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Birdwatching Tour to Islay Scotland
6th - 13th February 2010
Tour Leader :- Chris Mills
Saturday 6th February - Kennacraig harbour & ferry crossing.
We arrived at the ferry crossing from Kennacraig to Islay in the late morning of Saturday 6th Feb having driven up through the early hours of the morning. En-route we had seen our first Hooded Crows, Buzzards & at Furness a brief stop also resulted in 10 Red-breasted Merganser, 20 Eider & a Black-throated Diver just offshore.
With plenty of time to spare at Kennacraig harbour we started scanning and were rewarded immediately with 2 summer plumaged Black Guillemots & 17 Red-breasted Merganser & some commoner shorebirds.
We boarded the ferry for the crossing shortly after midday & after an excellent dinner onboard, we headed up to on deck to take our position for birding during the crossing.
The crossing proved excellent with 5+ Red-throated Diver, 2+ Black-throated Diver, 100+ Great Northern Diver including an amazing raft of 60 birds together. There was also lots of Shag, Red-breasted Merganser & Wigeon. Also of note were several more Black Guillemot & a Kittiwake. I was reached Islay we also saw 3 Common Porpoise, 12 Red Deer & several Common Seal.
We arrived late afternoon at Port Ascraig and decided to head for the accommodation, then to collect food & provisions for the week ahead. The accommodation at Blackpark Croft is excellent, the building is double glazed, with heating throughout running off a thermostatic control, the flooring is completely timbered, there are 2 double rooms, 2 twin rooms, large kitchen, large utilities, large lounge with a big double glazed window looking across fantastic views towards Loch Indaal.
As we travelled we couldn’t help stopping and seeing a few geese before dusk fell! There was a flock of 3000 Barnacle Geese & 12 pale-bellied Brent Geese, we also stopped off for 8 Whooper Swans that were on a roadside pool just before Ballygrant, plus several Buzzard.
Sunday 7th February - Loch Gruinart RSPB Reserve & Ardnave Point
Breakfast was arranged for 7.30, and we were all in the van & on our way by 8.15am. It was a fine frosty, morning with blue skies.
Even before we left the accommodation we had 170 Greenland White-fronted Geese, 120 Barnacle Geese, plus a Redpoll & Grey Wagtail flew over.
As we headed out along the lanes to this famous and magnificent RSPB reserve we were very quickly looking at spectacular flocks of 7000 Barnacle Geese & 1000 Greenland White-fronted Geese. We scanned hard through the flocks, and fortunately I locked on to one of the target birds - a Lesser Canada Goose!
The bird was similar in size to the Barnacles, with a neat white line at the joint between the neck & breast, the bird was of the form “hutchinsi” Hutchinsons Lesser Canada Goose
Next stop was the Visitor centre where we treated ourselves to some warmth & a hot drink, the group read the educational backdrop about the importance of the reserve and we then headed off to the viewing platform. From here there was a mix of ducks & geese, Wigeon & Teal were in abundance, with a few smart Pintail amongst them. There was also a fine flock of 350 Lapwing & over 100 Curlew on the wet fields, and 2 pairs of Red-breasted Merganser amused us, throwing their heads & displaying to each other.
A Merlin dashed through distantly scattering the waders, but far the least expected bird, but present for some weeks was a Little Egret, which we found amongst the masses below us.
After a bird filled morning we headed back to the accommodation for lunch.
Suitably refreshed & warm we set out in the afternoon for Ardnave Point, but we only made it a short distance from the accommodation before the van was suddenly stopping! A Peregrine went roaring across the fields, shortly before a young male Hen Harrier flashed across the fields in front of us. Plus 2-3 Stonechats were perching on the bramble along the roadside
Once at Ardnave Point we stopped off to check the Loch, on here there were 9 Whooper Swan, 5 Goldeneye 10 Tufted Duck & the usual Teal, Mallard & Wigeon.
A short walk from the car park produced the target species, great views of c20 Chough wheeling around & perching on the nearby ridge, also a brief flyover of c10 Twite, plus Buzzard, 10 Raven, 100 Starling & Pied Wagtail. Also here several Rabbit plus 2 Hares.
