Cracker

What a cracker of a day. Straight in with an obliging Otter...

...soon followed by a couple of Golden Eagles dropping out of the sky.

Another Golden Eagle was seen about a mile down the road but that soon disappeared as two WT Eagle turned up! It seemed to be an eagle day as we found a distant Goldie followed by another one much closer.

Enough of that though. A few Swallows were still lingering, a Yellowhammer was seen and a couple of Mountain Hare. We got two attempts at this male Hen Harrier but it was always heading away from us.

Bird of the day for me was this obliging Northern Wheatear.

Different stuff

The guests on this tour were not that interested in the big stuff but more interested in what else was around. We started off with both pipits, Lapwing and Skylark.

A flock of 300 Eider were quite impressive as they were spread along the loch and the guests were pleased to see a Golden Eagle at low level instead of their usual high flying sights.

We picked up Hen Harrier, WT Eagle, Little Grebe but it was the Stonechat that took pride of place.

A heavy shower slowed us down a bit but a pair of Slavonian Grebe were found as we drove along.

Another WT Eagle was seen and a Peregrine caused some havoc as it tried to take a Redshank. So it was nice to concentrate on the small stuff for a change and get a few photographs of different birds like this Wren.

On the run

On the way to pick up the guests a bit of movement caught my eye. I could see it was black in colour but I didn't expect to see a cat with a kitten!

The tour got off to a good start with a nice Yellowhammer on the fence and a couple of WT Eagle including this youngster.

About 20 Golden Plover took flight as a Peregrine cruised past at our next stop. Another WT Eagle was seen sitting on a skerry as a couple of Golden Eagle soared above us. The usual array of common birds were seen through the day but a group of Pheasants on the run were worth taking a few shots of.

A Hen Harrier and a WT Eagle were seen just after we'd spent some time with an Otter.

A bundle of fun

Another glut of sightings. We started the day with the Golden Plover, Greenshank, Redshank and Dunlin. A WT Eagle was a good one to pick up early in the day while an Otter performed well before curling up to go to sleep. Good numbers of Common Seal were seen close to shore,

Just before lunch we found this bundle of fun.

A Yellowhammer was seen as we parked up for lunch, four Long-tailed Tit were flitting through the trees with a couple of Blue Tit for company, one Adder at the side of a track, 200 Eider and a single Lesser Redpoll. Quite a few Swallows were seen but we only found a single Wheatear. We managed another trio of raptors in the afternoon as we had a Sparrowhawk flying in front of the motor, a single Kestrel and last of all a nice sighting of a female Hen Harrier.

Vapour trails

It's nice to see the Little Grebe numbers increasing as the birds arrive in their winter quarters.

Plenty of interesting stuff to be seen at the start of this tour with the highlights being a couple of Common Snipe, a lone Northern Wheatear, quite a few Barn Swallow, a returning Great Northern Diver and a Golden Eagle. The camera never came out until we found a WT Eagle perched in a tree.

We decided to have lunch in the presence of the eagle and watched the Ringed Plover, Greenshank and Oystercatchers feeding along the shore. It was a peaceful scene until a Tornado came thudering through sporting vapour trails.

After lunch we watched an Otter making it's way along the shore for half an hour and another adult WT Eagle was seen sitting on a skerry. Another attempt for Golden Eagle didn't quite pay off but we did get the hard stare from this young WT eagle!

Visit

Another early morning visit from the Crossbills but we did get six more on the tour too.

After looking through the waders on the shore we got some nice views of a young WT Eagle loafing on the side of the loch...

...before it flew off.

You always see plenty of Buzzards around - flying, perched up, drying their wings etc - but I think this is the first time I've seen one sunbathing.

A Golden Eagle perched on the ridge took off to give us better views in flight. Three Otters were seen, four WT Eagles flying together before we got some pretty awesome views of Golden Eagle.

There are still plenty of Swallows about for now but the Wheatears are starting to thin out now. Other highlights were Snipe and Kestrel but sometimes it's the really common stuff that catches the eye, like a Robin - a really stunning bird.

Stunners

I'm seeing the Common Crossbills every day at the moment but they usually disappear before anyone turns up for the tours. We get them on the tours fairly regularly but most of them are just flying over.

