Friday 4 July 2014

June birding: more two-barred crossbills and LEOs

Another self-found Two-barred Crossbill - this time in Lothian - not quite as exciting as earlier in the year as this was simply a case of doubling the number of 2barXbills in a flock from 1 to 2 (eventually others recorded 7!)
After an amazing May birding in Lothian this year, I was expecting June to be a disappointment.Well, it turns out that I needn't have worried - June was another stunner. Greenish Warbler and Two-barred Crossbills, Long-eared and Short-eared Owls,

Here she is again, on the right, along with a male and female Common Crossbill
And here is the male drinking from the Hedderwick Burn
Ok, probably not the best shot, but gives an idea...
Greenish Warbler was the other outstanding bird at the site on the same day
Singing away - a song I had never heard before - and one that I could easily have overlooked
Long-eared Owls were the highlight of the month for me, culminating in watching this adult hunting under streetlights in Edinburgh
I found 5 broods of young in total, some younger than this
And some barely distinguishable from adults - the constant begging helps, of course
I bumped into two Short-eared Owls this month as well... don't think they bumped into each other though...

This Red Kite (a 2CY bird?) was a county tick for me - sadly it only has one leg (just a stump on the left) - is it a coincidence that it is in a grouse moor area with lots of mammal traps?




This month I saw more Whinchats than I have seen in Lothian before - the result of exploring upland areas I have not visited before
It only seems a few weeks since the Common Sandpipers arrived in the uplands, but there are almost full grown young already - this one scuttling next to the road
As was this juvenile Lapwing - not quite as cute as last month's pic