Monday 8th February - Loch Gruinart East Shore & Loch Gorm area
After breakfast we headed for the minor track running along the eastern shoreline of Loch Gruinart. We again passed the masses of geese!
Once on the shoreline there were large numbers wildfowl & shorebirds, notable counts were 130 Shelduck, 100+ Oystercatcher, 50+ Teal, 20+ Bar-tailed Godwit, lots of Redshank, Dunlin, Turnstone & 2 Greenshank. At the sea entrance we also located 3 Great Northern Diver showing well close inshore, there was also more Goldeneye & Red-breasted Merganser. A Merlin also flashed by upsetting a small flock of Skylark, it was all raptor action as a few seconds later a Peregrine also went breezing by.
After lunch we will took the minor roads to search the fields and craggy hillsides on the far western side of the island, near Loch Gorm stopping regularly and scanning resulted in more great birds. First we had a superb male Hen Harrier right in front of the van, it was hunting & scattered the fields which were full of Redwing & Fieldfare. The next fields hosted a flock of 190 Golden Plover, plus Lapwing & Ringed Plover - these birds were skittish back & forth in the air - clearly raptors were around. A few minutes later and another stop, I suddenly locked on to a large raptor high in the sky, the sillhouette & jizz so distinctive our first Golden Eagle of the trip, the bird slowly passed overhead giving reasonable views. More scanning for an hour or so, produced a 2nd Golden Eagle hunting low over the near hillside. Whilst in this area we were constantly treated to views of Raven, Hooded Crow & Buzzard.
Flushed with success we headed south towards Portnahaven, we stopped off at Bruichladdich Pier area - here we saw 23 Pale-bellied Brent Geese, and amongst the commone shorebirds we also located 2 Purple Sandpiper.
We reached Portnahaven mid afternoon, but unfortunately there was no sign of the Gyr Falcon that had been present a few days before. We did see several Fulmar, 5+ Rock Pipit & a female Merlin. The harbour also held a few Common & Grey Seals hauled up out of the water on the rocks. With such a beautiful clear blue sky day, the west coast of Ireland was clearly visible across the Irish sea.
The day drew to an end with the spectacle of raptors tangling above us as I took the minor road back north through “The Rhinns”. We had amazing views of a Merlin mobbing a male Hen Harrier - before perching on the hillside above us.
We arrived at the ferry crossing from Kennacraig to Islay in the late morning of Saturday 6th Feb having driven up through the early hours of the morning. En-route we had seen our first Hooded Crows, Buzzards & at Furness a brief stop also resulted in 10 Red-breasted Merganser, 20 Eider & a Black-throated Diver just offshore.
With plenty of time to spare at Kennacraig harbour we started scanning and were rewarded immediately with 2 summer plumaged Black Guillemots & 17 Red-breasted Merganser & some commoner shorebirds.
We boarded the ferry for the crossing shortly after midday & after an excellent dinner onboard, we headed up to on deck to take our position for birding during the crossing.
The crossing proved excellent with 5+ Red-throated Diver, 2+ Black-throated Diver, 100+ Great Northern Diver including an amazing raft of 60 birds together. There was also lots of Shag, Red-breasted Merganser & Wigeon. Also of note were several more Black Guillemot & a Kittiwake. I was reached Islay we also saw 3 Common Porpoise, 12 Red Deer & several Common Seal.
We arrived late afternoon at Port Ascraig and decided to head for the accommodation, then to collect food & provisions for the week ahead. The accommodation at Blackpark Croft is excellent, the building is double glazed, with heating throughout running off a thermostatic control, the flooring is completely timbered, there are 2 double rooms, 2 twin rooms, large kitchen, large utilities, large lounge with a big double glazed window looking across fantastic views towards Loch Indaal.
As we travelled we couldn’t help stopping and seeing a few geese before dusk fell! There was a flock of 3000 Barnacle Geese & 12 pale-bellied Brent Geese, we also stopped off for 8 Whooper Swans that were on a roadside pool just before Ballygrant, plus several Buzzard.
Sunday 7th February - Loch Gruinart RSPB Reserve & Ardnave Point
Breakfast was arranged for 7.30, and we were all in the van & on our way by 8.15am. It was a fine frosty, morning with blue skies.
