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!

One of my Most WANTED Birds Ticked off! Also BIRD QUIZ - WEEK 18!!!

Last Sunday, Dad and I visited Winterton Dunes in the pouring rain to try and get to see one of my favourite birds for the first time - a Red-backed Shrike.

Driving up, it was chucking it down. We didn't have any waterproofs, jumpers, nothing. Just shorts and T-shirts. We parked up in the car park, and it was still raining. We waited in the car for about 30 minutes for the rain to clear, and then we got out.

We didn't really know where the bird was, we just knew it was by the highest dune. We kept looking for a really high dune, but didn't really succeed. We did see a lifer butterfly in the dunes though, and that was a Dark Green Fritillary!

Eventually, we found a high dune with really good habitat, so we gave it a scan. There were no other birders, so it was just us and our eyes....

Dad shouted out "there it is!" and within seconds I was looking out my first ever Red-backed Shrike. We started to get a bit closer, to try and get some decent pics, but it flew into cover. After another 5 minutes, it still hadn't reappeared,so we walked round the clump of brambles. We returned to the front side, and it was so close to us. What a bird...

Sorry about the quality - it was sooo windy!

It then disappeared again, so we moved on. We thought we would go and have a look at how the Little Tern's were doing, from a sensible distance of course. We got fantastic views of these delightful birds, where they flew feet above our heads. A great spectacle...

BIRD QUIZ - WEEK 18!!!

Last weeks mystery bird was indeed a Golden Eagle, which is the only one in England, which I saw at Haweswater Lake, Lake District several years ago.

Well done to Rob Stokes and Ellis Lucas for getting the correct answer. Unlucky to those who got it wrong but many thanks for having a go.

This week is a bit different. I'm going to test your butterfly skills. Here it is...

If you want to have a go, you can leave your answers in the comments, or you can DM me at Twitter to @MoysieBirder. 

Good Luck!