It has been raining all day and I have stayed inside, missing the corn bunting searching. There has been 12.4 mm of rain in the last 24 hours. May seems set on winning a prize for wettest month to contrast with April’s driest record. There were some pauses in the rain and I took the opportunity late afternoon for a walk around upper and lower Kilminning. A spotted flycatcher at the top, a garden warbler and one of the icterine warblers at the bottom, all left over from Saturday. The icterine had moved to the bushes and trees along the entrance road in response to the south-westerly wind. It was keeping to dense cover but singing as I arrived making it easy to find. I tried to get good views and had finally sneaked up to an elder bush, was watching the warbler working its way out of the leaves to some bare branches when a male roe deer erupted from the grass in front of me. The deer’s sudden dash and my dog’s even more sudden stop as she reached the end of her extender lead sent the icterine off into the middle of Kilminning and that was that. I was glad that didn’t happen on Saturday when there would have been a disapproving audience. You can imagine I was the only one out there this afternoon birding in the rain: a good sign actually. Anyone that wanted to see the icterine warbler must have done so already over the weekend. It isn’t the easiest bird to see, but 30 minutes of trying turns up a reasonable view. I shouldn’t think it will be off anywhere tonight so there is probably another opportunity tomorrow morning when the weather should also be much better. I wasn’t totally alone at Kilminning: a group of local plant surveyors were there making a baseline plant list so we can see how things change in the coming years as we create new habitats.
Wild Crail 
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