We have a guest blogger today in the form of Andrew Leggett, RSPB community member and recent Islay visitor. We've had some good luck with photos recently, but I think this might top the lot.
According to Andrew "It was such a thrilling end to this visit to Islay. Kevin, Carl, Stevie and I had just returned from a (fairly breezy) walk to Ardnave Point and called in on the choughs on the way back. Driving from Loch Gruinart on the B8017, I first stopped to photograph a buzzard on a roadside fencepost who obligingly waited for me to take several pictures before lolloping off. It was then only a matter of minutes later that Carl asked, "What's that?" and, looking through my lens, I saw that it was an osprey.
I had no idea that the ospreys had returned this far north so soon so it was a bit of a surprise to see one quite so close. As I had the camera already at hand thanks to the buzzard, I managed to get about 20 images of it. The bird was quite at ease feeding but had clearly seen us stop and me get out of the car - there's very little cover on that stretch of road. It ate for a while then flew off carrying the fish in typical 'in-line' osprey fashion no doubt perturbed by our attentions.
All in all it was an amazing experience made all the more significant by the fact that my secondary school classroom had a life-sized, paper model of the bird suspended from its ceiling for a decade or more. In that time I had an opportunity to teach many children about this magnificent bird and, as such, it has always been a favourite of mine."
The quality of the photo means that the blue colour ring on the left leg is easily readable, so we were able to get some more information. This bird was ringed by Forestry Commision staff in July 2010 near Aberfoyle, Stirlingshire. It is the first record of this bird in the UK since it was ringed. As most Ospreys do not return from Africa until between 3 and 5 years old, it's probable this is the first time this bird has made the return journey to Scotland. Well done to Andrew for a great picture and thanks very much to him for his account.