Even before we left the accommodation we had 170 Greenland White-fronted Geese, 120 Barnacle Geese, plus a Redpoll & Grey Wagtail flew over.
As we headed out along the lanes to this famous and magnificent RSPB reserve we were very quickly looking at spectacular flocks of 7000 Barnacle Geese & 1000 Greenland White-fronted Geese. We scanned hard through the flocks, and fortunately I locked on to one of the target birds - a Lesser Canada Goose!
The bird was similar in size to the Barnacles, with a neat white line at the joint between the neck & breast, the bird was of the form “hutchinsi” Hutchinsons Lesser Canada Goose
Next stop was the Visitor centre where we treated ourselves to some warmth & a hot drink, the group read the educational backdrop about the importance of the reserve and we then headed off to the viewing platform. From here there was a mix of ducks & geese, Wigeon & Teal were in abundance, with a few smart Pintail amongst them. There was also a fine flock of 350 Lapwing & over 100 Curlew on the wet fields, and 2 pairs of Red-breasted Merganser amused us, throwing their heads & displaying to each other.
A Merlin dashed through distantly scattering the waders, but far the least expected bird, but present for some weeks was a Little Egret, which we found amongst the masses below us.
After a bird filled morning we headed back to the accommodation for lunch.
Suitably refreshed & warm we set out in the afternoon for Ardnave Point, but we only made it a short distance from the accommodation before the van was suddenly stopping! A Peregrine went roaring across the fields, shortly before a young male Hen Harrier flashed across the fields in front of us. Plus 2-3 Stonechats were perching on the bramble along the roadside
Once at Ardnave Point we stopped off to check the Loch, on here there were 9 Whooper Swan, 5 Goldeneye 10 Tufted Duck & the usual Teal, Mallard & Wigeon.
A short walk from the car park produced the target species, great views of c20 Chough wheeling around & perching on the nearby ridge, also a brief flyover of c10 Twite, plus Buzzard, 10 Raven, 100 Starling & Pied Wagtail. Also here several Rabbit plus 2 Hares.
Monday 8th February - Loch Gruinart East Shore & Loch Gorm area
After breakfast we headed for the minor track running along the eastern shoreline of Loch Gruinart. We again passed the masses of geese!
Once on the shoreline there were large numbers wildfowl & shorebirds, notable counts were 130 Shelduck, 100+ Oystercatcher, 50+ Teal, 20+ Bar-tailed Godwit, lots of Redshank, Dunlin, Turnstone & 2 Greenshank. At the sea entrance we also located 3 Great Northern Diver showing well close inshore, there was also more Goldeneye & Red-breasted Merganser. A Merlin also flashed by upsetting a small flock of Skylark, it was all raptor action as a few seconds later a Peregrine also went breezing by.
After lunch we will took the minor roads to search the fields and craggy hillsides on the far western side of the island, near Loch Gorm stopping regularly and scanning resulted in more great birds. First we had a superb male Hen Harrier right in front of the van, it was hunting & scattered the fields which were full of Redwing & Fieldfare. The next fields hosted a flock of 190 Golden Plover, plus Lapwing & Ringed Plover - these birds were skittish back & forth in the air - clearly raptors were around. A few minutes later and another stop, I suddenly locked on to a large raptor high in the sky, the sillhouette & jizz so distinctive our first Golden Eagle of the trip, the bird slowly passed overhead giving reasonable views. More scanning for an hour or so, produced a 2nd Golden Eagle hunting low over the near hillside. Whilst in this area we were constantly treated to views of Raven, Hooded Crow & Buzzard.
Flushed with success we headed south towards Portnahaven, we stopped off at Bruichladdich Pier area - here we saw 23 Pale-bellied Brent Geese, and amongst the commone shorebirds we also located 2 Purple Sandpiper.
We reached Portnahaven mid afternoon, but unfortunately there was no sign of the Gyr Falcon that had been present a few days before. We did see several Fulmar, 5+ Rock Pipit & a female Merlin. The harbour also held a few Common & Grey Seals hauled up out of the water on the rocks. With such a beautiful clear blue sky day, the west coast of Ireland was clearly visible across the Irish sea.
