The State of Britain's Birds

http://www.bto.org/research/pop_trends/state_uk_birds.htm

Brent Geese at the end of a beautiful day

It has been an unusually tranquil couple of days for October - with full sun and all but no wind.  I have yet to see evidence of the arrival of any of the big battalions of Barnacles as yet - they probably need a rather more cheeful northerly to propel them from Iceland, but there are still many hundreds of Greylags roosting on Loch Indaal.  There was a group of 205 at Blackrock mid afternoon - and hundreds more out at sea and on the merse at Carnain. 
It was a memorable evening for a ride back from Bowmore, and a group of Brents flew in and landed on the sea as I was approaching Springbank at sundown.  It would have been rude not to try a photo or two...

Carl

Slavonian Grebe (Podiceps auritus)

The great weather we have been having has been ideal for watching over Loch Indaal, which is currently peppered with divers, scoter, mergansers, eider, scaup and gulls.  These are perfect opportunities for picking out some of our winter highlights - particularly the small numbers of Slavonian grebes that regularly spend the longer nights of the year with us.  I spotted one yesterday off the power station on the way in to Bowmore.
It was quite distant, and although it is easy to identify as a grebe, I am glad that they do not overlap with Black-necked grebes here as they are difficult to tell apart at long range in winter.  When you are in the pub it's easy - the Slavs are longer and sleeker with thicker bills and the black on the head does not extend down the face.  When you are peering through watery eyes through a scope at a bird that is repeatedly diving in a choppy sea several hundred yards away it is much more difficult!! 
I have seen Black necked on numbers of occasions down in England and also in Spain, but never here on Islay.
Carl

Photo: Jacobite Cruises Loch Ness - http://www.jacobite.co.uk/

Carl

Hen Harriers

I was chatting with a visiting birder the other day who was up from England and couldn't believe the number of Hen Harriers he was seeing on our fair isle. Gamekeepers have persecuted this bird to the brink of extinction in England, which makes the Islay population even more significant, and they can be a daily sighting if you go to the right parts of the island. Here's another one of the series of pictures we received from James Deane

Lapland Buntings

There have been a number of sightings of Lapland buntings on Islay in September.  They are not the world's easiest birds to identify.  I saw what i thought were a group of three or possibly four at Ballinaby a few days ago in very poor light and they flew off calling before disappearing down onto some rough pasture.  I was not familiar with the call - so found this very useful site with audio files for confirmation...

http://www.xeno-canto.org/species.php?query=sp:3103.00

Photo - Dave Smith

Carl

Wildlife Photography Competition - Vanessa Fuery

Many thanks to Vanessa for this picture of a Buzzard out hunting near Black Rock.

'The Handbook of British Birds' - donated by Jane Dawson

Jane Dawson has also kindly donated 'The Handbook of British Birds' a pioneering bird guide by H.F. Witherby, Rev. F.C.R. Jourdain, Norman F. Ticehurst and Bernard W. Tucker, published in five volumes by H. F. & G. Witherby between 1938-1941.


The Handbook, as it was often cited, was itself a much enlarged and revised version of H.F. Witherby's Practical Handbook of British Birds (published between 1919 and 1924 as two volumes in three parts).
Some of the plates were by Marinus Adrianus Koekkoek and were licensed after they were painted for Ornithologia Neerlandica, de vogels van Nederland by Eduard Daniel van Oort (published 1922-1935).

It was this volume of work that was to eventually evolve into the modern standard reference work 'The Birds of the Western Palearctic' for which Malcolm Ogilvie was one of the editorial team for the first six volumes.

Once again, we are very grateful to Jane for this generous donation, a very significant addition to the Trust library.

Trust receives gift of books from Jane Dawson

Jane Dawson, who founded the INHT in 1984 in memory of her late husband Rod Dawson, has kindly donated a number of very beautiful books to the Trust library.

Included among these are a complete set (twelve volumes) of "Birds of the British Isles"  by David A. Bannerman illustrated by George F Lodge


These were first published in 1958 by Oliver & Boyd of Edinburgh.

The books were an important addition to the ornithological lexicon in their time.  The reproduction of the paintings of George Lodge are very high quality. 

Also included in the gift is a complete set of the beautifully illustrated "Waterfowl of the World" by Jean Delacours illustrated by Sir Peter Scott

Jean Thodore Delacour (1890 - 1985) was an American ornithologist of French origin. He was renowned for not only discovering but also rearing some of the rarest birds in the world. One of the birds he discovered was the Imperial Pheasant, later found to be a hybrid between the Vietnamese Pheasant and the Silver Pheasant.

Delacour was born in Paris into a wealthy family and grew up on the family estate in Picardy where he became interested in aviculture and established a private zoo. He attended good schools and achieved a doctorate in biology from the Universit Lille Nord de France. He served in the French Army during the First World War, a war which devastated the family estate, as well as killing his only surviving brother. Moving to Chateau Clres in Normandy, he created a second zoo, eventually donating it to the Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle in 1967. He went on numerous scientific expeditions to Indochina, particularly Vietnam, as well as to Venezuela, the Guianas and Madagascar.

During the Second World War Delacour lived in the USA, working as a technical adviser at the Bronx Zoo as well as on avian systematics at the American Museum of Natural History. In 1952 he became director of the Los Angeles County Museum of History, Science and Art, retiring in 1960. Thereafter he divided his time seasonally, spending summer at his estate at Clres in France, and wintering in the United States, mainly in Los Angeles.

The volumes have been illustrated by Sir Peter Markham Scott (1909 1989) British ornithologist, conservationist, painter, naval officer and sportsman. He was one of the founders of the World Wide Fund for Nature (formerly called the World Wildlife Fund), and designed its panda logo. His pioneering work in conservation also contributed greatly to the shift in policy of the International Whaling Commission and signing of the Antarctic Treaty. The latter inspired by his visit to his father's base on Ross Island in Antarctica.

