I'm back

It's been a long time but I lost the will to live with blogger due to the internet problems. It took seven months to get it fixed - Facebook was easier to upload to so that has been a big help. I'm jut dabbling at the moment so here are few photos from earlier in the year - March to June in no particular order...

Buff-tip

 Common Sandpiper

 Golden Eagle

 Golden Plover

 Golden-ringed Dragonfly

 Male Hen Harrier

 Female Hen Harrier

 Montain Hare

 Otter

 Puffin

 Razorbill

 Redshank

 Common Seal

 Skylark

 Common Snipe

 Stonechat

 Treecreeper

 Whinchat

 White-tailed Eagle

 Yellowhammer

Newcastle

A trip down to Newcastle to see the family saw us heading out into the countryside on the windiest day of our trip. The weather was nice enough and the fish and chips were a real treat! Cresswell Pond was a bit exposed so a few photos of the Common Teal...

...and the Snipe were worth the effort.

A Blackbird that just watched us wandering back to the car got the camera treatment too.

A quick trip into Amble for some sustenance and then down to the beach to watch the waders. Quite a few Turnstone and Sanderling to watch...

...and the occasional Redshank dropping in too.

Perched

Lots of birds were perched up ready to be scrutinised by the guests on this tour. We started the day with a Common Snipe on a post...

...but when we passed a bit later on there was a Redshank in it's place. We had an hour long encounter with an Otter in the morning - cracking views as it came ashore to head into the holt. Whinchat, Stonechat and Reed Bunting were all seen but people do like to get a good look at a Common Sandpiper.

The Curlews are still keeping sentry around their chicks.

We had seen a GN Diver when we were watching the Otter and I passed comment that we probably wouldn't see another - we only found two more! We finally saw one of the Common Seals with a pup so there should be a bit more action at the colony for a while. We had some fleeting glimpses of Cuckoo through the day, views of Golden Eagle and a cracking Tree Pipit.

Mountain Hare and displaying Snipe were no match for a family of Wheatears sheltering under a rock - aaaaahhhh!

It's all about the guests

This post covers three different tours where we seen pretty much the same stuff but I don't always get the chance to get photos. The guests come first so it's only when everyone has seen whatever we are looking at that I can get a chance to take a photograph. The Common Snipe is always a popular sighting - plenty of them doing sentry duty.

The WT Eagle sightings have been awesome but that's no surprise with a bird that size!

We managed to see Otter on two of the three tours and there are still some GN Divers hanging around.

The Hen Harrier sightings are getting more frequent as the male bird are starting to work harder to feed the chicks.

Most of the Golden Eagles appear to have failed down the SW of Mull but the adults can still be seen flying around.

Another lingering bird is this Pink-footed Goose.

There appear to be very few Linnet and Twite around this year so it was a real delight to find this singing male Twite.

White

We had 5 Common Scoter and a couple of Common Tern to get us off to a good start on this tour. There are quite a few Curlew that are keeping an eye on their chicks so it was no surprise to find this bird calling to the young.

We had a brief view of a Golden Eagle and decent views of the WT Eagle but things went a bit quiet for an hour so the likes of Stonechat and Meadow Pipit fill in the time. A single white Bluebell was admired along the way.

A distant view of a tatty looking 2 year old WT Eagle was followed up with a close Golden Eagle...

...but as that bird disappeared a 3 year old WT Eagle drifted into view!

A couple of Cuckoos were seen while we had a look at the Tawny Owl and a single Whinchat was spotted. There are plenty of Redshank around but I haven't seen any young yet.

A chipping Snipe was heard and then located on a gate post.

Good views of Mountain Hare, plenty of Common Seal, an Otter and lots of Red Deer too.

Catch up part 2

The Common Sandpipers are starting to settle down in their breeding sites - but not on this boat!

Common Snipe can be seen keeping an eye on their breeding sites from a high point.

We are seeing Otters pretty much every day but I haven't managed to get any photos until this one came to check us out before heading into it's holt.

It was nice to get a good view of a Whinchat as the numbers of these birds are still down.

Most of the Golden Plover are close to breeding territory but this one is still on holiday at the beach!

The last of the migrants have arrived but I'm sure the numbers are down on last year - only a few Spotted Flycatcher.

There are terns around but I have only seen Common Tern up to now.

The Mountain Hares are performing well on the good days but they can be difficult in poor weather.

The Golden Eagles are starting to feed young now so there should be some good showings from them.