Friday 31 May 2013

Woodchat shrike

The bird of the season so far ...maybe. This season is certainly proving to be of quality and not quantity in terms of bird migration. This morning  John and Callum, still walking funny after a night salsa ing, made it up to the Main light to see a very smart woodchat shrike pop up and over the wall. Bingo - the fifth record for the island of this beautiful little pocket battleship of a bird. It ended up showing off beautifully for the full boats of visitors that came on.
This bird has a particular resonance for the Isle of May because the first record for Scotland was recorded on the island by Rintoul and Baxter when a young male was found dead at the lantern of the Mainlight 102 years ago. It is a Mediterranean bird and probably enjoyed the scorching day but we will have to see what it makes of the return of more normal baltic conditions.

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