Category Archives: General

After last weeks stormy weather the last seven days have been much better with the last two being the best Autumn days I have ever seen on Islay. We have had four days with snow on the hills which is unique for October

At long last we were able to film a large gathering of Whooper Swans resting and feeding in a stubble field. It was interesting to watch some of the young feeding whilst sat on the ground – their flight from Iceland had exhausted them so much they could not stand up!

On one of the two magnificent days we were able to establish a record that will take some beating – seeing seven of Islay’s diurnal raptors in one hour! (Golden Eagle (2), Buzzard, Hen Harrier, Peregrine, Sparrowhawk (male and female), Kestrel and Merlin)

In the two weeks we searched for Otters on five days and saw one on each of four days which is the best ‘hit’ rate we have ever had.

The largest group of Fieldfares that we encountered was thirty and these were feeding not on berries but on fallen apples in an orchard.

As we drove home on Saturday we received a call on the mobile, from the owner of a garden on Islay where we had been filming, to inform us that six Waxwings were now feeding there – my favourite bird, missed by only hours – you can’t win them all!!

Despite the conditions we looked for Otters on two occasions and scored on both days. One was fishing in raging seas in the South East of the island and the other was disturbed by a fisherman checking his lobster pots, so no film was obtained of either.

The highlights have been filming seventeen Snow Buntings feeding on seeds on a remote beach and finding five Crossbills in a pine plantation feeding on Spruce cones.

A surprise has been finding a Red Admiral butterfly sunning itself during one of the brief sunny spells.

At last Long Tailed Tits have turned up in the garden with eleven feeding together on the seventeenth at dusk.

Still no Fieldfare but on the sixteenth three parties of Redwings (30, 33 and 40) flew over the Golf Course in a South West direction. The Siskin flock has now increased to thirty five, they were feeding on the Birches.

The rabbit problem on the Golf Course seems to have been solved with a Buzzard eating one on one of the fairways.

One night this week the young Tawny Owl was giving some very hungry calls from the trees in the garden and it may well be that the adults have now abandoned it. It will be a steep learning curve for it from now on

The Green Woodpecker has re appeared on the golf course and has been seen on two consecutive days. Two Grey Wagtails have been regular along the stream and the Long Tailed Tit flock peaked at fourteen.

Skylarks are still moving South in good numbers but no Fieldfares have yet arrived and the Redwings seem to have moved on.

On the third October the first of six Redwings of Autumn were feeding on the Hawthorn berries along the canal – four days later than last year’s early record.

A Buzzard was hunting on the Golf Course and there are still Goldcrests present and Jays are everywhere with the good Acorn crop. Several parties of Long Tail Tits are around and a Speckled Wood butterfly was seen on the third October.

Greenfinches continue to increase in the garden with a peak of twenty four on the fifth October.

What a spectacular week of Autumn weather with sunshine, no wind and no rain!

Last weekend we had our Ruby wedding and a funeral to attend and covered more than six hundred miles on motorways. However, it did enable us to prove that the Buzzard is the commonest raptor in Britain with sightings of one Sparrowhawk, five Kestrels and nine Buzzards.

On the local streams two Grey Wagtails have been feeding all week.

The bracken on the Golf Course produced not one but two new birds on the 27th September when two juvenile Whinchats were present and a Willow Warbler all catching insects in the early morning sunshine.