~Friday~
On this day we decided to visit Sanna Bay; the beach here is probably one of the most beautiful in the UK, and so it was with no hesitation that we spent a while exploring what the dunes had to offer. Lots of Sand Martins were visiting their colonies (the peninsular as a whole had an abundance of these), and a male Wheatear was busy collecting food.
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Wheatear |
On our drive back we pulled into a lay-by to scan the ridges for eagles. Alas there were none, but we were still very glad we stopped as we had very good views of a pair of Whinchat, along with my first Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary of the trip.
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Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary |
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Male Whinchat |
~Saturday~
As it was my final full day at the house, I decided to start the day by getting up early and explore the woods near the cottage. 3 Wood Warbler and a Spotted Flycatcher were good to see.
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Wood Warbler |
We then drove to the RSPB's Glenborrodale reserve. En route we stopped as Matt spotted a large raptor just breaking the horizon, which excitingly turned out to be a Golden Eagle!
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Golden Eagle |
The reserve itself provided a very pleasant walk with 2 Spotted Flycatchers, a reeling Grasshopper Warbler, several Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary and 1 very fresh looking Chequered Skipper!
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Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary |
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Chequered Skipper |
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Chequered Skipper |
~Sunday~
The long drive back from the highlands to Rugby took all day, though a brief stop near Arnside yielded a few Northern Brown Argus, the 2nd butterfly lifer of the trip for me!
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Northern Brown Argus |