Improvement

A quick update on the wee kitten Sula - she's growing well and she's a little bundle of trouble. Butter wouldn't melt...

Friday saw a bit of an improvement in the weather as the clouds started to break up there was a fair bit of blue sky through the day. The clouds hanging against the land was quite atmospheric though.

While admiring the view an adult WT Eagle flew in so the opportunity was there to improve on the poor shot I took the previous day. First off a nice size comparison with a Hooded Crow that was determined to pull the eagles tail.

I missed the tail pull but there wasn't enough light to freeze the movement in this one but it does show the impressive size of the wings.

A couple of Little Grebe were fishing in the sea so it was nice to get a photo of them too.

The young bird that I photographed on Thursday was present too so it was time to get that improved photo with no misting of lenses going on. Before you get the improved shot I did manage to get the bird taking off but what a hash I made of it!

So here we go - this is what the steamy photo should have looked like. Much, much better!

Poor weather = bad day?

Thursday I was back out on tour in pretty poor conditions. Quite often you are asked if it's worth going out in poor conditions...read on! We had an early start to get the best out of the daylight hours and what a good start we had. We took in the obligatory Cormorant, Shag, Grey Heron, RB Merganser and GN Diver before we spotted a monstrous shape on the rocks in the distance. It could only be a WT Eagle.

We got close enough to get stunning views and a tremendous digiscoped effort with the camera lens well and truly steamed up! Better luck next time eh?

The rain was lashing down at this point and the three Otters that the eagle had been watching kept us out in the wet stuff for another 20 minutes. It looked like the weather was set in for a while so we peered out of the windows at the Common Gulls, Oystercatcher and Red Deer and the rain just stopped all of a sudden - excellent. We drove past the three Otters and picked up another two close to shore before moving on. The cloud base was still quite low but the wind was supposed to pick up which might improve our chances of getting Golden Eagle. We moved round the loch picking up a single male Goosander, 2 RB Merg, 4 Whooper Swan and a few Common Teal before we headed for lunch. A brief stop to look at the seals was worth the effort with one of them attempting to impersonate a wet rabbit.

The wind had really picked so it was no surprise when we spotted two large birds in the sky ahead of us. We watched them wheel around to get an ID on them - WT Eagle again. We drove closer to get some brief but spectacular views. These two birds stuck around while we had lunch too so that was a bonus but, despite the fact that they were flying around a Goldie territory, there was no sign of their smaller cousin.

The rain was still threatening to start again so we thought it was wise to seek out a Golden Eagle while we could. Another territory, another attempt. Nothing in the sky at all and then it all happened at once - a Common Buzzard appeared with a Golden Eagle in the distance only for both of them to disappear. It happened again only this time we had two Golden Eagle in the distance - we had to get closer. We drove down to where we'd seen the birds flying to find nothing but a small herd of Red Deer. A bit of a wait in the chilly breeze and some frustratingly brief views and all of a sudden one of the birds was rushing in from behind us not 20 yards away - fantastic. We had both of the birds at close quarters so it had been worth the effort of tracking them down.

The dull conditions were not conducive to good photos but you can be assured that what we saw on the day was pretty amazing to say the least. We carried on with our search for new stuff and it just kept on getting better. A female Hen Harrier hunting in front of us was a cracking find and the photo was suitably useless as it was taken through the windscreen. We had the bird down to about ten yards at times but the camera wasn't having any of that!!

We'd picked up the Greenland White-fronted Geese which had increased to 20 but no sign of any juvenile birds but there didn't seem to be much else around. I had a hunch there might be a few extra things to add if we checked a bit harder though. As we drove down one of the tracks we came across this sight.

There were 80 Whooper Swan in this flooded area with plenty of young birds amongst them (you can see quite a few of the pale billed, greyer looking young birds in the photo). A bigger surprise was the 15 strong flock of Greenland White-fronted Goose that took flight as we arrived. You can see how dark these birds look compared to the larger, greyer winged, Greylag Goose in the bottom left of the flock.

A Mountain Hare gave itself up in the windy conditions and we'd bagged most of the specialities that you get up here but there was still more to come. Our return journey gave us another three Otters, more seals and literally seconds before finishing we picked up a Merlin. We watched the Merlin as it attempted to catch a small bird twisting and turning with amazing agility but all the effort was to no avail as the falcon gave up and perched on a fence post - fantastic!!!

A really wild show...

Monday turned out to be a really wild show with the weather whipping up a real storm. I didn't have too long to look around as the nasty weather was due to start about 12 noon so I squeezed in as much as I could in an hour and a half! I drove past the three Otter in the choppy sea to head for what I hoped would be more sheltered waters. It wasn't too bad but nothing was close to shore - the odd GN Diver, a couple of Slavonian Grebe, 30 Teal and a unmistakable outline of a Peregrine overhead.

 

The rain was just starting to fall so another quick look around the ridges - bingo - 4 WT Eagle in the air together before dropping back down. I kept my eye on the area to see if they would reappear. A juvenile WT Eagle rode the wind back into view as two Golden Eagle appeared from my right. The WT Eagle landed on the hillside as another Golden Eagle put in an appearance - not bad for a twenty minute viewing. The rain started to lash down as the wind picked up so it was time to head back. The Shag were hanging on by their toenails...

 ...as the wind started to whip the sea into a frenzy.

The rain really did come down in the afternoon but on the plus side, for me, it grounded a couple of Whooper Swan. With the roads starting to flood we headed for the warmth of the fire.

By Tuesday morning the persistent rain had abated to showers, the wind had dropped and the Whoopers had increased to four.

 

The only other notable sighting for the day was a small group of six Greenland White-fronted Geese that included a couple of juvenile birds.

Wednesday was another showery day with some good sightings had in the morning. A cracking Red-throated Diver was showing at close quarters until the camera came out.

 

The Grey Herons were holding on to their favourite fishing spots but keeping a close eye on what else was out there looking for a meal.

You can't afford to take you eyes off an Otter so the appearance of two certainly had the Heron on the alert.

The two Otters that I spotted initially soon turned into three as the mum joined the two cubs.

I had a quick look around the berried bushes to see if the Waxwings were still around but there was no sign. Three Blackbird, 3 Bullfinch, 2 Blue Tit, 3 Great Tit and a couple of Redwing kept the interest going.

A different Heron in a different pose but on reflec....nah we'll not go there!

On my drive round the loch I'd had a Northern Wheatear fly up in front of me but I couldn't relocate the bird for a photograph so I kept an eye out on the way back - result.

It's not all about the big sightings either - I've been trying to get a photo of a Collared Dove bathing on the side of the road but I haven't managed it yet! Nice birds though.