12th May,2012.

This site is no longer in use. Please see     http://www.birdingodyssey.blogspot.com/     for all entries and sign up as a Follower..

Many thanks,
John Armitage.

14th February, 2012.

I have to say that I feel I'm missing something! Reading the access stats there are people looking at this site who don't then appear to be taking any interest in its replacement Birding Odyssey. No further entries are to be made on this site so please make the move across to its permanent version mentioned above!

Take a look, enjoy!

Transfer of entries!

Having noticed that there is still an amount of "traffic" linked to this site may I advise that , for the foreseeable future , I shall be using my new Blog title given below.

http://www.birdingodyssey.blogspot.com/

I hope that this assists in avoiding unnecessary visits to this site and may I encourage to visit the above "new" address. Enjoy!

John Armitage.http://www.birdingodyssey.blogspot.com/

A time for change!

Way back in late October I made a temporary halt to entries on this Blog as I was inundated with work, and other commitments, and needed to free up some time besides getting some computer problems sorted out.
The solution worked well and I'm currently within reach of being up to date   ( that is, well, almost! ).
Given my future plans in various birding and lobbying issues I'm changing the name of the Blog to better reflect that approach and to give it a bit of a facelift. It will provide a basis for wider coverage , both in the UK and abroad, as opposed to entries mostly being linked to Islay and Jura.  At least that's the plan.
Hopefully you'll enjoy  " A Birding Odyssey " and enjoy the direction that the journey takes! The new site reference is http://www.birdingodyssey.blogspot.com/  so, hopefully, you'll bookmark the site and enjoy regular visits. In a couple of days I'll  essentially  be  "closing down" the Islay Birder site with all entries being on the new Blog above.


All best wishes to everyone and many thanks for reading Islay Birder over the years. May I take the opportunity of wishing you a HAPPY NEW YEAR and good birding in 2012 and beyond.

         

Quick update!

Hi everyone!  After some consideration on what might be the potentially negative implications I've taken a decision to close this site down, temporarily, until the end of 2011.  I'm overburdened at the moment with a whole variety of commitments and have decided to get all such "out of the way" to allow an unfettered entry into 2012. Whilst birding goes on I've simply not the time to write about it at present. It's sad in a way as there's plenty to write about with American Wigeon and Lesser Canada Geese present on the island and the usual array of "good" wintering species around. Something had to go, and rather than do a half hearted job I'm taking the risk of setting things aside for a couple of months and clearing up things before the onset of the New Year.

Bear with me and watch out for 1.1.2012!!

Throwing light on a couple of things! 27th September. 2011.

Out early with the dogs I was intrigued how quiet it was on the outward leg of the walk. An odd Robin "ticked" and the Yellowhammers remained in roost and consoled themselves with very quiet "chic" calls , as opposed to erupting as they normally do when we're slightly later. On the return leg, and with the first rays of sunlight appearing, all was different and calls and activity were as expected. Whilst we're used to the "dawn chorus" in the breeding season, when birds are declaring their territoriality at the onset of light, it seems outside of this period things may be a bit more relaxed and linked to increasing light intensity. Something to check on further.

Included in the upsurge of activity was a tit party from which came a couple of phrases of song of a Chiffchaff. Despite best efforts on my part it refused to show itself!

Later, in the evening, and whilst I was waiting to give my daughter a lift,I was fascinated by the behaviour of a Common Buzzard. It appeared out of a small plantation and commenced to slowly "hover" over a nearby stubble field, first at around 60 feet , and then at half that height. It changed location a few times. The interesting fact was that daylight was drawing to a close, cars on the nearby A9 were all using headlights and distant hedgerow lines with standard trees were all in silhouette. To all intents and purposes it was dark!! Casting my mind back I don't believe I've ever noticed crepuscular activity before by Buzzards. It looked like some great owl as it circled around and returned to cover over the car!!!

A bit of variety. 26th September,2011

Decided I'd have a trip out to Munlochy Bay and see what was in the offing. Unfortunately the bright sunlight wasn't too kind and the sheltered bay was bathed in bright light throwing everything into silhouette on the surface of the dappled waters. All very atmospheric and contextual, but not much good for viewing birds. I'll have to remember to visit in the afternoon or evening in future!! Small parties of Wigeon were flighting in to join numbers of birds already present, together with Mallard and Teal. A few Oystercatcher, Curlew and Redshank roosted and fed on the adjacent margins and odd Grey Herons stood patiently on vantage points.

