Sunday morning

Out at 5.30 this morning. Chilly.
The roads round our estate were full of House Sparrows Passer domesticus and Starlings Sturnus vulgaris. They had gob-fuls of food, and were rubbing it vigorously on the road surface. I assumed it was small slugs, but when I went over to look at things they left behind, it was leatherjackets. Weird.

Migrant highlights this morning.... a Lesser Whitethroat Sylvia curruca in the bushes down the burn track. A Northern Wheatear Oenanthe oenanthe at the coastal park. Sedge Warblers Acrocephalus schoenobaenus have been pouring in during the week - now 7 singing down the burn, and more elsewhere. Also several Common Whitethroats S. communis, fresh in the past few days and on territory.

Offshore - 20 Manx Shearwaters Puffinus puffinus, 3 Great Skuas Stercorarius skua.