Day 3 – Monday 5th November 2007
The start of my next day saw small groups of
Barnacle Geese and
White-fronted Geese in the fields between Ballygrant where I was staying overnight and Bridgend where I took the road down the west side of Loch Indaal.
The west side of Loch Indaal produced both a reduced number of species of birds and smaller numbers than the east side but a stop by the Bruichladdich malt whisky distillery (yes, another wildlife hotspot!) did allow me to find 5
Red-throated Divers and 3
Common Scoters on the sea, 3
Purple Sandpipers foraging amongst the rocks with
Turnstone and
Ringed Plovers and a surprisingly late
Common Tern fishing. Both
Purple Sandpiper and
Common Scoter were new sightings for the year for me.
As I continued south, I spotted my first 2
Choughs of my trip near Port Charlotte. I am used to seeing these birds at South Stack in Anglesey but Islay is the Scottish stronghold so this was a new Scotland record for me. However, this was only the start of some wonderful sightings of these birds later in the day.
The harbour at Portnahaven produced 5
Common Seals which had wisely sought some sanctuary from some very wild but spectacular seas off the south coast of Islay.
My route continued northwards to the area around Machrie and Machir Bay in the west of Islay. Here in the dune area, a mixed flock of c.100 corvids including about 10
Choughs, 1
Raven plus plenty of
Rooks,
Jackdaws and
Hooded Crows fed on the ground or wheeled around in the strong wind.
Choughs, in particular, always look as though they are having so much fun playing in the wind.
The fields in the Machrie area also produced a further 5
Choughs, the inevitable large flocks of
Barnacle Geese and
White-fronted Geese, a single
Whooper Swan and a flock of c.100
Rock Doves. The latter was especially notable since whilst I am familiar with these birds in north and west Scotland, I have never seen so many together.
From Machrie I moved on to Loch Gruinart, an RSPB reserve, and took the road up the east side first. Again, there was an enormous flock of
Barnacle Geese plus large numbers of waders on the foreshore including
Dunlin,
Ringed Plover,
Bar-tailed Godwit and
Curlew.
The road up the west side of Loch Gruinart produced even more
Barnacle Geese plus groups of
Lapwing,
Wigeon and
Shelduck. Birds of prey were also well represented with a female
Hen Harrier, a female
Merlin and several
Common Buzzards. Large numbers of
House Sparrows,
Starlings and
Redwings plus a few
Stonechats and an obliging
Brown Hare sitting in the road were also seen.
The road up the west side of Loch Gruinart ends at Ardnave Loch where I managed to see 7
Whooper Swans, 1
Mute Swan, c.10
Tufted Ducks, c.15
Wigeon, c.30
Teal and a pair of
Mallard and a male
Common Pochard through a heavy and squally shower.
On my return journey to Ballygrant, I saw another
Red-throated Diver at Traigh an Luing on the west side of Loch Indaal and 3
Pink-footed Geese amongst the large roosting flock of
Barnacle Geese,
White-fronted Geese and
Greylag Geese at the head of the loch.
The day finished with a golden sunset over Loch Indaal at Bridgend.
Final day and more photos to follow.
Richard