On Bank Holiday Monday we decided to take the kids to Whitmuir, the local organic farm shop and cafe.
On the drive there, over the hills, I saw birds several times that I was sure looked unusual to me, but they were too far away for me to see them closely, and anyway the car kept scaring them off. They looked grey wagtail-like in overall shape and flew in an up and down bobbing motion. They flashed a white rump as they flew which is what made me think I might be looking at something new.
It was only on the drive home that I finally got a closer look at one of these birds, which remained perched on the wall by the road as we drove past. It had a grey head and back, with a very clear thick black "stripe" across its wings and lower back.
I made a mental note of the plumage and looked it up that evening. It was a wheatear! A bird that I wasn't even sure I'd ever heard of before, let alone seen!
Apparently it is best seen in "upland" environments, which is exactly where we saw it. Fantastic! Life tick.
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