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.

End of April

I'm a little bit behind with the blog but I'll catch up soon. A few snaps from the end of April when Rick T kindly took me out (Cheers, mate). Common Sandpiper doing some wing stretching.

We got cracking view of a Golden Eagle being mobbed by a Raven.

The biggest gull in the world - Great Black-backed Gull.

I'm not seeing that many Twite at the moment so it was nice to see this one.

A Wren was singing in a bush and it was kind enough to pose for a few snaps too.

This won't be the last picture of Northern Wheatear!

My PWC ended up with 92 species and 115 points. I was top of the Coastal Scotland league for March but I won't hold on to that.

On a post.

The weather was going to deteriorate through the day so we decided to mix things up a bit to get the best out of the day. We started off with the Adder while the first band of rain came through and managed to hit lucky and just as we were about to leave a Golden Eagle put in an appearance - result.

As we drove along we got a brief view of Spotted Flycatcher on a post, Wheatear on a post, a Snipe on a post and two Golden Plover that were not on a post.

We had  a round up of flowers along the way but while we were viewing some Pale Butterwort I picked up a couple of Otters that were fishing. We watched them head to land with a meal and managed to get decent views of them in the rain.

A view of the WT Eagle was nice and when we headed back down the road we found the two Otters a bit closer.

A Black Guillemot was well watched as it struggled to get it's catch down the hatch.

Despite the weather we still managed to get a view of the Wood Warbler and we finished the day with nice views of Twite.

Tiger.

A few Dunlin were wading in the shallows while I waited for the guests to arrive.

An Otter was found while we watched a couple of GN Diver at our first stop.

There wasn't much action from the WT Eagle nest but we fared better with the Golden Eagles as both birds were seen, one with a Mountain Hare, and the chick was seen too. The Wood Warbler looked superb in the sunshine...

...and just as good in the shade.

An Adder was doing it's best to stay in the shade and a Golden Eagle gave us a fly past but I wasn't quick enough with the camera.

The Green Tiger Beetle was easier to get to grips with.

 Plenty of other stuff was seen - Cuckoo, Whinchat, Whimbrel, Dunlin etc before we caught up with a couple of Twite. One of the birds was sporting some colour rings so the details have been sent in and we'll await a reply.

Funky.

There are quite a few photo in this one so I'll not have too many words. We started the day in fine style with a male Hen Harrier overhead.

A few GN Divers, a nice Whinchat, a Razorbill and four Otters came next.

While watching the Otters a Willow Warbler was singing in a bush next us.

A posing Skylark at the side of the road.

Two Golden Eagles were seen while we watched the WT Eagle near it's nest. Another two Golden Eagles were seen at their nest site.

A walk in the woods gave us superb views of Wood Warbler...

...and some funky looking Red Deer.

A WT Eagle flying across the loch was a good find while a Whitethroat posed in a bush.

Whinchat, Adder, Cuckoo, Turnstone, Dunlin and Sanderling were all seen well.

A Hen Harrier tried it's best to get it's photo taken but I wasn't up to the job!

A Mountain Hare was having a stretch.

Four Lesser Redpoll were feeding on the grassy part of the shore...

...while five Twite flew over with a couple of them landing on the wires.

Crossbill.

Just before the guests turned up for the tour I had a male Common Crossbill singing at the top of a conifer.

First stop for the day was for Golden Eagle - tough to see on the nest but it did the right thing and flew over the top of us!

An Otter asleep on the shore was next up and then views of the WT Eagle with it's chick on show too. Not a  bad start to the day. A female Hen Harrier was seen by a few and a couple of Stonechat and a few Red Deer were seen too. A male Hen Harrier was seen by all at the next stop and the Adder was sheltering from the stiff breeze.

Plenty of waders still to be seen on our travels with the usual Turnstone, Dunlin and Ringed Plover. A couple of Whimbrel were seen at our last stop of the day...

...three Golden Plover were difficult to pick out...

...but the two Mountain Hares were a bit easier.

Two Twite were flighty but we got decent views with a bit of patience...

...and I'm not sure what you will make of this bird! Any ideas?

Cuckoo.

Just before setting off to pick the guests up for the day I had a good view of a Cuckoo sitting on a fence post. Two Otters were seen at the first stop but we had other guests to pick up. With everyone on board we headed back to one of the Otters for better views.

A couple of Razorbill and GN Diver were seen while watching the Otter. Probably the same Cuckoo I had seen earlier was perched on another post as we drove along the road.

The weather conditions were pretty poor but we managed to see one Golden Eagle on the nest and another bird perched close by. A WT Eagle sitting on the nest was overshadowed by a male Hen Harrier that gave good views. A few Buzzards had been seen along the way but one perched on a rock was worth stopping for - it didn't stay for long.

While searching for Adders in wet conditions a Golden Eagle gave us some cracking views.

We spent the afternoon looking for some of the smaller birds and hit lucky with a couple of Lesser Redpoll...

...and a few Yellowhammer.

Four Whooper Swan were seen from a distance so we went for a closer look.

While peering at some Turnstone and Ringed Plover a couple of Twite flew in and landed right next to us - awesome.

A few Dunlin, a single Snipe, Lapwing on the nest and a single Mountain Hare were all very good to see and the last sighting of the day was a summer plumage Great Northern Diver.