20221003 (3)_Ortolan_Bunting
A planned visit to Unst, most Northerly of the Shetland group, for an accumulated haul of scarce migrants included excellent views of this Ortolan Bunting, a species that has massively declined in Western Europe due to changes in agriculture and pressure from bird trappers and hunters especially in migration hot-spots around the Mediterranean. When I started birding 40 years ago Ortolans were infrequent but annually gettable birds in Southern Britain during migration periods but they are now a rare an appreciated sight.
20221003 (3)_Ortolan_Bunting
A planned visit to Unst, most Northerly of the Shetland group, for an accumulated haul of scarce migrants included excellent views of this Ortolan Bunting, a species that has massively declined in Western Europe due to changes in agriculture and pressure from bird trappers and hunters especially in migration hot-spots around the Mediterranean. When I started birding 40 years ago Ortolans were infrequent but annually gettable birds in Southern Britain during migration periods but they are now a rare an appreciated sight.