It's been a while...

...but I'm back after a well earned rest. Not many changes out there so a few words and a few photos from the last two days. Monday started off with a bit of rain but it soon cleared up to give a cracking day. We'd viewed the WT Eagles early on but got a bonus sighting when we were watching an Otter a WT Eagle caused a bit of a panic. 

We had a long wait for a Golden Eagle which turned up just as we were leaving. A few special requests were sorted out soon after that as a male Hen Harrier put in an appearance to see off a Golden Eagle, a Lesser Redpoll was feeding beside a couple of Goldfinch, Whinchat showed well along with a Skylark and a cracking view of a Cuckoo.

We had a couple of Black Guillemot, Common Tern, Puffin, Kittiwake, Gannet and a female Hen Harrier at the next stop and another male Hen Harrier as we headed further down the road. The Mountain Hares put on quite a display with at least six seen and also a fluff ball juv Ringed Plover but the Redhsank took top honours on the day.

Tuesday was a very pleasant day but a bit of a tough start. A drake Common Scoter was a good find but with no sign of the adult WT Eagles we had to make do with the two juv birds and a heap of Common Buzzard floating around.

An Otter was a welcome sight as it fished in the shallows while a group of Greylag Goose tried to keep their young away from the waters edge. We'd already seen a couple of distant Golden Eagle but we had to bail out of waiting for another sighting as we had to clear the ongoing roadworks. We cleared the roadworks easy enough but we'd had to drive past a few Red Deer stags along the way. We located a male Hen Harrier on the ground while having lunch and bagged a Golden Eagle too. There are still very few Butterflies around and I fear that most have suffered from the poor conditions in May - only time will tell. Dark Green Fritillary should be on the wing now but all we saw today were two Small Pearl-bordered.

Another round of the Orchids today with Fragrant, Heath Spotted, Northern Marsh, Lesser Butterfly and a photograph I should have taken yesterday of Greater Butterfly Orchid.

A small flock of Dunlin...

...and the juv Ringed Plover helped to finish the day in style.

The journey back was eventful as we located a Great Northern Diver and got another view of the Red deer stags.

Just keep looking.

Tuesday was another changeable day but the roadworks were uppermost in my mind. We set off to get through the day as easy as possible so the WT Eagles were a great start. With the tide approaching the high mark you might think there would be little chance of picking one up but then you would be wrong. If you can find an Otter at high tide the reward is a close encounter.

The weather turned a bit chilly and the odd shower was starting to push through so it looked a bit dodgy for Golden Eagle but if you don't have a look you won't find anything. There were quite a few people standing around and not seeing anything but we were a bit more fortunate to find this one perched against the sky!

Flushed with our success we did a round up of the plants with the Lesser Butterfly Orchid now coming into flower being the highlight.

Hen Harrier, Red-throated Diver, Twite and Lesser Redpoll were all seen well in the afternoon and we did get held up by the roadworks too but that didn't dampen the spirits at all. We managed to get a group of six Mountain Hare and a couple of others that were close enough to photograph.

The best find of the day was this White Ermine - not your usual fare but a nice find all the same.

It was a bit of a late return with being held up but the last guests on board got a bonus Hen Harrier on their way back to their accommodation.

Wednesday was a better day as far as the weather went but I managed to get held up by the roadworks while going to pick up the last of the guests. An alternative view of the WT Eagle today as we couldn't get near the usual viewing point but we could still see the chicks being fed so there was no disappointment there. A bit of a search for the Otter today but if you just keep looking you should find one. Another classic view on the high tide.

We bagged the Golden Eagle, a male Hen Harrier and the usual array of commoner birds but my highlight was the damp Oystercatcher sitting on the nest.

More June.

Monday was a cloudy start but not enough to spoil things. The guests had requested the usual eagles and Otters plus Hen Harrier - no surprises there! We started the day with the WT Eagles and a distant Otter - nearly there already. Another location and our next Otter but still too distant for photographs so we moved on after watching this one through the scope on the shore. We struck gold with the next sighting as another Otter gave us the perfect opportunity for a close encounter - not that easy with a crowd of nine people! We were just in position when the Otter surfaced and headed for shore.

The Otter had spotted two people watching it but hadn't noticed our crowd of nine so it headed straight for us and came ashore with it's prize Crab.

Delicious!!

A real top day and we'd only been out for an hour. Two Golden Eagles gave a superb display while a couple of Red Deer browsed the hill beneath and we searched out Early Marsh Orchid and Great Sundew. Our next stop gave us a couple of birds that are not that easy to see - two Bullfinch and a Spotted Flycatcher. A nice male Adder was a surprise find...

...and we completed the requests when a female Hen Harrier graced us with it's presence. The Northern Marsh Orchids are coming into flower all over the place but we struggled to find a safe spot to stop and get a closer look.

We had a good finish to the day despite the lashing rain that appeared from nowhere. So the Ringed Plover, Cuckoo and Mountain Hares were all welcome sights.

Mondays weather wasn't too bad and we didn't see any rain! With some major roadworks going on at the moment we made a point of trying to avoid any hold-ups on the single track roads and also to pick up the 'main attractions' as soon as possible. We picked up an Otter pretty quickly but it soon gave us the slip so we moved on to the WT Eagles. We had both birds present and watched the chicks too as they peered about. A single adult Golden Eagle was watched carrying a Mountain Hare to a plucking stand. A young Golden Eagle showed well in another area before we got cracking views of some Red Deer.

Two Adders, a Slow Worm, another Golden Eagle and a Whinchat helped us pass the time while having lunch as did the opportunity to get a photo of a Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary.

We managed to dodge the roadworks and get a superb finish to the day with a close encounter with a female Hen Harrier...

...and a few Twite.