Corn Bunting survey time again

Just the four photos from a Corn Bunting survey I did at 6am this morning. Conditions started out Ok, a breeze but not too strong, and with a rising sun and clear sky, it felt warmer than the 9 degrees forecast. It didn't last however, each time a large  grey cloud passed over the wind increased, the temperature felt like it dropped, and the birds sat tight in the fields or behind the drystane dykes.

As in past years this first survey didn't produce the numbers the later one's will, and the wind didn't help.

Although I usually see a pair of Wheatears nesting every year, today there were three pairs which all looked to be nesting. I'd always thought of them as a bird of the glens but the BTO distribution maps show some do nest along the coast.

This also from the BTO, incredible!

"As the ice retreated northwards after the last ice-age, the breeding grounds of this migrant (and others) shifted northwards, the birds migrating back to Africa, even those that now breed in Alaska."

All media here from my Nikon Coolpix P1000, the DSLR is too heavy to carry on a survey that can be over four hours and 14km!

Wheatear female video, click here      Skylark (muted)      Distant Puffin      Red Admiral

Wheatear female near Auchmithie, unless one pair was very, very mobile, it looks like three pairs are present and nesting

Wheatear male

Corn Bunting male, sang briefly before turning away and flying off in the windy conditions which weren't predicted by the Met Office

Skylark with nest building material, seems a bit late