Brown Hare and European Rabbit (click on photos to enlarge)
As regular readers will know well, I've been stopping over at Eyemouth (on the coast of the Scottish borders) on my way to and from the Highlands for some years now, and with increasing frequency as my trips north of the border multiply year-on-year.
Overnighting this last week on my way back down from our latest School of Birding (see last post), I enjoyed a late evening session there, which was notable for good numbers of farmland species (as well as many Hares) in a large, untreated, fallow field, and a particularly accommodating Peregrine hunting the cliffs (see below), as well as Ravens, a fresh-in Willow Warbler on the clifftop and then inland, and plenty of seabirds breeding and passing by.
A longer session the following morning included a nice selection of summer visitors, lots of nesting seabirds (including Shags, Razorbills and Kittiwakes), and an arrival of Wheatears - which justify their own post (check back soon).
The clifftops were festooned with freshly blooming wildflowers, and their aromas (especially Scurvy-grass - arguably the greatest smell on the planet) filled the air. Absolutely love this place, and would love to spend more time birding here - lots of great habitat, and remarkably little disturbance along the coastline.
Cowslips (above) and Scurvy-grass (below)
Shag on the nest (above), Meadow Pipit (below)
Singing Yellowhammer (above), Linnet (below)
... and a couple more of the Peregrine for good measure
