Today started with the cheering sight of a House Martin barrelling along Cardonald Gardens. At the other end of the day, a Yellowhammer was singing from its traditional perch next to Arkleston Farm. In between, two of the birding highlights of midsummer were on show - the movement of Manx Shearwaters off Cloch Point and the build up of Mute Swans off Langbank.
The weather off Cloch Point at 6pm was not particularly hopeful, with low cloud and heavy rain. Three Common Sandpipers and a feeding Black Guillemot were the only sightings of interest at that point. However the movement of a container vessel in the direction of the Holy Loch coincided with an arrival of around 200 Manx Shearwaters (148). The birds arrived in the wake of the ship (with a Harbour Porpoise) and settled on the sea at the south end of Dunoon. The flock was very mobile with a lot of leap-frogging and belly-flopping going on. After half an hour, the flock started to disperse with the some moving further north, at one point gathering round the CalMac ferry. The remainder started to disperse down the Clyde and by 7pm, probably only around 50 were left.
Other birds enjoying the rain included 3 Gannets and a possible Sandwich Tern north, some odd gulls, several each of Shag and Eider, and a diving Guillemot.
Heading back up the Clyde, 50 Mute Swans were gathered on the high tide at the east end of Langbank.