Jane has also donated a set of one of the most famous bird books of all time, being "The Birds of the British Isles and their Eggs" by T A Coward.  Originally published in 1920 the three volumes are illustrated by Archibald Thorburn and probably did more than any other book published to popularise the study of birds in the early part of the 20th century.

Thorburn's paintings were later used to illustrate the Observers Book of British Birds

The Trust has an important collection of reference works and periodicals in its library and we are absolutely delighted to have received this latest gift from Jane.

September sunshine...

I don't need to tell any of you on Islay what a brilliant day it was on Sunday, the island was looking glorious in the late September sunshine. A great day for raptor spotting - out and about around Loch Gorm and Gruinart looking for the newly arrived Barnacle Geese I saw 3 Peregrine Falcons, 4 Buzzards, 2 Hen Harriers and a Sparrowhawk.

The white goose that Ian mentions on the mighty Islay Birds blog as being on the wee loch next to Loch Gorm is pictured below, I don't know if it's some kind of hybrid or an albino, but either way I don't recognise it! It seemed to be a fair bit larger than the Greylags it was swimming around with.

A quiet day for caterpillars (isn't every day?) though I did see what I think is a fully grown Fox Moth caterpillar crossing the road at no great speed near Saligo, kindly giving a grub/larvae of some description a lift...

Wildlife Photography Competition - Mark and Sally Johnson

This shot of a Turnstone is one of a number of lovely entries to the competition from Mark and Sally.

Grey-Lag Geese (Anser anser)

Numbers of Grey-lags breeding appear to have been high this year, and the population is now being boosted by the arrival of birds from other sites, though I am not sure it is known exactly where these late summer birds come from.  Anecdotal evidence from personal experiences on yachts off the west coast would suggest that there are Grey-lags nesting on most of the small islands, even tiny skerries often have a pair.

These shots were taken yesterday evening as flocks flew in to feed on grain stubbles at Octomore.
Carl

Peregrine Falcons

I have seen three Peregrines recently, the first was at Carn Farm on the Rhinns, just south of Port Charlotte. A typical sighting, it was hanging in the air above the road, and then lazily swung away over the hill, finally coming to rest on a rocky outcrop.  Then a couple of days later I had stopped to check the flocks of duck and waders which congregate on the rock just offshore from the Gaelic College in Loch Indaal.  All was calm for a few minutes, then there was a sudden explosion and they all headed off.  It was obviously a raptor, and sure enough, a Peregrine landed on the rock itself, in full sunshine.  It had killed a small bird and after a minute or so of looking around to check that the coast was clear, it started to pluck and eat it.  I could not tell what the hapless victim was - probably a small wader such as a Ringed plover.  I watched it scatter feathers on the breeze for quite a while, and eventually I left, while it was still eating.
Earlier today I saw another bird, flying low over the Uiskentuie Strand, beating hard into the wind.  The wind was so strong that it wasn't making much headway, and as I had the wind behind me, it was soon out of sight.
Carl

Photo: Mary Malec

Oystercatcher - George Robertson

Thanks to George for this unusual portrait of an Oystercatcher

Kingfisher on the Sorn - image Fritz Haen

Mark from Octomore, who is working as a keeper on Islay Estates, reports that he has seen a Kingfisher on the River Sorn on two occasions during the past month.

'Scotland’s seabird numbers stabilising' - says SNH

A new report by Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) reveals that Scotland’s seabird numbers appear to be levelling off, after a steady period of decline since 2000.

Between 1986 and 2009, the number of seabirds in Scotland has fluctuated, but declined overall by 28 percent. Now, a recent study confirms that overall numbers may have stabilised since 2007.

The decrease was likely due to food shortages, weather conditions and predation by non-native species such as brown rats and mink. A likely major cause was a drop in the number of small fish, such as sandeels, which are an important food source for many seabirds. These fish are probably being affected by rising sea temperatures because of climate change, as well as other factors.

A range of measures has been put in place to help combat pressures on the seabirds. Voluntary reduction in sandeel fisheries means that very little if any sandeel fishing now takes place within foraging range of kittiwakes, a species which, in recent years, has seen a particularly sharp drop in numbers. Intensive trapping and removal of non-native predators, such as the brown rat and the American mink, has also been carried out on various parts of the Scottish coastline and islands and is now starting to show some benefits, with terns recolonising some areas.

The Scottish Government’s recent Marine Bill also includes measures to improve marine nature conservation to safeguard and protect Scotland’s unique habitats.

Andy Douse, SNH ornithologist, said:  “The apparent halt of the decline since 2007 is encouraging. This may be an early sign that the various measures, and a lot of effort from many different people and groups across Scotland, have made a difference to seabird populations which are possibly beginning to stabilise. However, it is too early to say for sure that seabird numbers have stopped declining. Some sites in Scotland, particularly in the Northern Isles and some east coast colonies, have continued to decline. The data from the next few years will help us to better understand the changes.

“Thanks to the huge effort from volunteers and professionals, we are now able to monitor seabird numbers much more effectively than in the past, and respond quickly when action is needed.”

Scotland’s seabirds are internationally important with around four million breeding seabirds of 24 species. The recent drop in numbers follows two decades of occasional years of poor breeding – but poor years have happened more often and with more severity since 2000.

Sea Eagle and Bottle-nosed Dolphins - Eddy Obermuller

Many thanks to Eddy for these shots of a Sea Eagle and Bottle-nosed dolphins taken on the north end of Jura.

Hen Harrier - James Deane

Many thanks to James and his partner Vanessa for sending us this most impressive shot of a male Hen harrier taken while on a working week at RSPB Loch Gruinart