Nice to see that a new blog started recently with wildlife info from Islay and it's not just somebody but the RSPB who are posting information about the two RSPB reserves on Islay, the one at Loch Gruinart and the other one on the Oa Peninsula. So far three posts appeared online. Early November David posted something about the Oa reserve: "Most of The Oa reserves wintering Greenland white-fronted geese flock are now back including some of the birds tagged last spring."

Only a day later Amy wrote something about the Loch Gruinart Reserve: "Winter is defnitely descending on Loch Gruinart with the nights drawing in, fires being lit and the constant gak-gak of just over 23,000 geese on the reserve. It really is beautiful at this time of year and despite the end of guided walks and the departure of our much loved community information and tourism officer, Emily Platt there are still plenty of reasons to come and visit us here on Islay. The last RSPB Gruinart count heralded 22,755 barnacle geese, 467 Greenland white fronted geese, 376 greylag geese and 1 canada goose, prizes to be won if you spot that!" A few days later David wrote about a crashed male merlin which crashed into the farmhouse window on The Oa reserve over the weekend.

So far the posts are interesting, now let's hope that the blog posts will keep on coming on a more or less regular basis. There is so much going on at both reserves so any news is good for the many people who are interested in the wildlife of Islay. Saying that, there is of course always Ian Brooke's Islay Birds blog with daily wildlife info from Islay via islaybirds.blogspot.co.uk. For the RSPB blog you can visit this link

Tag: rspb wildlife