July - the quiet (warm) month

July is normally a quiet month for birds but this year it has also been a warm one making bird watching even more difficult!

We have managed a couple of trips to the east coast which were extremely pleasant but with nothing too unusual to report. The highlights were 7 Red-throated Divers off Musselburgh Lagoons, a Greenshank and Mediterranean Gull at the lagoons and 2 Greenshank and 30+ Black-tailed Godwits at Kinneil Lagoons, but no year ticks.

Closer to home I've only visited Bingham's Pond and also wondered at the insect life in our garden.

Bingham's Pond:

Female Tufted Duck and duckling

Mute Swan cygnet

Small White

Our garden:

Hoverfly

Pond Skater

Red-tailed bee

Green-veined White

Based on reports from around the UK, waders are starting to move so now would be a good time to visit sites such as Frankfield Loch in Glasgow and Baron's Haugh RSPB Reserve, near Motherwell, as well as the usual wader hotspots in the east coast. Good luck!