8th September, 2008.

Due to a medical appointment the morning was a bit of a write off but then spent the remaining part of the day at Loch Gruinart and surrounding areas. Surprisingly quiet but duck numbers obviously improving (Wigeon and Teal) and 22 Lapwing arrived high from the south. Waders were widely spread on the loch itself given low tide but nice views of Bar-tailed Godwit. An adult Peregrine attempted to take a Redshank from a group just in front of me, coming in low at a tremendous speed but being unsuccessful. The Light bellied Brent Geese are now back to two being present on one of the banks central to the loch.

6th September, 2008.

A steady passage of Gannets and shearwaters during the morning. Backed by a fresh north-easterly wind which seemed not to have encompassed much else in its influence until a lone Pomarine Skua flew south. Such proved to be the only evidence of real variety. Patience is obviously the game this autumn!!

A single adult Spotted Flycatcher sought shelter in the lee of the garden's only true bush from where, on its perch on the wall, it hunted prey throughout most of the afternoon. Later, at more or less the same time as yesterday evening, a male Hen Harrier quartered the grass moor opposite, no doubt grateful that the wind had died a little and was causing less disruption to the vegetation.

4th September, 2008.

A glorious day throughout!! Light and variable winds and fantastic visibility out over the sea.
Several hours seawatching brought little despite a light northerly wind at commencement. This soon faded with a SW occasional breeze noted afterwards for a while. Whilst Gannets and Manx Shearwater, as so often before, were mainly moving south others were circling out at sea suggesting all birds were on feeding movements. Small numbers of LBBG, Kittiwake and Fulmar and odd waders ( Oystercatcher and Redshank )flew south but no real imperative was behind the passage. A single Red-throated Diver sped south by contrast.

The most exciting occurence was a small party of Grey lag Geese which came in high from the NW, passed by southwards and then swung in a direct line bound for Ireland. Earlier than anticipated this is certainly evidence that we do receive, or witness, this species moving southwards in autumn. It will now be fascinating to see if further birds swell the numbers of the congregated flocks counted on Tuesday. Despite a continuing vigil these proved to be the only birds involved!!

14 Chough around the house later in the day were very mobile and noisy and finally gathered together and moved off northwards.

2nd September, 2008.

An absolutely glorious day throughout in stark contrast to some of the recent ones we've had.
The whole day spent counting Grey lag Geese with the support and help of Scttish Natural Heritage and RSPB staff. A couple of years ago I started, independently, attempting to gather in the total numbers of Grey lag Geese that now accumulate at various points in autumn on Islay. RSPB has always completed counts on the reserve at Gruinart but the distributional patterns have changed with time and now birds are more mobile and using several areas.
Last year saw a final toatal of 1840 birds in September, which had gradually increased over the years from a relatively low figure. A report of 4000 birds last autumn was disregarded as the counts immediately subsequent to that never registered in excess of the 1800 birds counted previously.
This year linked to the Scottish Grey lag Goose Survey 2008 being organized by the The Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust aimed at establishing the population to the north and west of the Great Glen on both mainland Scotland and the islands.
Coverage was excellent, with many thanks to all the participants, although the total, thus far, is 3/400 short of last year's figure. Whether or not the birds shot earlier in the year has seen an effect on the overall population is difficult to tell as yet.

I shall carry out at least a couple more counts in September as it is my contention that, besides the large "gatherings" of local birds, we also see an influx of birds from elsewhere during the month, several weeks before the main influx of Barnacle and Greenland White-fronted Geese. Soon after the main body of Grey lags appears to move on, although slightly more than normal remained during last winter. To where and from whence are now key questions which, hopefully, might begin to be answered next year with the intention to try and catch and place numbered collars on some birds so their movements can be traced.

Whilst no doubt there'll continue to be armchair theories on the subject the fact remains that we have at least a baseline of data against which we can now compare the numbers and distribution of birds in the future. Work earlier that I completed counting broods might also be extended next year so that we have a better idea of the precise numbers of breeding pairs and their success. Fascinating and frustrating stuff, with an anxious eye also being cast on the situation by our farmers, who see the extension of the "season" wherein we have a presence of large numbers of geese
growing annually!!

Little opportunity for general birding but a single Wheater at Ballinaby showed passage continuing. A thorough examination of areas favoured by Light-bellied Brent Geese saw none here yet in contrast to the situation in Ireland where they have been present for several days.

1st September, 2008.