I then moved on to Chanonry Point, although I didn't expect any particular movement to be occurring given the wind direction. A few Gannets circled around and then headed back out to the sea, odd Cormorant were in evidence, a Red-breasted Merganser and a couple of Razorbill were all that was on offer. Travelling back I noticed some good "accumulations " of Black-headed Gulls on stubble fields already being put to the plough, which perhaps accounts for the absence of birds the other day! Nowadays the turn around time associated with arable fields is so short in places where planting of spring crops can occur, contrasted against the stubble fields being left in situ on Islay where the practice is not followed. Such rapid usage of the land and the absence of stubble habitat for birds must have had a profound effect on various populations over the years, coupled with the use of much more efficient harvesting machinery and less grain spillage. The price of progress!

Slow progression into autumn. 25th September, 2011.

Circumstances dictate that the majority of time I'm "out" is within either woodland or open countryside at the moment. However, some time down on the nearby Firth showed few waterbirds about, the odd Grey Heron and an extraordinary absence of gull numbers. In fact it was pretty quiet all round!

The only real indicator of autumn at the moment appears to be the numbers of presumed "continental! Robins which are around. Early morning has calling birds seemingly everywhere, with few showing themselves. Presumably these are those within the initial phase of what will prove to be numbers of birds arriving to winter with us.

Autumn cometh! 23.9.2011.

According to my diary the 23rd September is the "official" date on which autumn commences. Up here near Inverness conditions are certainly quintessential from the point of view of weather.....some misty mornings, mellow, sunny with odd showers and breezy conditions aiding the commencement of leaf-fall. Some cereal fields have not yet been cut, but others are finished already, with straw bales now awaiting collection. As yet I've seen none of the usual wintering goose flocks in evidence, but I suspect their arrival is imminent. Many of the fields demand a second look, as with extremely short stemmed crop varieties being used nowadays it's difficult to determine whether odd fields are stubble or remain uncut. The days of "waving fields of corn" are now despatched to history it seems, but with the memory of those circumstances being depicted in some of the great landscape paintings of the past.

As might be expected finch numbers are evident with the calls of Chaffinch ever present, mostly from unseen birds, as autumn movements proceed coupled, contrastingly, with the absence now of the few hirundines which were present earlier in the week. The usual complement of hedgerow and woodland birds abound locally, including a nice flock of Yellowhammer, but the Tree Sparrows usually present in the immediate vicinity are obviously using a different area altogether as none are in evidence.

Enforced downtime!

On the mainland at the moment, but coming across little of particular interest from a birding point of view. Much involved in putting together ideas etc relating to a possible future "campaign" relating to birds of prey, which is proving more demanding than first thought! In the meantime, the reportage of persecution incidents carries on as ever before!

Amidst reports of reducing numbers of birds in the US of A, the disease affecting birds like Greenfinches in this country now being detected in Europe, increasing costs affecting the attendance of birders on the Scilly Isles, a sense of doom and gloom appears to surround the resource we all hold dear! Still, we could live in Greece.......

Baird's Sandpiper relocated. 10.9.2011.

I'm now returned to Islay from "the south" and have commenced a week's birding on home turf with a visiting friend. The weather promises a fairly mixed bag of conditions with today being fine, except at the very outset, but with a stiff south east wind.

Whilst we did some seawatching in the morning , nothing particularly exceptional was happening, although the procession of Manx Shearwater, Fulmar, Gannet, a few Kittiwake and an odd Red-throated Diver provided interest. Four obvious "Greenland" Wheatear were near to Portnahaven ( as were two later at Gruinart ) but little else appeared on the Rinns.

After an initial scrutiny of Loch Indaal we moved to Loch Gruinart which was alive with waders! Several hundred Dunlin and Sanderling fed out on the exposed Flats together with lesser numbers of Redshank, Curlew, Bar-tailed Godwit and Ringed Plover. Out on the merse 16 Barnacle Geese were feeding and resting and we had a nice party of five Pintail feeding below us in a channel All in all we located at least five Greenshank, possibly seven, feeding along one of the longer lenses of water before we left to go back to Loch Indaal and catch the tide coverage in an optimum state (we didn't ).

