4th November 2008 – Islay – Loch Indaal, the Rhinns, the west and Loch Gruinart
My second full day on Islay was again generally very sunny with blue skies with more cloudy weather in the late afternoon.
I started my second day having a look at the vast Loch Indaal from the eastern shore between Bowmore and Bridgend, the highlights being single
Slavonian Grebe and male
Long-tailed Duck, the large flock of
Scaup and the variety of
waders.
Loch Indaal sightings (from east side): 1
Slavonian Grebe, c.300
Scaup, 1 male
Long-tailed Duck, c.200
Wigeon, c.50
Eider, c.50
Red-breasted Merganser, c.10
Goldeneye, c.20
Mallard, 2
Shelduck, c.50
Barnacle Goose, c.10
Greylag Goose, very large numbers of
Oystercatcher and
Curlew, c.200
Golden Plover, c.40
Knot, c.40
Dunlin, c.20
Ringed Plover, c.10
Common Redshank, 6
Black-tailed Godwit, 5
Turnstone, 1
Greenshank, 2
Heron, large numbers of
Black-headed, Common and Great Black-backed Gulls plus
Rock Pipits on the shoreline.
Due to the bright sunshine, it was very difficult to view Loch Indaal from the western shore but the following were seen between Bridgend and Bruichladdich.
Loch Indaal sightings (from west side): c.500
Barnacle Goose, c.100
Scaup, c.20
Red-throated Diver, 9
Pale-bellied Brent Goose, 2
Guillemot
A stop by the Bruichladdich distillery produced the following sightings, the highlight being
Purple Sandpiper on the rocks.
Bruichladdich sightings: 2
Great Northern Diver (1 in summer plumage!), 1
Red-throated Diver, 8
Pale-bellied Brent Goose, 4
Purple Sandpiper, 1
Turnstone, 5
Ringed Plover, 1
Curlew, 1
Lapwing
Moving south from Bruichladdich, I noticed a group of
Hooded Crows and
Ravens mobbing a large bird of prey over the ridge opposite the war memorial. This turned out to be my second
Golden Eagle of the trip!
The corvids eventually seemed to get bored with mobbing the seemingly oblivious Golden Eagle and I was able to watch this magnificent raptor soar and glide effortlessly for over 15 minutes. I also heard the distinctive call of
Chough but was unable to spot them.
Down at the south west tip of Islay at Portnahaven, I was able to watch and photograph the very confiding
seals, especially 1
Common Seal who clearly enjoyed sunbathing in the November sunshine!
Portnahaven harbour sightings: 3
Common Seal, 4
Atlantic Grey Seal 
The road north from Portnahaven through the Rhinns was rather disappointing for wildlife with no hoped for Golden Eagle, Hen Harrier or Short-eared Owl.
The Rhinns sightings: 6
Common Buzzards plus plenty of
Ravens,
Hooded Crows and
Stonechats.
Joining the coast road again near Port Charlotte produced c.30
Greenland White-fronted Goose in the fields.
I stopped again by the war memorial just outside Bruichladdich. The
Golden Eagle was still there, this time being mobbed by a
Common Buzzard! In addition, I finally managed to spot 2
Chough plus 1
Sparrowhawk and c.20
Curlew feeding in the fields.
Arriving back at Bruichladdich, I then took the road away from Loch Indaal to visit the north west of Islay finishing the day at Loch Gruinart again. Apart from further large groups of
geese, the highlight was another
Chough in the dune area at Machrie Bay.
Sunderland to Rockside area sightings: c.300
Barnacle Goose, c.150
Greenland White-fronted Goose, c.30
Rock Dove, 1
Common Buzzard, 1
Brown Hare (causing mayhem amongst the geese!)
Machrie/Kilchoman sightings: mixed group of
Skylark,
Linnet and
Reed Bunting, large flock of
Starling and 1
Chough.
Coull Farm-Saligo-Grulimore sightings: c.120
Golden Plover, c.100
Lapwing, c.500 mixed group of
Barnacle Goose and
Greenland White-fronted Goose and a separate group of c.20
Greenland White-fronted Goose
Loch Gruinart sightings (southern end): very large groups of
Barnacle Goose and smaller groups of
Greenland White-fronted Goose 
A short detour up the minor road on the east side of Loch Gruinart was worth it to see the sun set.
Before it went completely dark, I decided to take another trip to Bunnahabhain to try again for an Otter sighting. Once more, I was unlucky but returning back to the main road, I did catch sight of a
Woodcock in the car headlights. I am not quite sure what it was doing sitting in the middle of the road and as it flew off I think we were both equally surprised!
Richard