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<blockquote data-quote="Andrew Whitehouse" data-source="post: 301371" data-attributes="member: 3550"><p><strong>Day Four: 31st March</strong></p><p></p><p>Thursday was again rather cloudy and cool and I headed for the hills in the eastern part of the island. In the marshy areas there were plenty of <strong>Lapwings</strong> and <strong>Curlews</strong> displaying, along with a few <strong>Redshank</strong> and <strong>Snipe</strong>. A <strong>Yellowhammer</strong>, a localised species in Islay, was seen by the roadside, a flock of <strong>Fieldfares</strong> were along a rocky outcrop in a field and some <strong>Wheatears</strong> had already made it up to sing around the sheep folds. Brief views were had of a male <strong>Hen Harrier</strong> and the only <strong>Kestrel </strong>of the trip was hovering over one of the green valleys. Despite being in the same area where I'd seen an eagle from the ferry, I failed to locate one this time. The lochs in the Sorn Valley held a few waterfowl including a single <strong>Coot</strong>, quite a scarce vistitor to Islay, and a pair of summer plumaged <strong>Red-throated Divers</strong>.</p><p></p><p>On the way back I stopped off at Bridgend where large numbers of gulls were gathering on the mud flats. Amongst them, rather inevitably, was an <strong>Iceland Gull</strong>. This time it was a second winter that was already developing a greyish saddle. A <strong>Sparrowhawk</strong> was startled from the bushes and 24 <strong>Pintail</strong> were counted out in the muddy channels.</p><p></p><p>Then I wended my way home from the main road across the Loch Gruinart flats. A <strong>Hen Harrier</strong> was seen briefly before disappearing behind a ridge and a <strong>Snipe</strong> was displaying over the large bog at the southern end of the flats. Within a flock of a few hundred <strong>Barnacle Geese</strong> at Coullabus were three <strong>Canada Geese</strong>. These varied in size, with one bird larger than the other two. All seemed to show a dark chin strap and were rather dark overall. Some people like to asign these Canadas to races but I find the whole situation rather confusing. I don't think these birds could easily be categorised as far as I could tell from the literature.</p><p></p><p>A quick stop at the Loch Gruinart floods didn't produce the Green-winged Teal but a <strong>Black-tailed Godwit</strong> was new in amongst the numerous roosting ducks. A ringtail <strong>Hen Harrier</strong> flew low over the water, only startling a few Teal as it went.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Andrew Whitehouse, post: 301371, member: 3550"] [B]Day Four: 31st March[/B] Thursday was again rather cloudy and cool and I headed for the hills in the eastern part of the island. In the marshy areas there were plenty of [B]Lapwings[/B] and [B]Curlews[/B] displaying, along with a few [B]Redshank[/B] and [B]Snipe[/B]. A [B]Yellowhammer[/B], a localised species in Islay, was seen by the roadside, a flock of [B]Fieldfares[/B] were along a rocky outcrop in a field and some [B]Wheatears[/B] had already made it up to sing around the sheep folds. Brief views were had of a male [B]Hen Harrier[/B] and the only [B]Kestrel [/B]of the trip was hovering over one of the green valleys. Despite being in the same area where I'd seen an eagle from the ferry, I failed to locate one this time. The lochs in the Sorn Valley held a few waterfowl including a single [B]Coot[/B], quite a scarce vistitor to Islay, and a pair of summer plumaged [B]Red-throated Divers[/B]. On the way back I stopped off at Bridgend where large numbers of gulls were gathering on the mud flats. Amongst them, rather inevitably, was an [B]Iceland Gull[/B]. This time it was a second winter that was already developing a greyish saddle. A [B]Sparrowhawk[/B] was startled from the bushes and 24 [B]Pintail[/B] were counted out in the muddy channels. Then I wended my way home from the main road across the Loch Gruinart flats. A [B]Hen Harrier[/B] was seen briefly before disappearing behind a ridge and a [B]Snipe[/B] was displaying over the large bog at the southern end of the flats. Within a flock of a few hundred [B]Barnacle Geese[/B] at Coullabus were three [B]Canada Geese[/B]. These varied in size, with one bird larger than the other two. All seemed to show a dark chin strap and were rather dark overall. Some people like to asign these Canadas to races but I find the whole situation rather confusing. I don't think these birds could easily be categorised as far as I could tell from the literature. A quick stop at the Loch Gruinart floods didn't produce the Green-winged Teal but a [B]Black-tailed Godwit[/B] was new in amongst the numerous roosting ducks. A ringtail [B]Hen Harrier[/B] flew low over the water, only startling a few Teal as it went. [/QUOTE]
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