Newtonhill is on the east coast of Scotland, UK. For geographically challenged North American cousins :-)))) that's 'England'. Few miles south of Aberdeen. This 3x3 km square is more or less my patch boundaries. Elsick Burn ('the burn') is the best area - scrubby valley leading directly up from the North Sea. The railway bridge seems to make grounded migrants think twice, and they gather in the gardens underneath it ('the Mill' and 'the Retreat'). To the south is Muchalls, an even smaller village, if that were possible. Another nice valley here, I call the 'Water Valley' because East of Scotland Water have some tanks or something down there. This has some decent willows, and one day I will find something good there.

You'll notice the sea. Seawatching is always on here. Even if (gasp!) there are no birds, Newtonhill is fantastic for dolphins. Bottle-nosed are year round - part of the resident flock around Inverness. We get white-sided dolphins in July/August.