Snow bunting on Quinag

[EmmaKTunskeen]

I wasn't expecting snow bunting up here, and only saw one. Should he have left for Scandinavia, I wonder, or do they breed up here?
093 Snow bunting

Also golden plover:
062 Calling golden plover in constant flight

black-throated diver in the lochan (more heard than seen):

099 Black throated divers catching sun
(that red is just sunlight and camera)

ptarmigan:
045 Ptarmigan

and a Spidean Coinich gorilla (not the fella, the hill, you understand!):
075 Euan and the gorilla

[jmarkb]

Nice shots!

I wasn't expecting snow bunting up here, and only saw one. Should he have left for Scandinavia, I wonder, or do they breed up here?

They would normally migrate a lot earlier than this, I think, though I did see 3 on Beinn Bhan (the Applecross one) a couple of weeks ago. There are a few records of breeding in the Northwest Highlands, but they prefer the higher altitudes of the Cairngorms, Nevis and Ben Alder (estimated total breeding population is only about 60-100 pairs).

Reference: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00063657.2018.1443057

[tigerburnie]

Some Snow Buntings are resident and have bred in Eastern Scotland

[EmmaKTunskeen]

Some Snow Buntings are resident and have bred in Eastern Scotland

Yeah, I have seen them stay all year round and breed in cold bits of the UK (e.g. Cairngorm and North Norfolk coast), and the areas you both mention makes sense. Assynt Corbetts in May seem a bit tropical! I'll log with BTO in case they're interested.

And thank you jmarkb for the T&F link - not seen that resource before