The first stop of our annual holiday (this year to Moray and Orkney) was in Pitlochry town centre. It was early afternoon and the day had warmed up with strong sunshine and little wind. I had no time to check the dam area (which no doubt reduced the bird list) but half an hour spent around the main street produced the following: Collared Dove (a pair flying into a conifer), Oystercatcher (one flying and calling over the main street), Black-headed Gull (one scavenging around the bins), Common Gull (two calling loudly over and perching on the rooftops – just possibly breeding), Jackdaw (at least six very noisy individuals bickering with the Common Gulls and themselves), Rook (a single scavenging for scraps), Swallow (four calling and swooping low over the public car park), House Martin (six over the public car park with at least two active nests on modern apartment buildings opposite), Willow Warbler (one singing near the war memorial garden - my first record for the site), Blackcap (one singing near the war memorial garden), Blackbird (a female hunting for food under street trees), Robin (a single hunting for food under street trees), House Sparrow (at least four but probably many more calling from and careering into and out of gardens – presumably including newly-fledged juveniles), Dunnock (four, including three in song), Chaffinch (one or two in song), Greenfinch (three in song) and Goldfinch (three chattering excitedly as they do). Our next stop was at the Black-headed Gull colony on Lynchat marsh. I was delighted to find that the breeding season seems to have gone really well with at least eighty (potentially many more) large (but presumably still flightless) juveniles wandering around, swimming on the pond or (mostly) loafing on the grass. The adults were coming and going over and around the colony, not paying any attention to our presence in the car on the public road nearby. However at one point they all took to the air (is that what is called a “dread”?), calling half-heartedly at some unseen threat before quickly settling down again. It was particularly gratifying to see this colony doing so well as apparently those in the English midlands have been decimated by bird flu. A short stop at Aviemore found only four species present: Black-headed Gull (12), Jackdaw (4), Blackcap (one in song) and Siskin (two flying overhead). I made a further stop at Aberlour with the intention of searching for the Common Terns which breed on top of some of the Walker’s Shortbread factories. However all I could find were Herring Gulls (28 birds with a minimum of six on nests) and a single pair of Common Gulls. Other species present consisted of: Magpie (one near the factory gates), Jackdaw (ten around the site) and Blackcap (one in song), Blackbird (one), House Sparrow (two), Pied Wagtail (a pair, possibly breeding) and Chaffinch (one in song). An evening walk at Strathlene produced LOTS of flying insects plus Woodpigeon (one); Oystercatcher (two, including an adult flying inland from the shore carrying a food item); Black-headed Gull (1); Skylark (one in song); Pied Wagtail (1); Linnet (8 on the grassy area above the shore); Yellowhammer (one in song); Reed Bunting (one in song). Later, two Sedge Warblers were singing from a field hedge on the edge of town.