Strathy Point 8th September 2026

Having been in Romania over the weekend for my big brother's wedding, I missed surely one of the year's best seawatches in Highland, so I had to try and make up for that with somewhat promising winds forecast for Tuesday. 

I didn't arrive until late morning, one quick scan and Sooty Shearwaters were moving, so I wish I had arrived much earlier. Anyway, it wasn't the best of seawatches, but there was just about enough moving to keep me interested, with the undoubted highlight being a superb Leach's Petrel watched for ca. four minutes as it slowly progressed westwards. Unbelievably, no Sabine's!

Totals 11.30 - 1600:

Sooty Shearwater - 101
European Storm Petrel - 2
Leach's Storm Petrel - 1
Arctic Skua - 3
Great Skua - 7
Fulmar - 1000+

Sooty Shearwaters

Twites

Strathy Lighthouse

Honey-buzzards & local stuff

Probably one of the birdiest local sites to us has in fact been our garden. For three days running last week an immature Golden Eagle has appeared over to the south of us, while closer, the Honey-buzzards have still been active.

Ten or so days ago I ventured (with permission) into the woods of where I suspected a nest to be, and without any signal from the birds, I noticed a raptor nest up a Douglas Fir. I wasn't convinced initially and suspected an old nest, but then, careful scrutiny underneath revealed some wasp comb! It then took another hour until I realised that sat above the nest were two juvenile Honey-buzzards! With this confirmed, I have since left them to it, but it appears last weekend (15/16 Aug) the female has departed as I've not noticed her, while the male has been sighted daily up until the 25th, but I now think he has also gone. The juveniles are still present as of yesterday.

Last Wednesday, I got stuck into the Cory's Shearwater action with a seawatch off Tarbat Ness during a strong front that approached from the NE, although little else was recorded. 

This week has been manic to say the least, with last weekend's (re?) appearance of Highland's first Pacific Diver. Probably first sighted back in April, this vast expanse of coastline, in addition to the limited number of observers, probably meant that it hasn't been searched for and unnoticed all summer. Highland often relies upon holidaymakers to find some stuff, and that's exactly what happened here. On Monday, Pete saw it early doors, but a prolonged search by Emily and I the rest of the day drew a blank, so I had to go back the next morning, and after a four hour solo search in perfect conditions, I finally found this very striking bird, albeit in winter plumage; this being very helpful as it's currently the only diver present in said plumage. 

I went to Tarbat Ness on Thursday morning for a brief spell and only found a Whinchat... Highland does exceptionally badly for autumnal drift migrants, but I was at least expecting a warbler of any kind!

Pacific Diver off Gairloch

Viewing the diver

Swift from the garden... last sighting 27th August

Stoat at Tarbat Ness

Whinchat at Tarbat Ness

Cromarty Whales & more Honey-buzzard action 1/2 August 2026

This past weekend has mostly all been about my local pair of Honey-buzzards. Having kept a relative close-eye on them, I now know the area of trees in which they are nesting. It's also clearly apparent chicks are present (I'm predicting three-weeks old) as the male and female were both observed carrying wasp comb. 

On top of this, yesterday afternoon and from the comfort of my garden with a gin and tonic flowing nicely, the male Honey-buzzard performed its 'butterfly' display for up to 30 minutes. Quite amazing! My next quest is to of course narrow down the potential nesting area even further, as this information could be vital in protecting this valley.

Even more amazing this weekend was a pod of four Northern Bottlenose Whales off Cromarty on Saturday afternoon, which I wasted little time in attempting to see, this being a new species for me. Lovely views were had and I even witnessed the female spy-hopping. Sadly, it appears one of the whales has perished, as only three are now present in the firth, but as I type, they are slowly moving east towards deeper waters. 

During the week I managed to see a Storm-petrel, so my Highland yearlist is now on 199.

Northern Bottlenose Whales

female Honey-buzzard carrying wasp comb

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

Beachy Head 15th May 2026

It's always nice when a commitment down in Sussex coincides with a county tick, in this case, my first Subalpine Warbler of any sort. Thankfully, this was a male and easily identifiable as an Eastern! The last twitchable Subalpine Warbler I believe was at Pagham Harbour, an autumn female-type on the peninsular somewhere, maybe 2006 or 07. Probably a good job I didn't bother with this as it wouldn't be down to species status nowadays. 

an awful phone-bin shot
of the male Eastern Subalpine Warbler

Rubha Reidh 12th May 2026

Having kept a close eye on the looming weather fronts and NW winds approaching the Northwest corner of Scotland, it felt like a safe bet to venture that way in the hope of witnessing the annual Long-tailed Skua movement. 

Now, North Uist is and always will be the best place to see them, in excellent numbers and close range, but the best I could summon on mainland was one of my favourites. Rubha Reidh Lighthouse to the north of Gairloch juts out enough to warrant a seawatch. With squally showers predicted from mid-afternoon onwards, it felt like a perfect 'storm'.

Despite my morning session proving fruitless with just a single Pomarine Skua north, reports of Long-taileds from Uist and further north of mainland Scotland gave me hope, and with showers forming out to sea from 2pm, I finally latched onto my first flock, comprising nine birds. Although distant, absolutely unmistakable. 

Over the course of the next three hours, a total of 70 Long-tailed Skuas flew north, including a superb flock of nine that were relatively close in. It is thought most of these birds would have missed Skye altogether, and instead come through the Sound of Harris, as Skye reported no birds yesterday, but I'm unsure whether anyone was actively searching for them. The close group of nine presumably did come up the western peninsula of Skye?

Once the showers stopped, passage ceased abruptly. 

Totals 0945 - 1745

Long-tailed Skua- 70 (groups of 9, 13, 3,9,11,15,10)
Pomarine Skua - 14
Arctic Skua - 14
Great Skua - 3
Skua sp. - 7
Manx Shearwater - 10
Puffin - 8

Recent Highland Goodies

Although it's so far been a fairly quiet spring in Highland, and no doubt the best is still to come, it's been a good start. 

This morning, I went to see a singing male Woodchat Shrike at Brora. Found last night, I was half expecting at least someone to be present in the hour I was watching it, alas, it was just me. A stunning bird! Afterwards a brief seawatch off Lothbeg Point produced my first 'Highland' Little Terns, with four passing south. 

Last week, and only five minutes from home, a female Ring-necked Duck spent a few days on Loch Laide along with some fine summer-plumaged Slavonian Grebes.

A Little Ringed Plover was another good bird, this being at Udale Bay which spent at least two weeks here.

Other than these, it's been great to see Pied Flycatchers, Wood Warblers, stacks of Grasshopper Warblers, Cuckoos and Tree Pipits.

Woodchat Shrike at Brora

female Ring-necked Duck on Loch Laide

Married 11th April 2026