Several hours too soon was the verdict!!! After my fruitless vigil for Basking Shark yesterday news came in that , on the Sunday evening, at least five (some reports suggested eight) came into the sound between Orsay Island and Port Weymss and were there for almost half an hour. Of four seen very well, three were judged to be full size and one significantly smaller. They finally headed out to the open sea through the gap between Orsay and Eilean Mhic Coinnich. The last three years has seen small, but increasing, numbers of these animals in our local waters where they appear to be spending most of the summer. Many thanks to Calum Anderson and Ian Turner for the reports.

Of more concern are reports about Mink on both Islay and Jura. Long since thought absent, after the campaign to eradicate them, it suggests, for Jura at least, that a small remnant population may have persisted throughout and is,currently,enjoying a periodic increase. Additionally two specimens were caught in the south of Islay recently, begging doubts of them ever having been completely cleared out previously. The outside possibility of them swimming across from Jura to Islay in favourable, calm conditions can't be ruled out as such may have been part of the reason for them appearing on Jura from the mainland years before.

Of less interest, this particular mammal spent the day organizing the various arrangemnts for the Grey lag Goose count tomorrow!

31st August, 2008.

Ah, light westerlies, drizzle and varying visibility due to banks of mist. A seawatchers dream!! It lasted three hours and then turned into a nice day!! Within that time seabirds were going through in better numbers than of late, several Great Skuas(Bonxies) sped south but precious little else. A lone Curlew ventured south calling hauntingly through the mist to lost or non-existent colleagues!!

Two Northern Wheaters locally were probably just that, birds from much farther north , even Iceland as our own summer breeding birds have now been gone for some time.

Spent some time looking for the "local" Basking Shark that has been seen on various occasions, but without success.

30th August, 2008.

Well, if yesterday was quiet over the sea today was decidedley dead!!! The wind had changed slightly in that there was more south-east in it , which is a major thumbs down for seawatching. In essence , birds moving south are actually being moved away from the coast, so it wasn't surprising very little was on offer. I stuck it out just in case but, besides a very slow passage of Manx Shearwater and Gannet, very little else came through.

Spent time scouring local areas for migrants, but with no success. I eventually came to the conclusion the day was not to be mine!!!!

29th August, 2008.

Seawatching with SE winds is never the best conditions in which to expect really good passage , and so it proved today. Nonetheless nearly a thousand Manx Shearwaters went through in three hours with numbers of Gannets too. Of equal interest were over fifty LBBG's whose passage always commences around now and can be quite short lived. Habitually they migrate along the coast, sometimes in a band within 100m. of the sea over the land itself.

Waders were also on the move with Black-tailed Godwit, Oystercatcher, Redshank, Turnstone and Dunlin noted. There seems to be very few Arctic Skuas this year, doubtless a consequence of their apparent poor breeding season. By contrast low figures of Great Skua are a constant feature. An early Scaup flew south along with a few Arctic Terns but little else.

Later an examination of Loch Indaal showed the overnight situation to have hardly changed with both numbers and species of waders being the same as yesterday

28th August, 2008.

Another poor day with mist and rain at various intervals. Early evening on the Rinns saw an all enveloping mist blanketing the landscape in silence,more reminiscent of November than August!!!

A series of meetings , or contacts, during the day relating to future Raven work, the BTO Atlas or the upcoming Grey lag Goose count. Spent a couple of hours alongside Loch Indaal looking at waders but nothing present that was out of the ordinary. Numbers of Dunlin, Ringed Plover and Sanderling present and doubtless will begin to fluctuate widely as successive waves of birds migrate through. A single Osprey flew north.
Of common species the most noticeable are the flocks of Linnet and Greenfinch, both species appearing to have had quite a good breeding season. Several parties, but in lesser numbers , of Goldfinch are around and Pied/White Wagtails seem to be everywhere that provides suitable feeding.

27th August, 2008.

A rather poor day with intervals of driving rain and mist, although quite mild. Attended the RSPB "Bat Walk" at Gruinart in the evening which was marred by poor weather in many respects. Nonetheless we had a series of views, and registrations on the bat detectors, and successive parties of Grey lag Geese flew over to their roost on Loch Gruinart.
I was amused by the thought of the gentleman, who's cottage is in a similar situation to mine, ie remote, blissfully unaware of 25 people staring intently at his porch from whose roof emerged the Pipistrelle Bats until he, in turn, looked out of the window. I couldn't help thinking what my reaction would have been .......casting a view around for the space craft I suspect!!! However we're used to strange goings on on Islay!!!!