Can anyone tell me are Lesser Redpolls normally in Caithness. I’ve just seen what I think is a lesser redpoll feeding with a group of Goldfinches, Siskins and Yellowhammers, I’ve never seen one on my feeders before

Hello Dave, welcome to the forum, from me also in Caithness!! I think I saw them once, a few years ago now, maybe someone else can help, mind you there is no one else here from Caithness!

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Thanks for your reply, I’ve never seen one before up here so it’s a new one for me, with a little luck there will be more show up soon, would be nice to see them as regular visitors.

I worked in Northern Scotland on and off back in the '60's and '70's but cannot remember seeing a Redpoll at all but I was maybe too busy looking for raptors !! Looking at distribution maps in field guides they seem to be shown in the Caithness area but very sparse,your local recorder may be interested in your sighting,it is the only way we find out what is out there.

Pete

Birding is for everyone no matter how good or bad we are at it,enjoy it while you can

I'm not sure about Caithness but they are present in Sutherland. I've seen a few there, this photo was taken near Bettyhill in August 2017.

My bird photos HERE