Unfortunately the south esat wind had forced the tide well in to the upper parts of Loch Indaal and waders were all over the place. We set up close to one of the usually favoured roost positions where numbers of Dunlin and Ringed Plover were in evidence along with a couple of groups of Common Gull and Black-headed Gull. Suddenly a more interesting wader walked slowly across the sand and shingle, along with a Ringed Plover and Dunlin, and settled behind a line of detritus to gain a little shelter. Its slim shape, smaller size than Dunlin, and, most importantly, attenuated wings, indicated the Baird's Sandpiper, which had been around in this area a few days ago, was obviously still here!! Great stuff. Whilst we had reasonable views of it the blustery conditions weren't very kind and eventually all the waders moved off elsewhere and couldn't be located. A good start to the week!!

In the ornithological doldrums! 1.9.2011.

After the indication of the evening previous that an east wind might be rising , it was disappointing that it then died down overnight! I still followed my intended plan of going to Holme NWT Reserve in the hope that something had arrived in the scrub along its coastal boundary. In a word....nothing! To add insult to injury, whilst going through a fabulous wader roost on a spit off the coast I missed a Honey Buzzard overflying. Not a good omen.

The wader roost was good with large numbers of Knot and Bar=tailed Godwit, many in summer plumage ,or its remnants, in addition to Grey Plover, Turnstone, Ringed Plover, Curlew, a grewat assemblage. I then moved east along the coast, dipping into various sites but not coming across anything new. The numbers of Little Stint at Cley had increased and a couple of Spoonbill showed well. A seawatch , as before, produced very little with 5 Arctic Skua, all young birds close in to the coast, <15 Common Scoter west, an Arctic Tern .....and that was it for just over two hours of effort. The most encouraging thing was a rising easterly wind (F4+ ), which was promising. An even better end to a good week anyway?

Things seem static at the moment!! 31.8.2011.

I've long promised myself a visit to Holkham Hall Park where I had the time to do a full circuit of the area, as opposed to a walk through the woods and along the lake. So this was the day, plus I considered the exercise would do some good. It was really enjoyable, with a selection of woodland birds and endless encounters with fallow Deer. One major attraction for me is simply walking within tracts of mature deciduous trees of varying species which is not something on offer back home.

Around the back of the Estate and back towards the house, the residence of the Earl of Leicester, and a fine example a building in Palladian style. I stopped here to sit and watch over the lake, which had the usual species for late summer. I'm not sure about the reference to wintering Barnacle Geese from the Arctic, but having said that then saw a Little Egret on the shore opposite. Ten years ago I suppose we'd have suspected the origin of that species to possibly have been a local collection!! Having taken all that in I suddenly found moving off was a problem and had to remain "fixed" for quite a while (damned backs!). It took a while, within which time I could have been suspected of being a sculpture within the Park ("Man in Prone Position" by Rodin!! ).

Eventually moving on, and encouraged by a probable Hawfinch overflying the area, I drove on to Cley again. Little appeared to have changed so I settled in for another seawatch. Over the three hours 4 Great Skua and 27 Arctic Skua went through east, an adult Red-throated Diver and 5 Common Scoter flew west and a couple of Whimbrel went east. The most bizarre sighting was seeing a rather bloated dead grey seal moving westwards in the current offshore. Atop it was a very determined G.B.B.G attempting to feed while the carcase rolled and moved with the tide. After half an hour it what still persisting with its quest as I lost it to view!

A more limited day! 30.8.2011.

Truth is over the last couple of weeks I've had trouble with my back. This was a bad one with my walking around slowly, very slowly. Not something I suffer from so no idea what the remedy is. For this morning, at least, I decided a good session of photography at Titchwell would be a sensible remedy.

It turned out to be a routine day with a Cetti's Warbler singing off the main track and waders everywhere. Having settled in the first thing that happened was that a Greater Flamingo flew in from the south and landed on one of the pools. Who's lost that one then? The waders were a bit skittish and moved around quite a lot. Best of all, for me , were the Curlew Sandpipers!

The morning progressed on with nothing new moving through but with other opportunities arising , particularly with the Ruff that were ranging over the whole freshwater marsh.

Eventually I made my way off site and parked up for quite a while at various vantage points , although to no avail. I then went to Cley again and did a seawatch, the lure of messages of Long-tailed Skuas further north being too much to ignore. Sadly, precious little was on the move although a Manx Shearwater flew west and odd Arctic and a couple of Great Skua moved east. As I returned along the edge of Arnold's Marsh several Bearded Tits appeared in the reed beds below the path and showed well for a short time. Of further interest was a young Black=tailed Godwit carrying leg flags about which I'll get the details of its movements in due course. A day that eventually turned out better than forecast!!

