Gull and Shrike Monday 6th July

Having been to Skye on early Saturday morning for the singing Common Rosefinch, the last thing I wanted to do was drive immediately down to Fife for Britain's second ever Long-tailed Shrike on the Sunday afternoon. Once I had convinced myself of that and relaxed a bit, a Laughing Gull was then found on Skye! 

Anyway, I resisted both but hitched a plan to drive to Skye as soon as the 2am England game had finished, which I duly did and I arrived onto Skye to heavy rain, strong winds and tired eyes. There was no sign at its previous location, but thankfully Pete Stronach was also in the area and knew the hidden corners and where some gulls roosted. Pete soon re-found the Laughing Gull and after enjoying some excellent scope views, it was back home for a whole 10-minutes. Matt Broadbent was waiting, we drove down to Pete in Aviemore, and then it was onwards to Fife... or so we thought. A flat tyre in Perth halted us for an hour, and after what felt a very long journey, we arrived. I was hoping for an easy twitch but as always, the birding gods have different ideas as we had to wait 2.5 hours for the Long-tailed Shrike to show, but mercifully it did. 

The journey home wasn't as eventful and I arrived home just before midnight!

Other bits this week have included both Nightjar and Long-eared Owl, the former I didn't expect up this way!

Laughing Gull on Skye

Long-tailed Shrike

Garden Honey-buzzard

This morning after a brisk dash and back to Skye for a singing Common Rosefinch, the rest of the day was a rather sedate affair, but, up here there's always a surprise waiting to be uncovered. Yesterday, working in the back room, a look out the door revealed a Honey-buzzard drifting up the valley... roll on 24-hours, sitting on the sofa, I noticed a male Honey-buzzard very low down and circling just above the trees. A mad dash outdoors and bingo!

male Honey-buzzard over the garden

Wester Ross Dragonflies 21st June 2026

Sunday proved to provide the perfect conditions for inspecting a new site relatively close to Loch Maree, but still nice to venture somewhere different. Having checked a few areas beforehand (male Whinchat the best), it wasn't until I hit a corridor of ancient pines that the dragons came out in force. 

Along a single stretch, I recorded at least eight Azure Hawkers, four Northern Emeralds and two White-faced Darters. Some of the Azures were typically confiding, landing on my paler shirt for extra warmth, or basking on the exposed fence posts.

Having succeeded here, I then briefly checked another area and found a further two Azure Hawkers, plus a few Small Pearl-bordered Fritillaries. 

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Azure Hawker feasting on a Large Red Damselfly

Azure Hawkers

Northern Emerald

White-faced Darter

Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary

Western Reef Heron 19th June 2026

Having just spent a week in Lancashire, commencing my initial role as Senior Manager for Birdquest, the temptation of a two hour twitch in the completely opposite direction to home proved too much on my 'return' journey on Friday. Needless to say, it was a long eight hours back home!

As I arrived at Conwy RSPB, news broke that the Western Reef Heron had departed its beloved beach and presumably would fly onto the reserve. It thankfully did, not that I saw it arrive, and showed nicely when I eventually reached a hide. 

A week prior, I spent much effort in trying to locate some gaps in my Highland yearlist, which inevitably involved hiking up a few munros, but it all came good as Dotterel, Ptarmigan and Ring Ouzel were soon located. The yearlist currently on 193.

Western Reef Heron at Conwy RSPB

Pine Marten

Ptarmigan

Dotterel

Ring Ouzel

Culloden, Inverness 29th May 2026

Having started the week with a displaying Honey-buzzard over our back garden, this morning we walked in a different area and were equally amazed to have prolonged views of a female Honey-buzzard. After this, I was itching to get away from the chores of gardening (married life has started!!) as a singing male Red-breasted Flycatcher had been found on the eastern side of Inverness, in Culloden Woods. Needless to say it was relatively easy to find with its very distinctive song.

male Red-breasted Flycatcher

a phone photo of the female Honey-buzzard

Balnakeil 27th May 2026

A last-minute decision to head to Scotland's NW corner today hoping for a late May surprise. On the drive up a Weasel ran across the road which gave me hope for a morning of surprises. 

In the craft village the only migrant of note was a Spotted Flycatcher, while two Cuckoos were making a good racket. Onwards to the marsh which is usually the most exciting part of this area, and proved to be today, as I caught up with the long-staying drake Garganey. A flava-type Yellow Wagtail also flew over... two Highland ticks in very quick succession! Also on the marsh was a Wood Sandpiper, an Arctic Skua and Osprey flew through, and off shore, one of the islands had a good number of Puffins nesting.

A scan of the sea was rewarded with three Risso's Dolphins.

Willow Warbler

drk Garganey

Osprey

freeze-framed shots of the Risso's Dolphins

the marsh at Balnakeil

entrance to Balnakeil

Loch Ness 24th May 2026

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