October 15th

I spent a couple of hours first thing out at Balcomie Farm looking for the little bunting. There are good mixed flocks at Balcomie – yellowhammers, reed buntings, tree and house sparrows, chaffinches, greenfinches, linnets and the odd dunnock and corn bunting – feeding out in the stubble fields. I checked a lot of buntings and sparrows. Like the chiffchaffs of the weekend, looking at every individual very critically is a great way to learn the details of a common species: I know juvenile reed buntings and yellowhammers a lot better now. It was good fun even if I didn’t refind the little bunting. I like it when there are birds everywhere and when you have finished checking them you can start again because everything has changed. And there was also the redstart still in the sycamores, flocks of pink-footed geese going over and a couple of redpolls to add extra interest.

A juvenile reed bunting

Advertisement