Spy cam!

This could be a regular feature but as usual it will be up to the wildlife to perform. Finding the time and places to put out a surveillance camera has paid off. Not too many surprises but plenty of interest.
Here we go then...Common Sandpiper...

...and a Dipper looking for food.

Dipper getting it's best side on the camera.

A change of location and a bit cramped here so I wasn't sure of how things would turn out. First one to perform was this young Robin.

Then a Short-tailed Vole.

What is that on the left hand side of the photo? Could it be whiskers?

The the next photo after the one above showed nothing but disturbed ground - close but no prize!

Another vole but this time after dark.

Probably the owner of the whiskers - an Otter. As you can see the cramped area doesn't help with the photo but the information gained is useful.

An hour later another head appeared through the vegetation, this time Red Deer.

The next time the camera went off something had stopped right in front of it and I had nothing but a white photo. The next photo gave a clue.

You can see the hazy look of the photo above as an Otter pokes it head through the vegetation. The sequence of photos showed that Otter backing off and the hazy look got worse as another Otter put it's face in front of the camera!

That will do for something different and hopefully there will be more.

Blue Otter.

Tuesday was an early start in pleasant conditions. It was a bit overcast with no wind so the midges were going to be a treat. I disturbed a couple of Red Deer as I left home - they really do look cheesed off!

We hit lucky at our first stop as we picked up two Otters but one of these gave us the slip almost immediately. The Otter we were left with caught a fish and headed for shore as we got into position. As the Otter finished it's breakfast it headed straight towards us, there was nothing we could do but sit still! As you can see this is the rare blue phase Otter;-)

The Common Seals are always nice to see - the closer, the better.

I saw my first, fledged, Swallows of the year today. The Swallows should be well into their second brood by now but the poor weather in May has really held them back.

We had a walk up one of the glens where the most notable thing was the lack of birds. A change of location and we were back in business with a pair of WT Eagle perched up and an Otter in the sea. As we headed off to get a closer look at the Otter we noticed the gulls in a panic - one of the WT Eagle came flying over the car! Lucky for us it turned around and came back. They say you should always give your photographic subject space to move - I thought I gave it plenty of space but it was a bit quick!

We caught up with family parties of Willow Warbler, Whitethroat, Stonechat and Meadow Pipit all in the same place - quite a sight that! A Golden-ringed Dragonfly was the last poser of the day.

Good weather!

The weather has settled down a bit so the blue skies are a bit of a feature now. The view remains the same.

Monday was a tough day in places but a good start helps so the WT Eagle and two Otters we saw were a treat. Golden Eagle we saw as we had lunch and the Slow Worm was a first for most people. We did pick up quite a bit of the common birds as we went along but this Common Lizard was a surprise find.

Plenty of photos of this one but none better than getting down to the Lizards level.

A single Mountain Hare showed well...

...as we searched around for a few wading birds to boost the numbers. The only other notable sighting of the day was a Pied Wagtail having a good feed on the back of a Red Deer.