Last week..
Working away in Sutherland. An apparent family group of Common Redpoll were seen, not far from where I had a male and female back in June. Lesser Redpoll is the regular species breeding in Scotland but a search of the SOC database reveals other summering and breeding records of Common in the Highlands.
Also an excellent area for breeding waders including Greenshank, Dunlin and Golden Plover. Common Snipe showed well including this bird in an Icelandic Style pose on a fence post:

The area was also good for Large Heath butterfly, it's found in wetter habitat than the Small Heath. The Collins butterfly guide mentions cotton grass as an important component; there's certainly no shortage of this.

A check of Fife wader sites this morning- Wilderness quieter this week although the LRP still present. Letham also quiet but large numbers of Sand Martin are always entertaining and 3 Crossbills flew over.

And finally. We have two species of orchid growing on our lawn this year-Common Spotted and Northern Marsh.