A mixed day. 29.8.2011.

A fine day but with a cool edge to the westerly wind, but thankfully , despite threatening clouds, no rain developed.

Called in to see a friend who works at the RSPB Titchwell Reserve and then commenced to gradually go around the reserve. I watched a Water Vole for ages as it fed immediately within the outer edge of a reed bed.....not something I see that often nowadays given the drastic reduction in its population. As I made my way down the path to the coast I caught a glimpse of a Muntjac making its way across the adjacent marsh in a series of leaps. Suddenly all hell let loose as a Curlew rose in its path, my feeling being that the animal had almost landed on the hapless bird, which took some time to circle around ,uttering its alarm call all the while.

Birds were much as before with perhaps wader numbers altering around. I managed to get a photograph of a Little Stint which conveniently landed nearby and was the first I'd seen this year.

A seawatch showed very few birds on the move, but a Great crested Grebe and a couple of Eider were off shore and then, somewhat surprisingly, a female Long-tailed Duck. A very early bird to return for winter , which I learned later has been around for about ten days already. At that point I learned that the Wryneck seen at Wells yesterday was still around so I made my way westwards. And so it was, present in a few bushes on the edge of the playing fields near the harbout. A very active and showy bird which showed all its plumage details off to good effect. At one point it sat in a nearby bush eyeing up the birdwatchers present before moving out into the open !

As the afternoon was pressing on I went through to the Cley reserve and called in at the reserve's cafe. A little later, and whilst browsing through the books on sale, I found myself standing next to Mike Peacock (RSPB Warden Oronsay) the next island to the north of Islay. Small world, but with the surprising twist that I'd not seen him for about four years despite being a "neighbour".

A seawatch on the rising tide saw a few Gannets on the move , Sandwich and Common Terns around generally and 13 Arctic Skua and a single Great Skua moving east before I called it a day at 1830 hours. Certainly one of contrasts and surprises!

A day at Titchwell. 28.8.2011

Given it was the Bank Holiday I decided to forgo the potential traffic and crowds and simply spend the whole day at Titchwell. The woods near the Centre had a couple of Chiffchaff, both singing intermittently, and a male Blackcap seemed to be associated with a mixed flock of Blue and Long-tailed Tits, but otherwise it was fairly quiet.

The real bonanza was on the fresh-water marsh with waders and duck in profusion. Curlew sandpiper, Little Stint, Ruff, Black-tailed Godwit, Dunlin galore, Ringed Plover, Redshank, Lapwing, Oystercatcher all fed with determination, occasionally spooked by a returning female Marsh Harrier. Odd Herring Gull and many B,H,G loafed on one of the islands along with Mallard and Shoveler. As ever numbers of Grey lag Geese were present and restlessly moving around the site.

A long period seawatching produced very little other than a few Gannets, but I suspect conditions would have been much better a bit later on the rising tide. Mid afternoon the wind began to rise until a F5/6 blustery westerly was sweeping everywhere. Not the conditions to bring in drift migrants!!

Moving operating base! 27.8.2011

Following yesterday's deluge the morning was clear and bright , although rain clouds appeared and threatened all day. As intended I moved southwards to Norfolk, not terribly logical in some ways but linked to the availability of accommodation. The journey went well and I was there way before lunchtime to be met by sunny conditions.

I'd headed for Cley so that I could make my way back to Hunstanton, where I'm staying. The first bonus was a juvenile Red=backed Shrike at Walsey Hills showing extremely well and obviously hungry with its level of alertness and frequent feeding forays. A Marsh Harrier circled high above and headed off east and a Hobby flashed through eastwards too. Not a bad start.

On to the Centre to call in and see a friend ( Patrick ) and then spent virtually the rest of the day looking at the various scrapes. Eight Spoonbills slept throughout the whole period and, by contrast, a juvenile Red-necked Phalarope fed incessantly with its energy output never seeming to diminish. Waders were present in profusion with Dunlin, Curlew Sandpiper, Ruff, Little Stint, Knot, and Black-tailed Godwit all giving good views with an accompaniment of the calls of Sandwich Tern feeding off the nearby coast. Across the site numbers of Grey lag Geese fed along with Teal, Mallard, Shelduck and Wigeon. I never did get round all the hides but the forthcoming week awaits.

Stopping off at various points on my way westwards produced nothing extraordinary but I was delighted to see a covey of 12 Grey Partridge nearby to where I am staying. Nice end to the day.

