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BIRD WATCHING		BIRDS THAT BREED HERE
Birds are the most fascinating, varied and noticeable of the natural life around us. Watching them is popular and pleasurable. The area around Dunnet Bay and Dunnet Head is of particular interest to Ornithologists. Embracing the principal bird habitats of land, waterside and water there is and abundant variety of birdlife. The land is basically grassland or heather moor with a little woodland. Waterside habitat lies adjacent to the area's lochs, feeder streams, ditches and bogs. The lochs also provide a water habitat, but the main water area is obviously the sea around the shore, which has both sandy dunes and rocky cliffs. On this page you will find the best places to see birds and a checklist of birds which breed regularly in the area, along with birds of passage and rare visitors. How you act will affect how much bird life you see. Go quietly - especially during the breeding season. Enjoy your bird-watching and see how many you can spot from the checklist. For the enthusiast, there is a hide overlooking a shallow pond at the North West corner of St. John's Loch. Further information may be obtained from Julian smith, St. John's, Brough (Tel 01847 851280)		Red Throated Diver Little Grebe Fulmar Cormorant Heron Mute Swan Shelduck Wigeon Teal Mallard Tufted Duck Long Tailed Duck Red Breasted Merganser Sparrowhawk Buzzard Kestrel Peregrine Red Grouse Pheasant Grey Partridge Moorhen Oystercatcher Ringed Plover Golden Plover Lapwing Dunlin Snipe Curlew Redshank Common Sandpiper Blackheaded Gull Common Gull Herring Gull Great Black Backed Gull Arctic Tern Rock Dove	Wood Pigeon Skylark Swallow House Martin Meadow Pipit Pied Wagtail Wren Dunnock Robin Stonechat Whinchat Wheatear Blackbird Song Thrush Grasshopper Warbler Sedge Warbler Willow Warbler Goldcrest Blue Tit Great Tit Jackdaw Rook Carrion Crow Raven Starling House Sparrow Chaffinch Greenfinch Goldfinch Siskin Redpoll Yellow Hammer Reed Bunting Razorbill Little Tern Black Guillemot
BEST SITES TO VIEW BIRDS SEA BIRDS Location 1. Castlehill Harbour East 2. Dunnet Beach Mid Sands 3. Dunnet Beach Ranger Centre 4. The Ness, Dwarwick 5. Easter Head 6. Brough Harbour 7. St John's Point 8. Gills Bay	Map ref ND200684 ND214690 ND218708 ND206713 ND203768 ND220740 ND311752 ND330727	BIRDS OF PASSAGE Slavonian Grebe Fulmar Gannet Whooper Swan Pink Footed Goose Greylag Goose Mandarin Gadwall Pintail Shoveller Goldeneye Goosander Merlin Coot Golden Plover Knot Little Stint Curlew Sandpiper Ruff Black Tailed Godwit Whimbrel Greenshank	Snow Bunting Green Sandpiper Wood Sandpiper Turnstone Arctic Skua Great Skua Kittiwake Sandwich tern Swift Sand martin Waxwing redstart Fieldfare Redwing Whitethroat Garden Warbler Blackcap Chiffchaff Spotted Flycatcher Long Tailed Tit Brambling Crossbill Bullfinch
THE REST 9. Loch of Bushta 10. Many Lochs Dunnet Head 11. Ham Gill 12. Loch of Mey 13. St John's Loch 14. St john's Loch, NW Hide 15. Loch Heilen 16. Dunnet Forest	ND195726 ND200750 ND239736 ND270735 ND225725 ND222729 ND255685 ND220698
The Country Code - Keep dogs under control. - Leave gates as you find them. - Take your litter home. keep the land tidy. - Take only photograghs. Leave only f footprints. - Guard against fire. - Park your car with care and thought for others. SAFETY - BE CAREFUL - Cliff top walks have inherent dangers. - Do not walk close to the edge which may be loose or overhanging. - Strong winds, slippery rocks and sudden sea fog are articular hazards. - If you are going for a long walk, please let someone know of your intended route and inform them of your safe return. - Please ensure you are adequately clothed and shod for your outing.		RARE Great Northern Diver Slavonian Grebe Bean Goose Canada Goose Barnacle Goose Gadwall Garganey Shoveller Red Crested Pochard Lesser Scaup King Eider Common Scoter Marsh Harrier Goshawk Osprey Quail Water Rail Pacific Golden Plover Grey Plover Temmincks Stint Jack Snipe Woodcock Bartailed Godwit Spotted Redshank Little Gull Glaucous Gull Red Backed Shrike Brunnick's Guillemot White Billed diver Baird's Sandpiper Pectoral Marsh Sandpiper Ross's Gull Common Tern White Winged Black Tern	VERY RARE BIRDS Tawny Owl Red Rumped Swallow Yellow Wagtail Grey Wagtail Ring Ouzel Mistle Thrush Reed Warbler Lesser Whitethroat Wood Warbler Red Breasted Flycatcher Pied Flycatcher Tree Sparrow Common Rosefinch Hawfinch Red Necked Grebe Cory's Shearwater Manx Shearwater Honey Buzzard Surf Scoter Red Necked Phalarope Long Tailed Skua Hoopoe Dipper Corncrake Barred Warbler Tree Creeper Great Grey Shrike Cuckoo Collared Pratencole Sandpiper Wilson's Phalarope Ivory Gull Black Tern
Click Here for more Birdwatching in Caithness and Links on Caithness.org Information supplied by Julian Smith, local ornithologist to assist the Dunnet Bay Initiative. Produce by Dunnet Bay Initiative in conjunction with Caithness & Sutherland Enterprise.