Saturday 1 September 2012

Serendipity.

Circumstances dictated where the tour was going to start and a guests chance conversation with another tourist gave us our first Otter of the day - serendipity.
The whole day continued in the same vein...we left the Otter as it headed away from us and as we headed along the road a male Hen harrier flew in front of us. Quite a few Raven were seen through the day but none were more obliging than these two.
No sign of the adult WT Eagle but there was a youngster perched up in a tree...result. We moved on again and it wasn't too long before I picked up an Otter peeking over the top of a rock. A Grey Heron was fishing close by so a few photos of the bird shaking the water off were taken...
...just as the Otter reappeared in full view.
A couple of Red-throated Diver were heard calling to each other so we had decent views of them through the scope. We bumped into what was, probably, the same male Hen Harrier but closer this time. Two Golden Eagle performed very well while we had lunch and even came in for a close look at us before we left.
Good views of a Common Lizard and an Adder were had before we got some stunning views of a young WT Eagle.
A Northern Wheatear slowed us down for a while as we watched it feeding.
It might be 'just a pigeon' but the humble Rock Dove is quite stunning up close. It won't be too long before they are wiped out by breeding with Feral Pigeons.
Mountain Hare almost let us down but finding this one feeding beside a thistle saved the day!
The trip back produced a cracking Red Deer stag while we viewed some Common Seals.

1 comment:

Adelai said...

Love the heron shot - gives the photo an almost 'live' feeling. Amazing