Saturday, June 06, 2026
I wish I'd realised at the time that two terns flying on the far side of the bay at Achnahaird earlier today were not the usual commons, but Sandwich terns! I even mimicked the single "eerk" call - heard just before we were distracted by some distant birds on the water (which turned out to be "just" mergansers) - and still didn't twig. The lightbulb moment came only when I'd uploaded the (pretty awful) pictures.
Meanwhile, the terns had disappeared. I think a breeding pair here might be noteworthy - although they could of course have been simply passing through. They were the first Sandwich terns I've seen here since a single one on 9th August 2018.
Otherwise, it was fairly quiet, the machair yielding up a lone golden plover along with a few ringed plover and dunlin. As we drove across to Badentarbat, Greger spotted a grey bird flying ahead of us just above ground level, which I think was a cuckoo - perhaps a female looking for pipit nests. Loch Vatachan (oops, backtrack a bit there - spellcheck thought it should be Loch Vatican) held 12 great skuas - nice to see so many.
Back home, I found the garden buzzing with bees and hoverflies. A tiny moth fluttered past and landed on a leaf; I spent ages trying to find its identity and finally had the idea of trying the assyntwildlife website - and there in the moths gallery was a photo that matched mine, under the scientific name of Ancylis badiana.
I couldn't see the antennae at first, then realised that they are lying along the moth's back. The common name is meadow hook-wing - a first for me and a nice addition to the garden list.
// posted by Christine @ 1:24 PM 
