Tuesday was supposed to be nice and they were right to start with. I managed to find all the bits of rain that was to be had but the rainbows were nice. I had a check of the WF Goose flock and counted 31 birds again but there could be 32 - if only they would show all at once!
I saw a distant Otter and a distant Sparrowhawk before the rain came in and moved me on. I took a slow drive back stopping to chat to folk on the way but didn't see a great deal until I clocked this Kestrel....
Not the best photo in the world but it was worth the shot. I headed for home to get some lunch before heading round the loch to see if I could get better views of any Otters. Digiscoping is a tortuous pastime as I'm sure you are aware. The regular wader flock was scattered about in shallow water so I thought it might be worth a go - not on your nelly! No shutter speed at all despite the light - I would have been lucky to get a non-blurry shot of something dead! Ah well you have to try though. A scan round the loch produced one Otter that was showing great interest in a young seal and vice-versa. The Otter came out of the water to look at the seal and seal disappeared off the rocks, the Otter went back in the water to swim round the seal and the seal hauled out again. Funny to watch but you wonder about the potential danger for both beasts. The scenario was broken by the adult seal putting in an appearance at which point the Otter disappeared. Not too long after and not too far away from that drama I picked up mother and cub rolling about on the seaweed. Not sure if the nosy Otter was one of these two or not. A WT Eagle soaring over the ridge in one direction and the rain pushing in from the other had me throwing in the towel for the day - there's always tomorrow!Wednesday started off overcast with the threat of rain that didn't materialise. I headed off in search of the Otters again as it seemed a good starting point. It was a bit chilly when I left but it was baltic when you got into the teeth of the wind! I did the right thing and set up to grill the place - eye streaming, nose running, finger breaking cold - and I found nothing out of the ordinary. The Cormorant was drying his wings, the Little Grebes were popping up and down, the RB Mergs were out in the middle, Herons aplenty and the Oystercatchers were keeping their heads down. A blurry eyed view of two dark shapes and one pale one on the far shore had me wiping the tears away to get a better view. The two dark shapes turned out to be Hooded Crows but the pale one looked a bit more interesting as it wasn't a gull.....
...a pale Buzzard sitting on the seaweed with it's tail well in the water. I've seen them bathe in freshwater but I didn't think I'd see this - maybe it thinks it's an Osprey! I had to go for a closer look...
...nice looking bird. I moved on wondering where would be the best place to sit out of the wind. In the motor with the heater on seemed a good idea but it's too restricted for me, I like to be able to see everywhere. A Great Northern Diver wasn't close enough to tempt me out, a seal impersonating an Otter didn't have me fooled for too long - it's like mental finger drumming - what'll I find next? Plenty of Grey Herons and the odd Curlew along the shore but they weren't going to hang around and neither was I. After spending a bit of time watching Meadow Pipits doing their thing and grilling the gulls I headed back along the way. I parked up to have a good scan around. Scan left, nothing, scan right over the ridge, nothing, scan left along the loch, Otter - woohoo! It was a lucky break as I caught sight of a tail disappearing. I waited for the beast to resurface and there it was a bit further out. Too warm and comfortable to get out I was straining to look over my shoulder but as the Otter surfaced again I was surprised to find that the first one hadn't went down yet! To retain my warm and comfortable viewpoint I reversed along the road to get a better view. I managed to find one of the Otters but not the second - that's what you get for being comfy! All of a sudden the Otter was heading for shore with a fish - grab camera and make for the shore. I was out in a flash and into the teeth of the wind that was blowing in off the water - cold I tell you. Into a safe place and wait for beast to appear - I couldn't see much though streaming eyes but I could hear alright. A squeak came from just offshore and there was the Otter demolishing the fish. The big surprise was the two cubs that were trying to get in on the grub.....
....no wonder I'd only seen one Otter. Both the cubs were fairly dry so they'd been out a wee while. She didn't share the fish so the cubs must be fending for themselves and as she headed off the cubs moved in to see if there was anything left. A lot of squeaking and chittering later they reappeared as the female clambered over the back of the rock. She just kept coming straight over and paused briefly to look in my direction and then carried on about her business.
The youngsters disappeared into the crevice of the rock and the female was back out fishing so I moved off again wondering if this was the mum and two that had been seen earlier in the year. Who knows?! They look about the right size but where have they been for the last four months? It'll be interesting to see if they become a regular feature or not. Heading back along the way the Blackbirds are noticeable everywhere. There aren't a great deal to be seen but in the Winter the numbers are boosted by Scandinavian birds - could this be one?
