I knew spring would be different this year, but obviously had no idea how different. On 21st of March the UK went into lockdown, only essential travel. I was lucky to have a hill behind the house and no occupied houses for six miles west of me. I returned from a walk one day to find a bottle of sanitiser and some phone numbers in case I needed help with shopping etc.

Input to the Nest Record Scheme was greatly reduced this year with people throughout the UK not being able to participate. I wasn’t able to travel to check various nests but I did equal my best years for sandpiper and ringed plover; two of each. I found eight meadow pipit nests, my previous best was two. I take a quick photo then move on to keep disturbance to a minimum. A sandpiper will not move unless you are going to stand on it.

Ringed plover are not easy to spot and often nest beside oystercatcher, presumably to take advantage of the second oystercatcher’s alarm calls.

There was a storm on the 23rd of May which finished off many nests in the small area near me, it must have ruined huge numbers of nests on the west of Scotland. Many trees went straight from spring to autumn.

Colonies can be a bit unpredictable, there is an oystercatcher/common gull colony below the house. One oystercatcher nest there had two eggs on two visits then had six eggs. Oystercatchers don’t lay that many eggs, I assume a second female had added eggs to the existing clutch.

Hooded crows, ravens and white tailed eagles were showing a keen interest in lambing.

Mistle thrush and song thrush both laid four eggs, mistle thrush all hatched, but there was a buzzard hanging around near that nest.

On the 29th May the rules changed and we were allowed to travel six miles, so I went up A’Chioch and Ben More on that windy day. I wasn’t the first or last up Ben More that day but I was probably the only one that had travelled less than six miles to get there.

There are a few crags within six miles of the house so I did some climbing with the shunt and with Martin.

Photo is Martin Kafka about to second FA of Six Foot Rule.

We added a few routes to Creag Mhor. The crag is fairly long with several buttresses. The rock is rough like Gabbro, there are a few climbs there but I had overlooked it while writing up Mull for Inner Hebrides and Arran.