A sad start to the day with hearing about the passing of John F Cooper, a birding legend and the finder of countless Sussex firsts, mostly at Beachy Head, where I first met him in 2005. His last mega find here being the 2015 Short-toed Treecreeper, which was unfortunately one of the final times I saw him out in the field. My thoughts are with Doreen, David, Brenda, and the rest of family.
This afternoon, news of a White-billed Diver on Loch Ness had us rushing down to Fort Augustus where thankfully Emily spotted it hugging the eastern shoreline. Patience proved vital as the bird did eventually come closer. A dark-phase Arctic Skua was a very odd sighting here too!
a rather poor image of the White-billed Diver