The day drew to an end with the spectacle of raptors tangling above us as I took the minor road back north through “The Rhinns”. We had amazing views of a Merlin mobbing a male Hen Harrier - before perching on the hillside above us.
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 2.jpg "Lesser Canada Goose (hutchinsii) 2")
 3.jpg "Lesser Canada Goose (hutchinsii) 3")
Chris Mills, Jan Smith, Mike Smith, John Lowe & Brenda Lowe
Tuesday 9th February - - Loch Indaal bay & Bowmore Harbour, Bhunnahabain & Caoille
After breakfast we took the short trip 5 minutes drive from the accommodation to the head of Loch Indaal.
Before we started scanning the sea in earnest, we were treated to 10,000 Barnacle Geese leaving their roost, & we had wonderful views as they whirled past us overhead! Scoping the bay produced an array of good birds, the slight breeze though meant that the swell and waves made getting really good views a little more difficult. The bay was viewed from the head of the Loch and then from several vantage points off the main road leading to Bowmore, from here we had 3 Red-throated Diver, 5+ Great Northern Diver, 1 Red-necked Grebe, 8 Slavonian Grebe, 300 Scaup, 20+ Red-breasted merganser plus Common Scoter, Eider, Goldeneye, Wigeon & Teal.
Also found on the shoreline was 9 Knot, (one of the less regular mid winter shorebirds on the island), 17 Bar-tailed Godwit, 20 Ringed Plover, 50+ Curlew, 20+ Redshank, 150 Lapwing, 100+ Oystercatcher & Turnstone.
We then headed into Bowmore harbour and from the pier we head fantastic close up views of a pair of Goldeneye, plus 2 obliging Rock Pipit.
After lunch we headed off to Bhunnahabain, where we spent quite a while watching and photographing an adult Iceland Gull, also from here 3 Guillemot, 2 Great Northern Diver, Eider, several Shag & a mixture of shorebirds.
The minor road back produced close up views of Buzzard & Raven, we finished the day by standing vigil on a watchpoint for raptors near Caoille. From this point we had a male Hen Harrier and a Golden Eagle.
Also added to the growing list was 4 Bullfinch.
Wednesday 10th February - The OA, Port Ellen & Claggain bay area.
The Gyr Falcon had been seen again on the previous day devouring a Starling down on “The Oa”, so with this part of our itinerary it made sense to head down there, today.
We arrived on “The Oa” at 8.30 & we set up a watch around the Loch Kinnabus area, but there was no sign of the Gyr, but this was alleviated by fine views of both a male & female Hen Harrier hunting close by, this was quickly followed by a pair of Golden Eagle, 2 Chough, several tumbling & displaying Raven. On the Lock there was a mix if Teal, Wigeon, Goldeneye & 150 Greenland White-fronted Geese on the Loch.
By late morning we decided to head round to the RSPB reserve, and a short walk along the track leading to Upper Killeyan produced a mix of finches and then a fantastic flock of 200+ Twite, which finally gave fantastic scope views, also within the same field there was 60 Linnet, 20 Reed Bunting, 20 Skylark and numerous Meadow Pipit. We visited another area along the cliffs, and here we saw Fulmar & several Mountain Goat.
We decided to head off towards the south east corner of the island around midday, as we were driving the road back I picked up another Golden Eagle, this time it was much lower & we quickly ground to halt, we were then treated to great views as the bird flew overhead above the car.
During the afternoon we stopped briefly in Port Ellen harbour and then took the minor winding road from Ardbeg to Claggain bay in the south east corner of the island. In the harbour there was 30+ Eider all very obliging and feeding under the pier, also Red-breasted Merganser, Goldeneye, and several Rock Pipit.
The scenery and rocky bays are wonderful along this stretch. After several stops, we reached Loch A’Chnuic , and here we were treated to wonderful scope views of an Otter for around 20 minutes as it dived & swam between the pools, there was also good numbers of Red-breasted Merganser, Goldeneye, Oystercatcher & Turnstone.
