My plan of doing quarterly photo updates on the site means that the summer one is always a bumper crop, and this one is positively laden with great pictures, not just of exotic or rare stuff, but also great pictures of commoner species. My thanks go to Gordon Fowley, Angus Hogg, Jamie Pike, Bob Ross, Natalie Welden. Here is a very small subset of the large bunch submitted to the Photo Gallery.
Picking out the winners for the Editor’s Prize (zero monetary value, but slight bragging rights) isn’t easy from this bunch but two stand out for me: Gordon Fowley’s picture of a Hoopoe that joined him for breakfast one morning, and Jamie Pike’s singing Grasshopper Warbler. Angus Hogg didn’t make the prize this time (hint: increase your bribe next time, Angus :-)) but as a consolation he does get two new entries on the Ayrshire Species List with his pictures of a Great Northern Diver and a juvenile Redstart (note, we still need a picture of an adult). Gordon’s Hoopoe picture displaced the old, pre-digital one that previously occupied the slot. Natalie Welden sent in a charming picture of a Black Redstart on Cumbrae, and although not part of the Ayrshire recording area it is administratively part of North Ayrshire and so I had a decent excuse for including it (and of course Natalie had informed the Clyde Islands area recorder too).