The Bird Forum is one of the best meeting places on the web for bird lovers from the UK and beyond. With over 82,000 members it's probably one of the biggest forums in the UK and also a place where many people submit their images and trip reports. About a month ago I found a trip report of Ken Hall who spent a week on Islay in spring this year. A quote from his report:

I spent last week (28th March - 4th April) on the island of Islay, one of the Inner Hebrides off the west coast of Scotland. It was my third visit to the island in the last 10 years, so I had the advantage of knowing my way around fairly well. I was staying in an excellent self catering cottage at Kilchoman House in the north west of the island. It is run by local birders Ian and Margaret Brooke, whose help and interest made my stay there something special. I was kept abreast of any local sightings, although this didn't help me to find the Gyr Falcon that was knocking about all week. Actually, I may have caught the briefest glimpse of it, but I'll never know for sure.

Every day saw me out and about for at least 8 hours. I covered every corner of the island and just failed by 3 to reach my target of 100 species. Pick of the bunch wer :a flock of about 1000 Golden Plovers, the males in bright summer plumage. They were in a grassy field, all evenly spaced out and not moving too much which made them easy enough to count. Lots of Ravens everywhere. I love their calls. Tens of thousands of Barnacles and White-fronts, with a smattering of Greylags and Brent Geese and many many other species.

Tag: report birding wildlife