Islay Nature Report 34

Welcome to this weeks Islay Nature and Wildlife report. With Jeremy away I will limit myself to an overview of the Islay Birding blogs of John and Ian, and will write someting about the Wildlife Gathering, the reason for the absense of Jeremy.

The Islay Birds blog: On Wednesday Ian writes: "The weather this week has not been too kind so far, perhaps it has not been really heavy continuously wet, but it still has had a dampening effect all the same! Undeterred, we went along to the Bat and Barn Owl walk this evening at RSPB Loch Gruinart reserve." I read quite a remarkable post on Thursday: "Last Sunday, Andy Schofield had a stint of sea watching, and over a 5+ hour spell he had a passage of 10,000+ Manx Shearwater flying south west to possibly Ireland after returning from a feeding foray into Scottish waters!" but more important is this: "Yesterday, Andy saw a second year Mediterrean Gull at Gruinart, the first for the RSPB reserve, and only the third record for Islay." (Photo: Martin Olsson). Continue reading.....
John Armitage from Portnahaven, who runs the Islay Birder Blog also joined the RSPB Bat walk and has an interesting story to tell. On Thursday John wrote: "Another poor day with mist and rain at various intervals. Early evening on the Rinns saw an all enveloping mist blanketing the landscape in silence, more reminiscent of November than August!" Which reminds me of a friend in eastern Germany who told me that the winter will be long and very cold. He is not a meteorologist but he has based his predictions on how the seasons develop, the migration of the birds which has already started there, and other natural occurrences. Let's wait and see!

As said above, Jeremy is not on Islay this week, he is away to join the Wilderness Gathering in Wiltshire, which is held from the 28th August - 31st August. The Wilderness Gathering is the premier annual festival of Bushcraft, survival and primitive skills. The aim of "The Gathering" is to bring together all those interested in the Bushcraft and Wilderness skills and related interests to enjoy a weekend of knowledge sharing in a relaxed and family-friendly atmosphere. I'm sure Jeremy has a great time there and he will we back in a couple of days!