Rain Goose

Wednesday was another wet one and just to prove it, have a look at the rain in this shot - apologies for the bird that got in the way of the shot!

You can't let the weather put you off and you get your rewards too. We picked up an Otter despite the high tide and got good views before it clambered out of the water and ran off down the road!

As we turned to get back in the motor another Otter came away from the shore. That kept us in place for another twenty minutes. 

 Red-throated Diver is always a nice bird to catch up with. This bird is also known as the Rain Goose and they really do show more in wet weather - you hear the cackling flight call as they come to the lochs and there always seems to be a group of four to six birds around if you look hard enough.

The rest of the day went well as the rain stopped and we had a glimpse of a Bottle-nosed Dolphin, good views of Snipe, Redshank and a cracking male Hen Harrier to finish as I made my way home.

Thursday was a brighter day with showers. We started the day well with a couple of Otters, WT Eagle and Crossbill. A family party of Bullfinch took a bit of time to get good views but well worth the effort. One of the highlights was trying to get photos of a Red Deer stag with it's head up. Mostly you try to stay quiet around the wildlife but the Deer that spent time near the roads are quite unflappable as they have seen and heard it all.

While everyone was snapping away at the deer I caught a glimpse of a Spotted Flycatcher.

A cracking day all round and another male Hen Harrier to finish.

Friday started off hot, sunny and rubbish for wildlife. We picked up 3 Black-tailed Godwit at the start of the day and then it went quiet.

It can't stay that way for too long so the WT Eagle was the one to break the quiet spell. The afternoon was the complete opposite as we spent most of our time watching Otters. The first one was asleep on the shore but the next one was out fishing. We spent quite a bit of time watching this one and also got Golden Eagle flying over at the same time!

The third Otter was also out in the water...

...and we were watched closely by a Common Seal.

The last stop of the day produced a couple of newly fledged Hen Harrier along with the female bird - awesome.

The Hitcher.

Nothing particularly exciting over a beautiful weekend apart from this Green Arches moth on the wall...

...and a Tawny Owl in the garden.

Monday was another cracking day but a bit hot for the wildlife. Both types of eagle were seen in the morning and a Buzzard taking up it's regular sentry post.

We struggled through the rest of the day but managed to pick up quite a few of the common birds and a nice Dark Green Fritillary.

We had to wait until the end of the day to get an Otter sighting but it was worth it as we picked up a mum with two cubs.
Tuesday was a complete contrast with a cool day that had showers all day but much better for picking up the wildlife. We started the day with a few Mountain Hares and a few Snipe while looking for a male Hen Harrier that had flown past while I was waiting for the guests to arrive. Another location turned up a male Hen Harrier that everyone saw and then a whole heap of birds appeared...Reed Bunting, Wheatear, Bullfinch, Whinchat and Great Tit all in the same place! A Sedge Warbler did it's best to hide from us but we managed to get good views all the same. At our next stop the local gull flock gave away the presence of our first WT Eagle of the day and a small flock of birds we picked up turned out to be a family party of Bullfinch.

A juv WT Eagle was patiently standing around while we ate our lunch before it was seen off by a group of Hooded Crow. The weather had turned to mostly rain by now but not to be deterred we kept plugging away getting a couple of good sightings of a Snipe and a cracking adult WT Eagle in flight.

My guests for the day, Simon and Ann, had booked me exclusively to celebrate their wedding anniversary but at their request we had picked up a young hitchhiker who was attempting to get to the fossil tree at Burg. The hitcher had to be persuaded that her travel plan was unwise and it would be better if she stayed with us. With that sorted out we found ourselves an Otter and even got a fly past from a WT Eagle too! Could it get any better? Course it can - I saw my first Swift of the year (thanks Ann). We finished the day with 56 species of bird plus the mammal list and Slow Worm - top notch!!

Everybody stay cool.

Another month comes to an end but the sightings remain good and, as you know, every day has been different. The last two days of June provided some surprises and not all good! A bit of a tough one on Wednesday as the top priority was Golden Eagle and we struggled. We started well with an Otter before we had everyone on board. The WT Eagle chicks are really looking the part now as they find their feet and do some wing flapping. It's going to be a bit of tight squeeze in there if both birds want to flap at the same time! We managed to locate another Otter to get everyone on to an equal score - phew! A Golden Eagle put in the briefest appearance and not enough for the folk that saw it to be sure it was real. No such problem with the male and female Hen Harriers that flew around or the stunning male Lesser Redpoll that was picked up while we watched the family party of Whinchat. We decided to put some effort into getting the Goldies so a change of location and a bit of waiting around finally got us two birds in the air together. Another good finish with a Corncrake heard, a few Mountain Hare and a Redshank with a youngster.
Thursday provided the same problem with the Golden Eagles. It was a fine enough day with a bit of a breeze blowing that kept the midges away. Corncrake and Mountain Hare were on the list early doors and Rook was the only thing I managed to photograph!

Crossbill and Buzzard were the best we could do as we had our first attempt at the large raptors. A female Hen Harrier showed well and a frustratingly brief Golden Eagle was overshadowed by an Adder and a Slow Worm. No sign of any Otters and no sign of any large raptors taking to the skies - a call was made for everybody to stay cool, it'll happen soon! Our luck changed in the afternoon when we found a skulking Otter that was a real struggle to get onto but all that changed as two Otters exploded over the top of a rock. They caused a real ruckus as they tumbled over the rocks chittering loudly. It was a male trying to get the attention of a female and she wanted no part in the matter. Certainly a nature in the raw moment that one. Another Otter was seen in more serene conditions before we viewed the WT Eagles. There was still the pressing matter of Golden Eagle to sort out. A last gasp effort had some of us viewing a Golden Eagle flying along the ridge and a change of location to relocate the bird doubled the sight as we picked up two birds sitting on the hill. The close view of a Red Deer stag was a bonus as we headed back to base.

It all comes right in the end, I guess. I'll leave this post with a snap taken this morning.