A day on Jura doing BTO Atlas surveys supported by wonderful weather!! Young birds of various species are begining to appear, whilst other species, e.g. Wood Warbler , have gone entirely quiet and are no longer in evidence at all!!! In the fringeing woodlands of the north east coast of Jura one of the later migrant species, Spotted Flycatcher, was in evidence, with several birds being seen. Similarly a number of House Martins at Ardlussa were collecting mud from a pool for their nesting attempts on nearby buildings, suggesting their recent arrival to the area. Further north a Short-eared Owl was seen within its nesting territory. Overall a successful day with lots of positive registrations of breeding in the tetrads concerned.
Back on Islay we checked out the area at Bunnahabhain where the Common Rosefinch had been found by a visiting birding group led by Peter Roberts. After quite a time without any success we then had the bird singing in a couple of spots nearby to the distillery, but giving disappointing views. Eventually it went quiet altogether , which determined the need for a further visit!!
Finally, spent the evening at the Islay Natural History Centre at a lecture given by an RSPB contract warden, Rory Crawford , based on the time he'd spent on Aride in the Seychelles last year assisting with conservation work. Absolutely first class and an occasion not to be missed, be it from the presentation, the content or the photographic material.
And really finally!! Thoughts are with grown up daughter, Ashley, who is in transit as I write, on her way to spending six weeks in Africa on what is described as the "Ultimate African Odyssey". This includes three days camping and canoeing in the Okavango Delta and other such places of global renown. I feel no envy of course......
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