Something to crow about

As this post is going out on the 12th August I'd just like to say that the two female and one male Hen Harrier that were seen today were a real treat.
We had a cracking view of an Otter having a real struggle to bring it's catch ashore. It wasn't until it reached a decent bit of shore that we got sight of the fighter - a cracking Lobster.

There have been plenty of Common Lizards hanging around...

...very close to the Adders. You would think the Adders would be picking them off.

Another good sighting this last week was the young WT Eagle taking one of it's first flights. I'm hoping that the secondary feathers are just naturally curled upwards and not some problem that the bird has.

The local Buzzard looked good in the morning light...

...while the Mink was nice to see but not so welcome.

A Carrion Crow has been loitering at the back of one of the fields for about a week now - one close view is all you need for a photo.

While visiting the Adder site the screaming of a House Martin alerted me to a passing bird of prey - Hen Harrier, fantastic!

Just as fantastic was the Song Thrush collecting food for it's young.

Time marches on

The signs of a change in the season are everywhere now with the Hazel catkins looking good, the willow trees coming into leaf, Daffodils in the garden and the return of the Pied Wagtail setting the boundaries for his territory.

A nice calm day but still overcast - I'm sure the weather will improve soon.

I finally caught up with a Tawny Owl the other morning - he was going to bed just as I was getting up! The place is alive with birds singing at the moment but it's all the common birds like Blue Tit, Great Tit, Chaffinch, Robin, Wren and Song Thrush.

Even the Great Northern Divers were calling to each other.

The Common Crossbills are seen every day at the moment and some views are better than others but you can always hear the male singing.

The gulls will start searching out their breeding sites but for now they are still gathering on the shore but the display flights are becoming more regular - time marches on.

Golden Eagle

With an errand to do I traveled a bit further on this run out. I stopped to get a couple of snaps of this Redshank...

...but a bird flying along the hillside caught my eye. By the time I had parked the bird was not flying but perched on a rock. A Golden Eagle is always an exciting sight...

...but you can't beat a well marked first year bird when it takes to the air.

A Reasonably close Great Northern Diver was next bird to slow me down but by this time the light was starting to go...

...and it was raining when I located a few Barnacle Geese in a field.

A Song Thrush allowed a close approach which helped with this image.

It always seems to be the female Red-breasted Mergansers that are closest to the shore while the males seem to move off quite quickly.

A quick run out with Postie in the afternoon to look for the mum and two cubs was fruitless but we did see a couple of Golden Eagle and three separate Otters...

...and a pair of White-tailed Eagle.

Blasted

It's nice to be back online at last! I get what I get when I go out and I'm not targeting anything in particular. I've spent more time looking to add birds to the Patchwork list but I'm not having much luck in that department - I can't even find a Pheasant to put on the list! Anyhoo, while crossing my patchwork boundary I came across a WT Eagle cruising along the shore but with nowhere to stop I had to keep going and that put some distance between me and the bird.

A bit of sunshine didn't encourage anything of note to appear in the areas that I visited (bet something showed up after I left though!) but there were nice views of Song Thrush...

...and Redwing to be had.

We got blasted by the weather - 60 mph winds and a bit of rain and snow - so the expectation was that something would turn up. It all looked fairly quiet apart from a decent smattering of GN Diver (about 20 birds) on the loch. Plants are fairly reliable so I checked out the Pale Butterwort.

A Redshank was feeding in the shallows but with strong light behind the bird - good pose though.

There were masses of gulls on the shore as the tide was receding so I gave them a good grilling and turned up a nice adult Glaucous Gull - result.

There were a few RB Merg along the shore and they look impressive in flight.

This Curlew may stand out quite well in the photo but trying to keep an eye on it while I found somewhere to stop wasn't that easy.

Flat.

It was a pretty miserable start to the day as can be seen by this Barn Swallow sitting it out.

Our initial sighting of WT Eagle was a bit grim as it was difficult to see anything through the mist clinging to the trees. We tried from a couple of viewpoints and managed to get a reasonable view.An Otter was seen on the shore a couple of times but we soon lost it when it headed back into the choppy sea. An easier spot was a couple of Common Sandpiper squabbling while a third bird egged them on!

The weather started to clear just in time for a visit to the Golden Eagles. Pretty good views of both birds in flight and sitting on the cliffs, good views of Cuckoo and a superb fly past by one of the Goldies.

We checked out the Wood Warbler and found a Spotted Flycatcher as well then bumped into some Red Deer stags.

We picked up some Red Deer hinds and just as we were going to move on a male Hen Harrier appeared...

...then straight on to Whinchat...

...and an Adder was looking very flat as soaked up the heat.

The Chaffinch is a stunning bird but sadly it's too common for many to take notice!

The Rock Dove is another superb bird but it's just a Pigeon to most people.

There are plenty of Buzzards to see at the moment sitting on posts and hanging in the wind.

A Song Thrush was much admired as it sang at the side of the road...

...and I was surprised to see the Whimbrel but no surprises to find a couple of Mountain Hare.

Corncrake.

A trip over to Iona with Doc to have a look for Corncrakes was quite productive. The day started off with rain but it was supposed to get clearer as the day went on. In cool and breezy conditions there was not a Corncrake to be heard! Things did improve but there were a few distractions along the way...Sedge Warbler ...

...Pied Wagtail...

...and some cracking views of Corncrake!

Other delights were some splendid Jackdaws...

...and plenty of tourist Corncrake - Song Thrush.

We spent a fair bit of time trying to track the Corncrake through the grass...

...watching them disappear into clumps of grass...

...and hiding in the brambles.

You could see them watching you...

...but they were showy too.

They may have stood in the open...

...but when they were face on they were surprisingly hard to pick up.

But how do you find the elusive Corncrake?

Just wait for them to start shouting!

A couple of Starling families were housed in the walls and not fussed by the passing humans.

A trip out to Staffa with Davy Kirkpatrick was well worth it. A couple of year ticks on the way there - Manx Shearwater and Purple Sandpiper plus a few Twite, Black Guillemot, Puffin...

...and a superb Great Skua.