Dr Steve Percival ringing Barnacle geese at RSPB Loch Gruinart

Barnacle geese in the cannon net awaiting ringing and release.

Geese queuing up to be measured



Dr Steve Percival placing a ring around a leg....

Suitably labelled - away we go....

120 Barnacle geese were captured this morning on the RSPB nature reserve up at Loch Gruinart. using a cannon net. The geese feed and roost in huge flocks and it is possible, but by no means easy, to lure them within range of the net by baiting the ground with corn.

Once caught, various measurements are taken, and three rings placed on the legs. One is a red 'locality ring' which can easily be seen with binoculars and shows that the bird was caught in a particular location (it might be a red ring for Gruinart, but a blue ring for Bowmore for example). There is also a white 'Darvic Ring' which can be read, with luck and skill, while using a telescope, and then there is the standard metal BTO ring which can only be read by recapturing the bird, or finding it dead. So each bird captured is eventually released adorned with a fair amount of leg ornament.

The feeding behaviour patterns, population structure and breeding success of these Barnacle geese is of increasing interest to Islay's farmers, who are compensated by the Scottish Government for the very significant damage they do to grazing on the island which would otherwise be available to livestock. The existence of the flocks also means that farmers delay the seeding of the barley fields that are 'growing for Bruichladdich'. In recent years, in common with all areas of public expenditure, the budget available for this compensation has been cut. Some of islay's farmers are now calling for a cull to reduce the numbers.

The cannon netting is co-ordinated by Dr Steve Percival who, with his wife Tracey, has been coming to Islay to study the flocks of wintering geese for many years.

Barnacle geese - Gruinart

Taken from the 'New Hide' on the reserve.

Barnacle geese at Gruinart yesterday.  An informal count last Friday notched up 36,040 - with just 474 Whitefronts so far...

Marsh Fritillary

A group from the West Midlands branch of Butterfly Conservation are here this weekend, enjoying the fabulous weather. They had none of them seen Marsh Fritillary before and it was one of the main reasons for their visit. There was some concern whether, in this late season, the butterflies would have emerged by now, but Mary McGregor, checking the main area for them on the RSPB Loch Gruinart reserve, reported seeing up to 12 on Thursday (6th), so we went there yesterday with high hopes which were completely fulfilled with about 30 seen, some on the wing, others resting on grass stems having clearly just emerged. This meant that everyone had wonderful views and should have got wonderful photos.
Malcolm

 Butterflies are not always this easy to photograph.

After I had taken this photo, one of the group delicately removed the grass stems in front of the butterfly without disturbing it and took more photos. The right forewing is still not quite fully expanded so it has clearly only just emerged.

They're back!

A handful of Barnacle Geese came in at the beginning of the week, and then counts by James How at Gruinart revealed 1,105 present first thing in the morning on Wednesday 3rd October, which had increased to 4,015 by lunchtime. More came in overnight so that there were just under 11,500 yesterday together with two small Canada Geese and several Pinkfeet.
Malcolm

Sunny Loch Gruinart

I'm sure you'll agree the weather hasn't known what to do with itself this past week! It was delightful to wake up to the sun shining yesterday, which meant Mark and I's proposed cycle there and back to the RSPB Loch Gruinart reserve had the thumbs up. Even if it had rained, our spirits couldn't have been dampened. We saw a wide range of wonderful wildlife, with some highlights being young pied wagtails and shoveler (so cute), 7 spot ladybird, and rook (I know..) Here's a handful of the photos that Mark took. It was hard narrowing it down to the final six!

This small tortoiseshell landed after the planned fox glove shot was set up - lucky us!

Willow warbler - a photo tick for Mark

Both there and back, this spotted flycatcher and chaffinch were perched on the fence by the track to the new hide.

Seven spot ladybird, of which I counted 10.

This is my first rook this summer, so I was quite excited!

Cycling back, I spotted this baby hedgehog by the side of the road. I looked back when a tractor passed once we'd set off again. I think it was ok.

Bird Species List 

buzzard, hen harrier, grey heron, twite, spotted flycatcher, blackbird, great tit, chaffinch, greenfinch, goldfinch, linnet, lesser redpoll, pied wagtail, robin, wren, lapwing, starling, raven, rook, song thrush, house sparrow, corncrake (heard) common gull, woodpigeon, rockdove, black headed gull, shoveler, mallard, moorhen, swallow, house martin, sand martin, whitethroat, sedge warbler, snipe, willow warbler, dunnock, meadow pipit, skylark, shelduck, oystercatcher, mute swan, herring gull, pheasant

Lorna

The extent of the fire

This is what the area of the yesterday's fire on the RSPB reserve looks like this morning. It extends from the road connecting Gruinart to Loch Gorm right across to within one field's distance of the Foreland-Sunderland road below Rockmountain, a distance of about 1.75 kilometres and has a maximum width of almost kilometre, so probably exceeding 80 hectares (c.200 acres), virtually all of it heather moorland. The second fire, Sunderland to Conisby) was considerably larger.
Malcolm

Rhinns on fire

One fire was on the south-western edge of the RSPB's Loch Gruinart reserve, not far from Loch Gorm, and was contained by a lot of very hard work by staff and volunteers, then put out with the invaluable help of local firemen plus Islay Estates' Argocat, which carries a tank of water and a pressure hose. The photograph shows the fire front extending well over a kilometre. Tiny figures can just be made out at the extreme right hand edge of the smoke.
The second fire appeared to start near Sunderland Farm and spread, aided by a stiff wind, right across the hill to above Conisby, a distance of 2-3 kilometres. It was still burning yesterday evening and I'm not sure how much further it spread towards Port Charlotte.
Thankfully, it is still probably still too early in the season for ground nesting birds in the two areas to have taken up residence, but the nesting cover they would have used is now just blackened ground and the charred remains of heather and scrub.
Malcolm

Fire burning on RSPB reserve

Smoke billowing over Conisby (right) and Gartaharra Farm