Rather a wet experience. 26.8.2011

Before leaving for Norfolk tomorrow ( Saturday ) I'd promised myself a visit to Flamborough and Bempton on Yorkshire's east coast. The day commenced with rain and, sadly, got steadily worse.

Setting such conditions aside I decided to go direct to Flamborough and , hopefully, see the Greenish Warbler reported from Old Fall Wood. Well, it was raining as I got there, and raining far worse when I left three hours later, and it hadn't stopped raining in between.! I heard the bird twice, but never saw it, so ,all in all it was a complete failure of a day. The sum total of birds seen was Garden Warbler, Blackcap, Willow Warbler, Robin, Blue Tit, Blackbird, Kestrel, Linnet and Meadow Pipit......not a good outcome when linked to an absolute drenching!! Driving conditions back to base were absolutely horrendous and it was a relief to get to the end of the journey. Are we due for a Bank Holiday I ask myself? Incidentally, I'm unsure of what WiFi access I may have access to next week , so bear with me.

East coast again! 25.8.2011.

Looking at the weather, taking into account what had occurred elsewhere along the east coast of Britain, I judged that the rain overnight and early morning might have resulted in night passage migrants being grounded and so I went to Spurn again. I was wrong, as little of note was in evidence, although a Pied Flycatcher turned up around lunchtime. Compared to other places, Yorkshire has missed out in some respects as far as good passerines are concerned, but that's birding. A few Black Terns moving southwards over the sea were nice, but little else. Again, waders were worth looking at with Knot and Bar-tailed Godwit showing birds in partial summer plumage with, again, Grey Plover being seen in full resplendent breeding dress. By contrast all Sanderling I saw were in winter plumage!

Mid afternoon saw me move northwards to Hornsea to hopefully witness something I've never had the privilege of witnessing, the presence of massed numbers of Little Gulls on the Mere.This is something which only happens in late summer/early autumn, but numbers have reached a mind boggling 500 on occasions. Filling in the time before the "reputed hour" I managed to find the reported two Black-necked Grebe, and also four Red-crested Pochard and then settled in for the evening arrival. Little did I know that the site where the car park is situated closed at tea time, is gated off, so I had to leave a little prematurely. However, the guy in charge was extremely helpful and explained the best site from which they can be seen and counted. He also put me on to a resting out place that they use regardless of their feeding movements in the evening. And so I had brilliant views of seven juvenile birds and three adults on one of the yachting piers within the "marina part" of the Mere. Small beer compared to the 300/400 birds which can descend on the area in the evenings on some occasions, moving , presumably, from the areas offshore where they feed during the day. Their arrival can take place any time from 1600 to 2000 hours, all of which is somewhat unpredictable. After hanging on for a while, it seemed this day fell into the latter category, and so I left unrewarded with a desired phenomenon still a future diary entry.

Spurn Point. 24. 8.2011.

From around 1958 I spent an inordinate amount of time at Spurn. It was the location of my first "independent" holiday away from my family and I can still remember the shock horror of my parents when I announced I was going there one Christmas and New Year. The insensitivity of teenagers! Whilst I've been back on many occasions , today was a relaxed solo pilgrimage, full of nostalgia, and never designed to be anything less. I was enthralled throughout the whole day, which I spent alone, perhaps on occasions in the remembered company of long past friends, some of whom can no longer benefit from such indulgences.

A good walk up to the Canal Zone, down past the Tank Blocks, up the remnants of Big Hedge to the coast and back to the Blue Bell took all morning. There was little of especial note , but I enjoyed it all. Waders abounded, especially some Grey Plover in full summer plumage and a whole selection of other wading bird species. A couple of Yellow Wagtail on the scrape were nice to see, but little moved over the sea. The latter figures large in my memories, not just for "big" days of passage, but because the coastal profile has changed so much in my lifetime as a result of its activities with around 100m. of this coast, at least, being eroded away since the 1960's, scary stuff!!

A walk along Beacon Lane northwards yielded virtually nothing except a series of repetitious expectations of old as the odd Whitethroat or Blue Tit moved within the bushes. The warm weather was not only a welcome tonic ( almost tropical to me! ) but was good for a variety of butterfly species encountered along the sheltered double line of hawthorns. In retrospect, I'm pleased I didn't see anything special as I don't think the sheer deep, inner joy of reliving so much of value would have been the same had it been overtaken by the transient presence of some notable migrant. It was my selfish day and I enjoyed it to the full.