We stopped off briefly at a set of pheasant feeders as there were good numbers of birds feeding below, and here we saw two Yellowhammers, these were the only ones of the trip. We eventually reached Claggain bay. The sea was like a mill pond & you could see right across to the mainland, from here we had nice views of 5 Great Northern Diver, 1 Red-throated Diver, 10 Black Guillemot, 10 Guillemot, 10+ Shag, Eider and Goldeneye.
After breakfast we took the short trip 5 minutes drive from the accommodation to the head of Loch Indaal.
Before we started scanning the sea in earnest, we were treated to 10,000 Barnacle Geese leaving their roost, & we had wonderful views as they whirled past us overhead! Scoping the bay produced an array of good birds, the slight breeze though meant that the swell and waves made getting really good views a little more difficult. The bay was viewed from the head of the Loch and then from several vantage points off the main road leading to Bowmore, from here we had 3 Red-throated Diver, 5+ Great Northern Diver, 1 Red-necked Grebe, 8 Slavonian Grebe, 300 Scaup, 20+ Red-breasted merganser plus Common Scoter, Eider, Goldeneye, Wigeon & Teal.
Also found on the shoreline was 9 Knot, (one of the less regular mid winter shorebirds on the island), 17 Bar-tailed Godwit, 20 Ringed Plover, 50+ Curlew, 20+ Redshank, 150 Lapwing, 100+ Oystercatcher & Turnstone.
We then headed into Bowmore harbour and from the pier we head fantastic close up views of a pair of Goldeneye, plus 2 obliging Rock Pipit.
After lunch we headed off to Bhunnahabain, where we spent quite a while watching and photographing an adult Iceland Gull, also from here 3 Guillemot, 2 Great Northern Diver, Eider, several Shag & a mixture of shorebirds.
The minor road back produced close up views of Buzzard & Raven, we finished the day by standing vigil on a watchpoint for raptors near Caoille. From this point we had a male Hen Harrier and a Golden Eagle.
Also added to the growing list was 4 Bullfinch.
Wednesday 10th February - The OA, Port Ellen & Claggain bay area.
The Gyr Falcon had been seen again on the previous day devouring a Starling down on “The Oa”, so with this part of our itinerary it made sense to head down there, today.
We arrived on “The Oa” at 8.30 & we set up a watch around the Loch Kinnabus area, but there was no sign of the Gyr, but this was alleviated by fine views of both a male & female Hen Harrier hunting close by, this was quickly followed by a pair of Golden Eagle, 2 Chough, several tumbling & displaying Raven. On the Lock there was a mix if Teal, Wigeon, Goldeneye & 150 Greenland White-fronted Geese on the Loch.
By late morning we decided to head round to the RSPB reserve, and a short walk along the track leading to Upper Killeyan produced a mix of finches and then a fantastic flock of 200+ Twite, which finally gave fantastic scope views, also within the same field there was 60 Linnet, 20 Reed Bunting, 20 Skylark and numerous Meadow Pipit. We visited another area along the cliffs, and here we saw Fulmar & several Mountain Goat.
We decided to head off towards the south east corner of the island around midday, as we were driving the road back I picked up another Golden Eagle, this time it was much lower & we quickly ground to halt, we were then treated to great views as the bird flew overhead above the car.
During the afternoon we stopped briefly in Port Ellen harbour and then took the minor winding road from Ardbeg to Claggain bay in the south east corner of the island. In the harbour there was 30+ Eider all very obliging and feeding under the pier, also Red-breasted Merganser, Goldeneye, and several Rock Pipit.
The scenery and rocky bays are wonderful along this stretch. After several stops, we reached Loch A’Chnuic , and here we were treated to wonderful scope views of an Otter for around 20 minutes as it dived & swam between the pools, there was also good numbers of Red-breasted Merganser, Goldeneye, Oystercatcher & Turnstone.
We stopped off briefly at a set of pheasant feeders as there were good numbers of birds feeding below, and here we saw two Yellowhammers, these were the only ones of the trip. We eventually reached Claggain bay. The sea was like a mill pond & you could see right across to the mainland, from here we had nice views of 5 Great Northern Diver, 1 Red-throated Diver, 10 Black Guillemot, 10 Guillemot, 10+ Shag, Eider and Goldeneye.
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