dunlin, 2 Snipe, 1 Lapwing, 45 Ringed Plover, 2 GBB Gull, 8 Herring Gull 10 Common Gull, 12 pr BH Gull and 38 Arctic Tern. On my way there I heard a Corncrake calling at Gartmain, just before entering Bowmore.... Visiting birders Graham and Jo from Nottinghamshire on Monday saw 2 Corncrakes on the reserve at Gruinart, round the top of Loch Indall, at least 8 GND, 10 Eider, 1 Little Tern and 2 Arctic Skuas. Yesterday they did a circular walk from Bridgend to The Woolen Mill returning back by Skerrols, they saw Treecreper, Bullfinch, Blackcap and Siskin in the woods with both Greenland and Northern Wheatear ad also a Whimbrel out close to Skerrols House. Later, along at Caol Ila, Black Guillemot were seen in the Sound of Islay. Peter and David who had the Cuckoos down at Ellister on Sunday, had heard a Corncrake at Ballinaby and 2 more at Gruinart on Monday and yesterday had seen Willow Warblers, Bullfinch, Wren and Siskins in Bridgend Woods. Later on, they had a Common Sandpiper on the Glen road at the bridge over the Kilenanan River. Yesterday, the Bowland birders had stopped just past "smelly corner" and saw 2 Arctic Terns, 20 Sanderling, 30+Barwits, 5 Dunlin, 4 Whimbrel, and 1 GBB Gull. Later on the walked the Moorland Trail at Gruinart, and can recommend it! Birds noted were Wheatear, Meadow Pipit, Skylark, Sedge Warbler, Willow Warbler and a Cuckoo seen as well. From The old hide they saw Shoveller, Teal, Gadwall, 6+ Blackwits in summer plumage, Lapwings with young, Mallard and ducklings, Sedge Warler and Redshank. From the new hide, Shoveller, 4 male Teal, 5 Mute Swan, Reed Bunting, 6 House Martin and Shelduck. Below the Visitor centre they heard 3 different calling Corncrakes. Ken and Sal yesterday had a pr of Spotted Flycatcher out in front their cottage and heard a Corncrake down at Machir Bay and another along the road towards Coull. Up past Bunnahabhain, they spotted 2 Golden Eagles out on thermals, and 25 Black Guillemot in the Sound of Islay, back at Blackrock, a Red throated Diver was seen, 1 RB Merganser and 30 Sanderling. Yesterday evening, Rae fron SNH had seen an Osprey in at Skerrols. Finally this afternoon, while watching the Buzzards up the crag at Kilchoman with some other visitors, we saw some Chough and then a Sparrowhawk zipped past.