Isle of Islay - Final Birding Day

Well, what a holiday we had to this point, and now it was the last day. Where to go????

With a report of an Osprey up at Loch Gruinart RSPB the previous day, we thought we would go and give it a look. We arrived up at the reserve and walked the Woodland trail. We had a couple of Common Carpet moths which were nice...

Also lots of Green-veined White's along the path...

Also a Common Darter and a Meadow Brown.

We reached the first hide....Taigh Deas

We got a Snipe in this hide but not much else. However, I was scanning the dunes out the back and picked up a large raptor flying over the bay. I kept watching it, and then it dived into the water. It had to be an Osprey! Far too far away for a picture, but it was viewed closer from the second hide, Taigh Tuath, but still distant...

We then went up to Ardnave Point again, where we had the usual Chough, Raven, Shag, Gannet, Meadow Pipits, Swallows, Oystercatchers and Skylarks. We also had several Grayling too...

The last day was a wet day, so we didn't do much, but we did get a pair of Whinchat, Stonechat and a ringtail Hen Harrier which was great! We also got a Stag outside the cottage in the evening which was great, and a Whitethroat was a nice surprise too.

That is it then, our Islay Holiday of 2014! Hope you enjoyed reading the posts. Happy Birding!!

Isle of Islay - Birding Day 2

Technically Day 4, saw us heading to the Isle of Jura to try and find the only White-tailed Eagle pair on the surroundings of Islay. Before this though, I found a Whinchat outside our cottage early in the morning,  which was a welcome year tick...

We arrived at Port Askaig, to get the Ferry, and looked across to the Paps of Jura.

We looked across the Sound of Islay and over the Paps of Jura, to see if any raptors were soaring. We picked up 2 massive birds, which had to be White-tailed Eagles, as they soared distantly over the mountains. We pin-pointed their location, so we could look for them on the Island.

As the boat arrived to pick us up, we hopped on...

As we were on board, we saw Gannets, Kittiwakes and Shags surrounding the boat. Then, Dad and I spotted a pale morph Skua flying north at the same time! We're still not 100% sure of it's identity, but it was big bodied, seemed to have a visible collar and Dad thinks he saw spoons. I have had feedback from Twitter, and all of them say Arctic. However, showing other birders face to face with a book beside the picture think Pomarine! Personally, I think Pomarine too, but I would really like your help. If you think you know what specie it is, then let me know. Comment on this post on this blog, or DM me on Twitter to @MoysieBirder! Thanks. Anyway, here are the pictures...

There is only 1 road on Jura, and it comes to a dead end after a little while, so there was no circular route back to the ferry. We started off with a ringtail Hen Harrier, another Whinchat and a Dark Green Fritillary by the roadside...

We got a couple more ringtail Hen Harriers but couldn't find the White-tailed Eagles anywhere. We had to stop in though at the Isle of Jura Distillery, but I wasn't allowed any! Couldn't believe it! By the end of this trip it was about 15:00pm. 

When we got back onto Islay, we decided to go down to The Oa, the second RSPB reserve on the Island. We went on the circular route path taking us to the cliffs and to the American Monument.

Our target bird was Golden Eagle, as there is a pair here. We didn't see them though unfortunately, but we did see a pair of Chough and several Twite...

We also got a very close Raven...

And a Willow Warbler.

When we reached the American Monument, we noticed that there was a Goat having a snout around the point.

Approaching the car park, we came across a Willow Warbler, a Reed Bunting and a Wheatear all in the same shot. Nice!

End of Day 4 on Islay - 203!

Happy Birding!

Isle of Mull - Final Day

The Final Day of Mull was a bit of a miserable one in terms of weather. Most of the time it was OK, just overcast, misty and the odd shower. We went to Beach - "Beak" - to try for the Adder, and the possibility of getting a Dipper on the river. We started off with a nice Whinchat, but it's not the greatest picture.

We then went to the top of the river, when Dad spotted a Dipper feeding a bit further down. We couldn't get any closer, so that was a shame.

We then went looking for the Adders, when I found one in a tussock of grass.

We then went down to Fidden again, maybe seeing the Tree Sparrow again. No sign of that, but we did get a cracking Skylark.

In the evening, we stayed up late at the back of Loch Scridain, to look for the Otters. We got cracking views of at least two fishing. Light was awful though.

We then got great views of a male Hen Harrier to end the day

Great to see Murray in the Wimbledon Final. He is doing well. Hopefully this time he will win. Fingers crossed.

Happy Birding!