I couldn't help but see this furry lump sticking up so I had to investigate.
Mum and cub fast asleep in a nithering wind - get me one of them fur coats.
The light seemed to improve a bit and I was surprised to see blue sky when I looked the other way. This had to get the bird back in the air. Sure enough the beast took to the skies again and seemed happy to just hang in the wind but not for long. Two Raven cleared the ridge behind the eagle and went into full attack mode. The eagle was taken by surprise and headed towards us trying to swat the Ravens out of the sky...
.....the action was getting ever closer to us and giving incredible views. The final fly by before the bird turned was a real spine tingler....
I must say that Kate's photos looked better than mine but the experience of what we watched won't be captured! We headed off for lunch knowing that we wouldn't be able to top that but there was still more to see. We bagged the WF Geese that had increased to 31 birds, a Kestrel or two, plenty of Redwing and the tango twins that we intent on getting some camouflage...
A few Skylark scurrying about amongst the Starlings were nice to see but not as good as the single Twite.
We headed for the beach to see if we could rustle up a Hen Harrier along the way. Not a great deal to see on the way but as we settled down with a cuppa a male Harrier cleared the ridge - excellent! The sun was heading for the horizon and we were running out of time for Golden Eagle so we packed up and raced off. I reckoned we had about half an hour to find a Goldie and no sooner had I mentioned this and we had one in our sights! Another Hen Harrier, a female this time, didn't stay in view long enough for Kate to see it but the Goldie was taking the honour anyway. Some day out considering there wasn't much hope at the start!
....but this Starling was oblivious as it stood singing....
The local Kestrel was on the hunt but a little to distant for a decent shot.
We picked up the WT Eagle again as the heavens opened. The bird was an adult that appeared to have one wing tag on the left wing and none on the right. It was heading away from us so there was no chance of reading the tag or getting the colour. The Geese that the eagle had disturbed were nowhere to be seen so we headed off in search of them. The WF Geese were on the loch with the Greylags and still only 25 birds. Next stop we picked up an Otter that was tracking the shore. The only reason we picked it up was the wake that was coming from the shore in flat calm water. If there had been a wind blowing we probably wouldn't have seen it at all. Another WT Eagle put in an appearance but this time it was a juv gaining height - no chance of any photos again. We had a quick lunch stop as time was getting on and it wasn't too long before we picked up an Otter that we had a chance of photographing. We headed off in front of the beast and took up strategic positions. He was on a mission, no fishing, just moving fast - one shot and he was gone.
We couldn't pick him up again after he went past so we moved on. We picked up a couple of GN Divers that were fishing offshore and there seemed to be quite a few seals close to the shore too. The sun was going down and the light was starting to fade so we turned around and headed back and what should we see but the Otter still on a mission. We turned around again and got in position on the shore and waited. The view was nice....
.....and there were some nice rock formations....
....but Houdini wasn't playing. He must have holed up somewhere out of sight from us - ah well. The local Greylag Geese were flying around and making a racket but when they settled I took the opportunity for an environmental shot.
It was a pleasant end to a pleasant day but probably better for scenic shots than anything else.
Thursday was another pleasant day but not much chance of doing anything as the motor was going in for an MOT. There were 4 Whooper Swans outside the shop early on and the Golden Plover had returned too. This Curlew was busy dismantling a crab in decent light conditions but I was suffering from a lack of shutter speed.
I headed off to the garage and what should I see but an adult WT Eagle flying around. Typical to come across something when you haven't got time to play!
It was a lucky break though but not as lucky as what I found at the garage. A bird called 'peep' from the conifers - what the heck's that? No more sound and nothing moving. Then the call again 'peep' and there was the bird too. I dug my bins and camera out and waited for an opportunity to get a good view. The call wasn't right for Yellow-browed Warbler but it did sound like Siberian Chiffchaff from what I could recall. The bird put itself on display eventually and it looked like this...
....definitely a Chiffchaff but it doesn't look like a Sibe to me. Not white enough underneath and too brown looking but the call was right. Any ideas out there?
Sunday was a day of torrential rain so I didn't look for anything but a big TV to watch the F1.
....it's only blurry because of the rain - honest! The showers persisted and we pressed on. A brief glimpse of a bird that 'looked like a gull but just wasn't right' had us pulling over to check it out. Naturally, it had dropped out of sight but we waited patiently in the rain watching a few Ravens bombing about. A flash of white caught my eye and the bird was in view again....male Hen Harrier being harassed by a Sparrowhawk! We decided to head as far West as we could get and hopefully find the forecast better weather. Man, did it work! The sun was out and the sky was blue and the sheep had been Tangoed!!
