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

Short-eared Owl disgorging pellet

Today I had one of those mornings of birding that was full of interesting sightings. So I headed for home, sated and happy, having had my fill of Red-throated Diver and Water Pipit, not to mention a fantastic flock of hundreds of Herring Gulls close at hand to sift through for an hour.

As I drove out of Barns Ness and Whitesands I passed the posse of birders waiting for the Short-eared Owl to perform. Despite not having seen the bird this year, I resisted the urge to stop again. Manuel had flagged me over earlier after he had watched it quartering the rough grass, but I was soon distracted by the arrival of a group of Greylags followed by three European White-fronted Geese. After my wild goose chases of the autumn and early winter they pop up when I am not even looking for them! Their arrival put me an hour behind schedule straight away...

So after getting my fill of the albifrons, I applied a steely grip on the steering wheel and decided not to pause for 'just five more minutes' at the owl site. The Short-eared Owl of course played a blinder. Not only did it intercept me as I drove away, but it then landed on a fence post opposite a passing place, where it sat and disgorged a pellet as I watched! Fantastic birding moment.

Sunrise over Barns Ness Lighthouse

Headed out to the east coast before dawn arriving just in time to see this fantastic view of the sunrise over Barns Ness Lighthouse.

As I was travelling east along the A1, I had a good view of the cement factory 'windsock'. Sadly the plume was heading rapidly out to sea rather than in the other direction. Of course, an even better sign for grounded migrants is the plume heading westwards and also rendered invisible by low cloud and light rain...

Birdwise, I was pleased to stumble into another (or the same) Short-eared Owl a little bit further NW along the coast from yesterday's sighting. Today's bird rose up from rough grass and then gained height over the sea before drifting inland to allow the mobbing gulls to be replaced by corvids (fuzzy pic below...).

More exciting was a brief sparring encounter with a Peregrine. The latter then buzzed a curlew that was feeding on the shore before reappearing close by for a rapid flypast.

Migrants were few and far apart with a few small skeins of Pink-footed Geese, a total of 6 Lapland Buntings, 3 Redpoll sp., 5 Blackcap and a probable Yellow-browed Warbler which allowed a few silent glimpses as it flitted in the canopy. Fingers crossed that the wind heads east sometime soon...

Scandinavian Short-eared Owl

First day of my holiday and I managed a quick trip down to the coast after 4:00pm. By the time I got there the light was already beginning to fail but nevertheless I decided to check the bushes and bay at Skateraw. No obvious migrants around so I settled down to scope the gulls in the bay. I had just started working through them when suddenly they lifted in a dread. I was hoping for a skua or raptor (an Eleanora's falcon had been seen earlier in the week along the coast) and was delighted to find a Short-eared Owl working hard against the breeze heading toward the shore. A nice yeartick for me, its dark under wingtips and dark carpel patches above made separation from its longer-eared relative fairly straightforward. Fresh in from Scandinavia, no doubt, it crashed down onto the nearest bank of shingle and sat, looking nervously from side to side. I carefully slipped away to leave it to recover. Liuckily as it was getting dark, the constant stream of walkers, dog walkers and so on had ceased for the day.

Apparently it has been a great day for Asio owls along the east coast with up to 50 in off the sea at Titchwell in Norfolk. I think I'll pop back tomorrow for seconds.

Here is a Short-eared Owl, photographed in Orkney in 2009.

And here is a Long-eared Owl from closer to home... hmm.. one of my better photos?...