Congratulations to the Raptor on his spotting a rare black redstart while he was on duty at the Ardnamurchan Distillery. The Raptor says, "Definitely a male black redstart, the female is more grey. He was feeding on the grubs that can be seen around the pond at the front of the distillery. When he disappeared he crossed the road into the thickets, bushes and trees, but he returned at least three times to feed. He wasn't at all shy as he was quite happy to let me get quite close and in the open.
"This could be a migrant on passage, but as they usually live in the south of England and move to the Mediterranean, why is he here? They are usually coastal birds in cliffs and in land quarries, but they are a species that is taking advantage of man-made structures and can quite readily be found nesting in cities using ledges of tall buildings and around warehouses, taking advantage of the undergrowth to feed on insects."
The Raptor adds, "Here is an email I got from the
Scottish Ornithologists' Club: 'Unmistakeably a black redstart male. We get an average of only two annually in Highland, so a good sighting.'
Many thanks to the Raptor for picture and story.
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