I had been concerned about the lack of Greenland WF Geese that had arrived as they are usually in by now but I guess the weather has been that warm that they hadn't left home yet. With a cold Northerly airflow I was hoping for an increase in numbers. Twenty five was the tally but still only the two young birds - hopefully there will be more birds to come yet. Another male Hen Harrier put in an appearance and while watching that a Peregrine flew into view and took our interest - things were looking up. Off to the beach for a cuppa next and hopefully a few more things to add to the list. There wasn't a great deal to see but just before we'd finished slurping tea a Golden Eagle graced us with it's presence! We were starting to run short on time and we still didn't have Otter so we dashed off in search of the elusive beast. A couple of stops produced nothing and the third stop got us another Golden Eagle - a lot closer and a juvenile at that. It drifted out of sight so we went in search and found it sitting on the ground not looking interested in flying at all. We waited to see if it would go.....a juv Peregrine flew past!.....two Red Deer stags put in an appearance!!...but the eagle just sat there - ah well. A mile or so on we spotted another two stags at the side of the road....camera out....click....result....
Sunday was another day with guests and the weather wasn't good! We did start the day in reasonable conditions but the rain was always threatening. It was fairly breezy so I wasn't expecting to get Mountain Hares at the first stop but lo and behold we found two distant hares sheltering from the wind and then a closer one revealed itself about 30 yards away! The Greenland WF Goose numbered six today, 4 adults and 2 juv, and the Skylarks showed well as a Snipe flew overhead. A trip to the beach gave us our first GN Diver of the day and a Common Seal but not much else before we headed into the rain. The poor conditions didn't help things so we raced through a few locations picking up a few of the common birds. We stopped at the shop for lunch so we could pick through the waders while we ate. PS was on form as usual 'there's a big f..f...flying thing over there' (I think that's what she said) that turned out to be an adult WT Eagle across the loch. It was raining pretty hard at the time too. We headed off in search of the Otters after lunch and it almost looked like it was going to be pleasant weather. The rain did hold off for about an hour but we hadn't seen much apart from a reasonable collection of GN Divers on the loch. Heading away from the lochside and into the glen we picked up two WT Eagle perched up and drying off. We watched them until they decided it was time to go - nice to see them in flight though. We had some nice views of a Red Deer stag in the glen before we retraced our journey. A car parked at the side of the road with a telescope trained on something needed to be investigated so we asked what they had.....
...juv WT Eagle sitting out the rain that was pouring down again. I managed to read the ring on it's leg and it turns out the bird is one of our own. The photograph below shows how little white there is in the tail of the youngsters.
We moved on in search of Otters again and it wasn't too long before we had one in sight. No sooner had we got out of the motor and the Otter was heading for the shore with a fish.
It was a superb encounter and we managed to get the folk who showed us the eagle onto it too - it's nice to give something back! We stopped at the shop on the way back round to see if we could pick anything else up - the reward was 5 Whooper Swans dropping in - excellent! We had one last stop to look at the seal colony and that proved fortuitous too as the first thing I saw was a female Hen Harrier getting mobbed by a Buzzard. A superb comparison of these two birds as the Harrier hunted and the Buzzard 'mewed' it's displeasure.
..only 5 WF Goose, a couple of Skylark overhead and a Common Buzzard. Tantalising glimpses of the commoner birds seemed to be the order of the day as everything seemed to want to be out of our way. We did get nice views of Redshank....
.....and Grey Heron along the way....
but even the WT Eagle that we picked up mocked us from a location that we'd already been through - a whole lot of 'if only....'! The Great Northern Divers showed well but a distant Golden Eagle that I picked up was never going to be easy as it flew against the land and a male Hen Harrier that proved to be elusive added to the frustration of the day. Our luck had to change though. While going through the waders and ducks outside the shop I picked up two Otters asleep on the rocks. We headed round to get better views and at last we had something that was easy to see! We travelled on in search of anything that moved. We stopped in a good location for Golden Eagle and our initial reward was nothing but nice views. A small flock of 5 Crossbills flew overhead and then, just before we were going to move on, a Golden Eagle cleared the ridge. As everyone got onto the bird another two Goldies joined the first one and two Ravens started mobbing them. One of the birds moved off and the other two briefly settled on the ridge. I managed to get photos of the birds perched up for the guests before we moved on. A few Red Deer hinds we showing at close quarters a bit further along the road....
...and then we were heading back. We stopped to look at the Otters again on the way back through before we decided to call it a day.
