Friday 10th October

It was great to meet in with visitor Wally along with his wife Jude who have been visiting Islay for a good number of years. Yesterday, up behind Loch Skerrols they had 16 species of birds, Linnet, Twite, Skylark, Dunnock, Wren, Pheasant, Red legged Partridge, Goldfinch, Stonechat, Reed Bunting, Long tailed Tit, Yellowhammer, Blackbird, Song Thrush, Pied Wagtail and Robin, all in a stretch of around 300 - 400 yards along the road! This afternoon, they had a Sparrowhawk and also a Merlin just after Grainel, on their way over to here. So far they have had 84 species seen this trip, and they only arrived on Tuesday!!! James this morning had a count of 11,905 Barnies and 30 Whitefronts on the reserve. This afternoon, Mary had over 100 Whitefronts. The Barnies were arriving around 200 per hour, in small groups. There were also 5 Pintails arriving behind one of the smaller skeins of 20 Barnies. Up at Ardnave, on the tideline up at the Point there were 5 Snow Buntings eating away. There were also 34 Ravens seen between Ardnave Point and Nave Island. Over on Nave Island, 79 Seal pups were counted. Back on Ardnave Loch, there were 6 Whoopers and 8 adult Mute Swans and also 6 cygnets. Late afternoon, while Wally was here, we saw 20 Whoopers heading out from Loch Gorm out over Machir Bay and then heading South, no doubt they will be in Ireland by now!