July 30th

Rossie Bog, Fife

The conditions for viewing waders are not ideal here are the moment with lot's of high vegetation  around the pools. I did get one Greenshank and 5 Shoveler. Best bird was a Cuckoo hanging around on fence posts. Although this species is relatively stable in Scotland compared to a rapid rate of decline south of the border, it is very much a bird of the Highlands and West coast and uncommon in Fife. This was only the second I've seen in the Kingdom since moving up at the end of 2009. The other was also at Rossie in July.

The fact that this bird was  an adult was a little surprising at this time of the year.  The BTO are tracking 5 Scottish Cuckoos tagged in the Loch Katrine area this spring, all of them have left Britain and 2 are already into Africa.