Not the best.

A quick run out on Tuesday in some, briefly, brighter conditions. Not the best set of photographs but it's all I have. I thought it might be worth looking for Golden Eagle to start with and I wasn't disappointed. One of the birds was perched on the skyline being hassled by a Kestrel and it wasn't too long before it took flight. You can see the Goldie keeping an eye on the Kestrel in this one.

It wasn't the Kestrel that got the Golden Eagle up but it's mate was arriving on the scene.

With all the snow there are a lot of Red Deer close to the road at the moment. Nice to get one with a snowy background.

A change of location produced another Golden Eagle sitting on a rock on the skyline but it was pretty distant. The light was starting to fade as the cloud started to build up. A Buzzard was sitting on a telegraph pole and I could hear a vehicle approaching so I waited for the bird to take off.

I spent a pleasant half an hour watching this WT Eagle hoping for it to take flight.

While I waited I had a couple of Common Seals come to check me out, a couple of GN Diver were calling to each other when they surfaced, a group of 30 Shag were fishing offshore and a couple of Greylag Goose cackled their way past too.

I followed a small flock of Long-tailed Tit along the road but the light was too poor for photos. We'd seen a Peregrine outside the shop earlier in the morning but we lost sight of it as it stooped at the waders on the shore. I was surprised to find, possibly, the same bird some three hours later sitting digesting a meal.

Icing on the cake.

Saturday was another showery day - wind and hail, not a good combination! The only sensible thing to do was go for a walk in the woods. I took the opportunity to get a few shots of this stag as it posed close to the road.

The wander round the woods was pleasant enough as the trees cut down the wind speed. Not a great deal to be seen but anything is better than nothing - plenty of Blackbirds, Pheasant, Coal Tit, Blue Tit, Great Tit and Kestrel. The 'icing on the cake' for the walk was a group of four Crossbills that landed at the top of a conifer and the male birds started to sing - stunning!

We finished our walk getting pelted with hailstones but it was worth it.
It snowed a bit on Sunday and a bit more on Sunday night. Monday morning the hills were white but best of all the wind had dropped a bit. A fairly productive day for a couple of hours shower dodging...first off was a Hen Harrier that headed off pretty quickly. Good numbers of Buzzard on the wing, Redwing flying up from the roadside, Divers on the loch, a sleeping Otter and two WT Eagle were all nice to see but hardly a photograph taken. A hail shower came blazing in just as I found two Slavonian Grebe and a Water Rail called from a rushy area. The hail stopped and I couldn't find the Slavs or hear the Rail but I did spot two Otters - which one to go for! I went for the furthest one, good choice. I just got in position and it headed straight for me!

It clambered up the rock in front of me for a better look...

...wandered past and settled down for a clean up - awesome!

The Otter moved off, the hail moved in and I left. The Hen Harrier that I'd seen earlier was floating about but it was still distant.

It landed on a post so I clambered out for a better view but I got distracted by some Red Deer jumping the fence.

No sign of the Harrier after that. My last effort of the day was a shot of a Redwing that was with a single Mistle Thrush and a few Blackbirds.

November out, December in.

A quick run out on Wednesday wasn't too bad. I started the day with a Whooper Swan outside the shop.

The wind was pretty savage so I didn't do a great deal but it's better to be out there than not. A visit to the beach produced six Turnstone, ten Ringed Plover and a mean looking Herring Gull.

One of the Turnstones had a bath while the others carried on feeding. So that's November dealt with...

...and on with December. The forecast was reasonable for the first of the month - it looked good just before the sun broke the horizon.

Typically, as I headed out the rain headed in but it gave nice light on these Red Deer.

I had a look about while waiting for the weather to clear again picking up 3 RT Diver, plenty of GN Diver, 1 Guillemot, 1 Gannet, 10 Whooper Swan flying west and a group of about 100 Barnacle Geese. A couple of Hooded Crows posed nicely for a couple of minutes before heading down to the shore to forage.

A couple of Common Buzzard photos next to show how variable they can be. A dark one first...

...and a paler one.

The last of the shower drifting over the hill looked quite dramatic too.

With the sun shining nicely I parked up and had a wander about. Plenty of things to see but some were hard to capture. Redwings and Blackbirds were not approachable at all, a Wren scuttled through the undergrowth before singing from a perch I couldn't see, an Otter was out fishing but the Great Northern Diver was the first performer.

As I came to a stretch of trees I could see a few birds flicking about - Coal Tit, Blue Tit and Great Tit plus a single Goldcrest. I followed the Goldcrest until I lost it in long vegetation and a Robin popped out in it's place! The Robin was an easier capture as it fed along the shore before heading back to where it had appeared from.

A couple of Shag were making their way towards me so I stood and waited. First one bird came ashore and then the other - sometimes you just want to be alone!

I found the Goldcrest again and attempted to get some shots as it flicked around the Ivy. It will come as no surprise to tell you that the best shot I had was of it's backside - I'm sure you'll settle for the blurry front side!

The showers were starting to come back through so I thought a quick change of location, to get an eagle fix before the light went might be nice. Two birds were sitting side by side on the ridge when I first parked up but as soon as I got out they were both in flight and heading away from me. I raced up the road a bit further to capture one just as it disappeared from view. A good way to finish the day.