September 17th

And then back to calm again. A bright day with the wind dying down to a light westerly by the evening. There were a few new migrants. A pied flycatcher at Kilminning which I missed, but I did have my first two fieldfares of the winter as I searched. It’s always nice to hear their grumpy chacking as they arrive for the winter. There were more pink-footed geese coming in, with flocks passing over Crail most of the day. None of the flocks have been particularly large yet. At the Patch at Fife Ness I found a spotted flycatcher, a couple of siskins and had a common snipe flying over. And another migrant – a very tattered painted lady butterfly. My first of the year to contrast with the invasion of last when I had hundreds by August.

A fieldfare, fresh in from Scandinavia this lunchtime at Kilminning, and with plenty of whitebeam berries ready for it

The tattered painted lady in the Patch this morning