The Sea Buckthorn's Birds

Sea buckthorn was probably introduced into the Dunrobin Castle grounds in places which were particularly windswept perhaps as a soil stabilising shrub or for the cheerful colour of its....

....bright orange berries. However, this year the berries have seemed much less startlingly orange and have been fewer, though they have still attracted....

....a variety of birds including yellowhammers and a resident robin, though it isn't clear whether they like it for its berries or for the very dense cover it offers.

However, we like it for one particular bird which is found in it during winter, a bird we hadn't seen since last March until Monday, when....

....a male blackcap was spotted at the limit of my camera's capabilities. Now it would be good to see the 'annual' female.