Islay Autumn Wildlife Expedition: 10th-14th October 2025 - Group 1

10th - day 1

We all met at the Kennacraig ferry terminal and started with the ferry trip to Port Askaig.

Through West Loch Tarbert we had several summer plumage Great-Northern Diver,

Red-breasted Mergansers, Wigeon, a Little Egret, several Little Grebe, a drake Common

Scoter, Eiders and a few Harbour Seals.

Down the Sound of Islay there were a fair few Red Deer on the moors of Jura. A pair of

White-tailed Eagles were sitting on top of an island with an immature WTE flying over the cliff

behind and further down a distant Golden Eagle was soaring. 3 Brent Geese followed us up

the sound and a few Black Guillemots flew by.

Heading straight off the ferry on the lower tide to look for Otters. Sadly no sign but 2 Adult

and an immature WTE were perched in a spruce tree in the scope, Harbour Seals on the

rocks, lots of Shags offshore and 2 Grey Wagtails. Next onto a fresh water loch, finding a female

Scaup in with the Tufted Duck flock and a Little Grebe plus a large flock of Siskin in the

alders. On our drive round to our accommodation we saw Red and Roe Deer, lots of Brown

hares, a Sparrowhawk and a fair few sizeable flocks of Geese before heading back to our

accommodation to settle in for night 1.

11th - Day 2

Driving round Loch Gorm we found a Carrion Crow with the Hooded Crows and a small flock

of Golden Plover before heading for the Loch Gruinart flats. After a little bit of searching, we

found the local celebrity juvenile Glossy Ibis! We eventually had great views from the van of

it feeding 15m away!

Looking over the reserve, we watched the huge flocks of Barnacle Geese feeding on the flats

with Greenland White-fronted, Greylags and a Pink-footed Goose mixed. Theo spotted a

small Canada Goose mixed in with the flocks suspecting it to be a rarer true American

Canada Goose, which we do occasionally get in the UK, he got some images. Talking with

some more experienced goose watchers later on, they agreed it is a transatlantic Canada

Goose and very likely a Lesser Canada Goose (parvipes) a very rare visitor to the UK, but

identifying these for certain is very tricky.

Around Loch Gruinart and down by the hides we saw a Ruff, Black-tailed Godwits, Little

Egrets, Snipe, Pintail, Shelduck, Shoveler, Wigeon, Teal, Golden Plover and thousands of

geese of course. The real highlight was Hen Harriers with fantastic flyby’s from an Adult

Male, a Juvenile and a subadult female right in front of the hide flushing all the birds in front

of us, superb views!

After lunch, we headed to the north, on the way there we had brief views of a female Merlin

before arriving at the point. On a walk out we had another hunting male Hen Harrier, a

Peregrine blasted over high up and a WTE in the distance. Out on the coast we saw

Sanderling, Bar-tailed Godwits and Turnstone as well as the sizeable Grey Seals colony with

pups. 2 or more Chough appeared in the dunes, and we saw them flying around a few times

and perched on the telegraph poles.

Loch Gorm to finish the day there were Whooper Swans in the nearby fields, Tufted Ducks, a

feral “chinese” goose with the Greylags, a distant Hen Harrier and Buzzards before a pair of

Golden Eagles appeared on the skyline, one of them displaying for a short period, a superb

way to end the day!

12th - Day 3

A flat calm morning so we headed straight for Loch Indaal seeing Slavonian

Grebes, Long-tailed Ducks, Scaup, Common Scoter, Great-Northern and Red-throated

Divers, Red-breasted Merganser, Black Guillemot and more. A Peregrine mobbed a ringtail

Hen Harrier in the field behind us. Round at Bowmore the birds were further out, but we did

find Rock Pipits, Knot and 3 Pale-bellied Brent Geese there.

Heading down to the south of the island, a toilet stop at Port Ellen was well rewarded with a

pair of WTE sat on the offshore islands. The bays to the north held more Seals and Red

Deer on the hills and on the moorland. Back round to Port Ellen for lunch before watching a

herd of Fallow Deer on the fields. Heading towards the south, we spotted a large raptor

above the hill, we pulled in and had fantastic views of a male Golden Eagle circling right

overhead in the sunshine before a second bird the female eagle came in to join, both

thermalling close together for a while. Heading up to The Oa, there were c50 Twite at the car

park and shortly into our walk a female Merlin flew by. Up at the monument there was a small

flock of Chough and a ringtail Hen Harrier flew by, the sea was almost flat calm and offered

amazing clear views right the way to Northern Ireland!

On the drive back, we had great views from the van of 2 more Hen Harriers before heading

for home in the golden light. A lucky guest heard a screeching Water Rail on his way back

from Machir Bay later in the evening.

13th - Day 4

First stop was a coastal walk, before arriving we had a ringtail Hen Harrier fly

by the van, on the walk we saw a migrant Willow Warbler in the bushes, Great-northern

Divers in the bay and 4 Chough before a male Hen Harrier flew through at speed.

Heading on to Loch Gruinart we saw 2 WTE out on the marsh and more views of the ducks,

geese and waders out on the marshes and mud, with a lovely Whooper Swan flyby also.

Heading round to the east side of the reserve, a huge number of Barnacle Geese dropped

onto the mud, joining the already thousands there, easily 15k geese! Going through them,

Theo spotted a Richardson’s Cackling Goose, a rare American goose, in the distant flock

which we all managed scope views of before heading to the centre for lunch. After lunch, we

headed round to Bridgend and found thousands more Barnacle Geese and a few common

waders, before news came in of a very rare find in the SW of the island, a Veery which is a

tiny American thrush species with only around 12 British records, we headed straight down

there but owing to their incredibly elusive nature, it didn't show. We headed down to

Portnahaven to view the Grey Seal colony with a few pups there. Then headed back to the

house for the final evening. A nighttime wander from the house rewarded us with a bonus

Barn Owl.

14th - day 5

A bit of change of plan for the last day saw us take an adventure to Jura.

Less than 10mins onto Jura we spotted a female Otter and her 2 cubs, we had great views of

them for a while bringing food ashore and fishing for a good while. A Red-throated Diver flew

over calling. Red Deer were everywhere on the grass-moorland including lots of Stags, some

of which were bellowing and chasing the hinds.

Moving onto a coastal watch point we had Buzzard, Kestrel and a flyover Yellowhammer. A

couple of Harbour Porpoise surfaced a long way out in the flat, calm waters. Heading back for

the ferry we watched another dog Otter fishing for a while before a pit stop at Jura Distillery.

Just before heading back for the ferry off Jura we spotted another Otter wandering down

from the shore, heading out for another fish. Back across to Islay for late lunch and Theo and Jane said goodbyes, staying on the island for trip 2, while Ewan and Guests headed back to the mainland spotting Common Dolphins, Harbour Porpoise and good numbers of Great-northern Divers. A fine way to end the trip!

Theo