Doc Posted April 25, 2013 Share Posted April 25, 2013 We are home from a fantastic trip to Islay, we had great time, weather was wonderful, only a few hours of rain and quite a bit of sun, actually I have a suntan. Myself, James my son, Ron, and Steve stayed a delightful B&B called Ayen Cottage half way between Ballygrant and Bridgend. The breakfast was very nice and so were the hosts, I couldn't recommend it highly enough, if you want it to be quite then this is the place for you. Below is a rough ittenairy of our five days on Isaly. Day one Ferry from Kennacraig to Port Ellen, we then then visited the Oa peninsula. Day two RSPB Gruinart and walk upto Ardnave Point Day three Bridgend Woods, Loch Finlaggan, Bowmore Distillery Day Four Loch Gorm, Machir Bay, Portnahaven, The Rinns, Port Charlotte Day Five Bunnahabhain, and the Pine forests behind. Then Ferry at Port Askaig. We were extremely lucky to see 112 species of bird, which included four Golden Eagles, but unfortunately we didn't see the White Tailed Sea Eagle. We also saw a sea otter, lots of seals and red deer. I actually added 14 new species to my list of birds. It was a shame to come home, and all I could think off is what a fantastic place to retire to. Below is a list of the birds we saw. 1. Song Thrush 2. Curlew 3. Oystercatcher 4. Herring Gull 5. Black Guillimot 6. Mallard Duck 7. Red Breasted Merganser 8. Black Headed Gull 9. Yellow Legged Gull 10. Shelduck 11. Great Crested Grebe 12. Woodpigeon 13. Blackbird 14. Dunnock 15. Common Crow 16. Jackdaw 17. Lesser Black Back Gull 18. Goosander 19. Robin 20. Hooded Crow 21. Bar Tailed Godwit 22. Gannet 23. Fulmar 24. Eider (m+f) 25. Razorbill 26. Kittiwake 27. Artic Skua 28. Shag 29. Greater Black Back Gull 30. Starling 31. Collared Dove 32. Mute Swan 33. Ringed Plover 34. House Sparrow 35. Goldfinch 36. Common Gull 37. Pied Wagtail 38. Chiffchaff 39. Sand Martins 40. Meadow Pipits 41. Raven 42. Redwing 43. Pheasant 44. Linnet 45. Golden Eagle (x4) 46. Rock Dove 47. Wheatear (m+f) 48. Skylark 49. Swallow 50. Peregrine 51. Stonechat (m+f) 52. Long Tailed Tits 53. Marsh Harrier 54. Buzzard 55. Rook 56. Greylag Goose 57. Hen Harrier (m+f) 58. Lapwing 59. Chaffinch 60. Greenfinch 61. Blackcap 62. Great Tit 63. Siskin (m+f) 64. White Fronted Goose 65. Barnacle Goose 66. Reed Bunting 67. Willow Warbler 68. Coal Tit 69. Teal (m+f) 70. Shoveler (m+f) 71. Gadwell 72. Redshank 73. Pintail (m+f) 74. Wren 75. Moorhen 76. Widgeon (m+f) 77. Pochard 78. Choughs 79. Golden Eye 80. Tufted Duck (m+f) 81. Artic Tern 82. Little Gull 83. Heron 84. White Wagtail 85. Great Northern Diver 86. Dipper 87. Tree Creeper 88. House Martins 89. Rock Pipits 90. Pale Bellied Brent Goose 91. Bullfinch 92. Black Tailed Godwit 93. Coot 94. Merlin 95. Twite 96. Whinchat 97. Purple Sandpiper 98. Green Sandpiper 99. Red Throated Diver 100. Common Scoter 101. Kestral 102. Brambling 103. Turnstone 104. Sanderling 105. Common Tern 106. Stock Dove 107. Blue Tit 108. Little Grebe 109. Mistle Thrush 110. Common Sandpiper 111. Cormorant 112. Black Throated Diver Below is some shots taken from my iphone, Steve, James, and Ron has some more which I'm sure they will paste in due time. Getting on the Ferry at Kennacraig The Oa Searching the Oa The American monument on the Oa, it's dedicated to the men who died on a US boat after it was sank by a U-Boat in WW1 The Oa Ayen Cottage Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Posted April 25, 2013 Author Share Posted April 25, 2013 RSPB Gruinart Ardnave Point Chapel near Ardnave point Bridgend Jetty Bowmore Distillery Drying barley Casks maturing £8000 for a bottle of Bowmore Chapel on Loch Finlaggen Port Charlotte Portnahaven Paps of Jura Looking for otters at Bunnahabhain Port Askaig Lifeboat at Port Askaig Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldfruit Posted April 25, 2013 Share Posted April 25, 2013 Glad you all had what looks like a fantastic trip. The pictures are great but the list of bird species seen is astounding! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+RonC Posted April 25, 2013 Share Posted April 25, 2013 Great report Mick, wish i was there! Oh I was!! No GND photo? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Ibbo Posted April 25, 2013 Share Posted April 25, 2013 nice report Mick will add some bird pics later when I've been to work for the slave driver Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheila Posted April 25, 2013 Share Posted April 25, 2013 Looks a smashing place Nice report details Sheila Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philjay Posted April 25, 2013 Share Posted April 25, 2013 Glad you had a good trip guys, looks good and the list of birds is excellent Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BAZ Posted April 25, 2013 Share Posted April 25, 2013 Looks like you had a great trip. I can't believe you happened across a distillery! A good bag of birds to boot as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Posted April 25, 2013 Author Share Posted April 25, 2013 They had an £8000 bottle of whisky, Ibbo said he would drink it, I don't know if I could. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T A WOW Posted April 25, 2013 Share Posted April 25, 2013 Looks like you had a nice time. That's a lot of birdies! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teslar Posted April 25, 2013 Share Posted April 25, 2013 I see you have discovered one of our secrets up here April is indeed the best month to visit Skye Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+RonC Posted April 25, 2013 Share Posted April 25, 2013 Hi Tom, yes we have! We only had time to visit one distillery, there were several others on the island, (perhaps next time!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brantuk Posted April 25, 2013 Share Posted April 25, 2013 Looks idylic guys - glad you had a great time Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyboy1970 Posted April 26, 2013 Share Posted April 26, 2013 Glad you had a great trip. Sea eagles are on the east coast up Aberdeen way I believe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Posted April 26, 2013 Author Share Posted April 26, 2013 Glad you had a great trip. Sea eagles are on the east coast up Aberdeen way I believe. Thanks for the tip Andy, only problem it's such a long way to go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+RonC Posted April 26, 2013 Share Posted April 26, 2013 They were also spotted yesterday on Loch Garten, fishing with the Ospreys!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyboy1970 Posted April 26, 2013 Share Posted April 26, 2013 I know the farmers have had issues with them taking Lambs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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