May

Plenty of stuff to see now that most of the migrants are in but we still started the day with some of the regulars - Crossbill, Chaffinch, Stonechat etc. A single Golden Plover was displaying over the loch so there must be more birds there somewhere. A Common Whitethroat was singing at the top of a tree while we looked for Otter.

 There are still plenty of GN Diver around the loch but this one has a punky hair-do!

Cracking views of the WT Eagles but I was a bit slow with the camera.

Yet another Northern Wheatear...

...a Blackcap heard singing, 5 Lesser Redpoll and plenty of Rock Pipit.

There are quite a few White Wagtail (Pied Wagtail is a subspecies of this bird) hanging around the beaches at the moment.

At our last stop of the day we had a single Twite, a couple of Mountain Hare and 10 Whimbrel.

Chilly.

Friday the skies were still blue but the wind was a chilly northerly. Just before the guests arrived I had a WT Eagle fly past me.

No sign of any Mountain Hares in the morning but a flock of about 30 Whimbrel and a couple of Black-tailed Godwit were nice compensation. The Golden Plover were still present too.

Two Cuckoos, two Golden Eagles and two distant Hen Harriers were all nice to see while we had lunch but the close male Hen Harrier made up for the two distant ones. While watching the adult WT Eagles at the nest we reckoned that there were two chicks being fed - good news there. The two SE Owls and a female Hen Harrier seemed like a good finish to the day until we came across a Peregrine - awesome!

Saturday we woke up to a dusting of snow on the high ground. The weather faired up for the tour but the chilly weather had this Great Tit lining it's nest with copious amounts of wool.

We started the day with the WT Eagles and managed to confirm that there were two chicks in the nest. We got a nice comparison between a summer and winter plumaged GN Diver in the morning. It was a bit of a quiet morning but it soon picked up with Red Deer and Common Seal seen not too far apart. A couple of Goldfinch showed well...

...just before seeing the Tawny Owl out in the open sunning itself!

Our good fortune continued with views of Golden Eagle, a couple of Adder and the first sighting of the juvenile Dippers fresh out of the nest.

A fly over Peregrine was a good find in the afternoon. The waders were good to us too with a 30 strong flock of Whimbrel, Redshank, Dunlin and Ringed Plover all seen. Our last bird of the day was a nice White Wagtail...

...that looked twice the size with it's feathers all fluffed up!

Aprils last shower.

The last day of the month started with a little April shower. A good start to the day was had as we picked up a few Red Deer, Swallow and a Tawny Owl.

The rain had stopped fairly early on and the clouds were starting to break as we picked up a Short-eared Owl sitting on the fence. Next up was brief view of an Otter but after a bit of searching we got good views of it.

The sightings came thick and fast after that with GN Diver, Common Sandpiper, WT Eagle, a few Twite and Common Seal all seen before lunch. A Golden Eagle was seen at a distance with a Hen Harrier mobbing it. We thought that was it for the eagle sightings so it was a surprise when two birds appeared at close quarters.

I couldn't make up my mind which photo to use so this one is for Vince...

...and another for good measure!

A good search around finally turned up an Adder found by one of the guests. The afternoon was just as productive but the highlights were a fly over Great Skua, White Wagtail...

...a Mountain Hare, some stunning Golden Plover...

...a couple of Linnet which prompted a sinalong...

My old man said "Follow the van,

And don't dilly dally on the way".

Off went the van wiv me 'ome packed in it,

I followed on wiv me old cock linnet.

But I dillied and dallied, dallied and I dillied

Lost me way and don't know where to roam.

Well you can't trust a special like the old time coppers

When you can't find your way 'ome.

 
...and some cracking views of Skylark.