Butterfly frenzy

Still very quiet on the bird front, with single Greenshank, Common Sandpiper, Whimbrel today. The weather is still far too warm for my liking, but rumour has it that the weather is about to change. Certainly seems to be a bit wet outside tonight.

Loads of butterflies today though - there's been an obvious influx of Painted Ladies, with a good few Peacocks around too, and numbers of Whites, mainly Large or Green-veined have also picked up. Nothing too unusual though - maybe we'll get something in the next couple of weeks...

Hot 'n' humid

The disgusting weather continues, but at least there is some evidence of a few birds starting to appear. A flock of 114 Sanderling was unexpected, with 6 Black-tailed Godwits, 3 Whimbrel, 1 Greenshank and a Common Sandpiper further evidence of wader passage.

Equally entertaining was the sight of 400+ gulls (mainly Black-headed) & 260 Swallows feeding on newly emerged flying ants. It was also nice to see lots of people in garish clothes leaving rapidly as the insects descended on them from on high. Useful tip - wear dark colours on sunny July afternoons. Heh, heh!

150 up!

Well it's been a long time coming, but an adult Roseate Tern in with a mixed flock of Sandwich & Common Terns brought up 150 for the site this year. Still way behind schedule though, but maybe things will pick up soon.

Also today, a singing Grasshopper Warbler and a Greenshank..

Too hot to handle?

The weather over the last week has been disgutingly hot, but today, at last saw overcast skies and a cool sea breeze.

The birding has picked up over the last couple of days too, with 5 Little Terns at the high tide roost yesterday, and a decent selection of waders today: 1 Curlew Sandpiper, 1 Greenshank, 3 Whimbrel and 1 Black-tailed Godwit. Numbers of waders seem to be increasing at last including 100+ Bar-tailed Godwit, 370 Curlew, 12 Grey Plover & 16 Sanderling. Not much else doing, though the butterflies have been great...

It's been a while...

Apologies to regular readers. I'd love to say I've been away somwhere exotic, but no, just sunny East Lothian as usual. Frankly, there's not been a lot happening on the Reserve, or elsewhere, so I didn't want to bore anyone with my complaints!

Today, still mild with a few heavy showers. A couple of Black-tailed Godwits were the highlight of an increasing wader flock, with 300+ Curlew and 150 Lapwing, though still not many small waders. It was with mixed feelings that I watched two Peregrines chase and catch a pigeon - great to watch, but with a sense of foreboding that they may have settled here for the autumn. This has happened before here, and it doesn't make it easy to either see or check through the flocks of small waders for that first for Britain. So if the happy couple and their fledged offspring decide to hang out elsewhere I won't mind too much!