Golden Plover, Lapwing, Dunlin and single Knot gave us a good start to the day. Cracking views of a Common Buzzard perched up at the side of the loch.

A few Greenshank were sleeping on the shore at high tide.

A Yellowhammer performed well as we stopped to look at a couple of Meadow Pipit. A Kestrel and a Sparrowhawk were having a bit of a tussle over the forestry and a Northern Wheatear was seen bounding down the road before perching up on an overhead wire. A Golden Eagle put on a superb display before drifting off.

An adult WT Eagle was seen heading out to a skerry where it perched up while a pod of about 8 Porpoise were feeding offshore. A juvenile WT Eagle gave us some closer views as it circled overhead.

Another couple of Wheatear were seen...

...while a few Mountain Hare were seen keeping an eye on Buzzard that appeared to be feeding on beetles.

There were plenty of Skylark giving superb views as they ran around close by.

Gannet

A nice start to the day as there were still plenty of Gannets around.

While watching the Gannets feeding we located 3 WT Eagles on the ridge. They were fairly distant but nice to see them flying around and landing but one of the birds peeled off and flew overhead. We lost sight of the eagle when we were watching a Common Seal but I had just caught sight of it disappearing. A quick change of location gave us some spectacular views.

Plenty of waders to be seen through the day - Golden Plover, Greenshank and Redshank were the highlights. A pair of Golden Eagle kept us entertained for a while. Plenty of common birds were seen along the way, a single sighting of an Adder and a few Black Darters around too.

Don't worry

It's always a good idea to not worry about what you will see on a day out as most things put in an appearance eventually. What was forecast as a clear day turned into a bit of a showery day which stopped us seeing Adders at the start of the tour. Cracking view of Skylark, Stonechat and then a Whitethroat were highlights. You don't see too may Yellowhammers so three birds perched on a wall were stunners. Black Guillemot, Eider, Kittiwake and Red-throated Diver were all seen before we pick up an Otter. Once again it was good views through the scope but just a bit too far for the camera.

A distant WT Eagle and Golden Eagle were seen in the afternoon. A good number of Golden Plover, Greenshank, Ringed Plover another 2 Golden Eagle and a superb sighting of 4 Crossbill. We had seen a couple of Hen Harrier but the best was saved for last as we got a fly past from a sub-adult WT Eagle.

Just a couple that escaped the camera on the day, so these were taken the day after, were the numerous Gannets...

...and plenty of Dragonflies, most of the large ones appear to be Common Hawker.

Having a paddle

The usual array of waders were seen outside the shop with Golden Plover, Knot and Greenshank being the picks. A large lump was spotted on the shore and on closer inspection it turned out to be a young WT Eagle having a paddle.

When the eagle eventually took off it caused a bit of a stir. Lots of gulls and quite a few Grey Heron. A particularly tatty looking heron flew overhead...

...as the eagle dominated the sky.

A Buzzard that was hunting the roadside didn't seem too worried about the grass dangling from the talons but he did have a glance at me!

Golden Eagle was a bit of a struggle with nothing to show from our first effort but a change of location gave us a view of three very distant birds. A bit of a wait and one of the birds had come close enough for a decent view. A couple of Adder, Mountain Hare and a few Dunlin finished the day off nicely.

Sticking your neck out

Another pleasant run out started off quietly with a few of the common birds with Common Whitethroat, Golden Plover, Greenshank and plenty of Stonechat being the highlights.

A look for Otter was interrupted by a close view of an adult WT Eagle flying past.

While we watched it soaring away two Golden Eagle put in an appearance. They all managed to do all their circling right in front of the sun!

Only a mile or so down the road and we clapped eyes on another three WT Eagle. They were a bit distant but when they started interacting it became a lot more interesting. Quite a bit of touching talons went on and you can see how far they can stick their neck out!

You could also see that they were sub adult birds with similar wing moult going on.

A Slow Worm was a good find on the day. There were plenty of Swallows still to be seen, Linnets are gathering into flocks...

...plenty of Skylark...

...and the Adders are still showing but it looks like they may be thinking about hibernation soon.

We managed to catch up with a couple of Hen Harriers and when we thought one of them was sitting on a post we all jumped out to find it was a Buzzard. You win some, you lose some!