Six-spot Burnet – a day flying moth common at West Braes at the moment
There are a lot of butterflies and insects out amongst the wild flowers along the coast at West Braes: ringlets, meadow browns, small coppers, green-veined whites and six-spot burnets. The warm dry weather has made that bit of the coast seem almost Mediterranean. The yellow wagtails that have been breeding at Old Barns – I saw three of them today and some may have been juveniles – were using the area for feeding. It is probably the crucial part of their successful breeding colony. There are no insects in the wheat fields where they are nesting and they have to rely on the margins and the rich wild coastal strip. There was also a common sandpiper, a redshank and quite a few black-headed gulls along the shore at West Braes, returning to the coast after breeding (although the common sandpiper will be on its way eventually to a West African shore) – the summer is on the turn.
Hi there. My name is Richard Percival. I have a property in Pittenweem and am a very keen birder. My next door neighbour for many years was a lovely gentleman called David Partington. Sadly he died and I attended his funeral on Tuesday. He taught me everything about birds. On my last day out with him in June I was lucky enough to spot a very very rare Fife bird at Cameron Reservoir on the feeders in the house by the car park. A Willow Tit!!!!! One of David’s last seen birds before his death. What a bird to go out on. God Bless him.
Dear Richard
Sorry I have been away. Yes a willow tit is a good bird to go out on. I hope to be birding on my last day.