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.

All at sea.

I just had a quick run out today with no real intention of taking photos as it was lashing down again! As it turned out the first thing I came across was an Otter running across the road and as I pulled up another Otter was heading into the sea in front of me. A nice surprise, for sure, but you can see the raindrops - nasty weather!

I couldn't go back home with just a few grainy shots so I went for more. A decent number of Great Northern Diver were on show but none of them close so this was the best I got.

The rain was hammering down and I was all for heading home to put the fire on when I picked up another Otter. I watched this one fishing and with a good catch rate it wasn't going to be too long before it headed for shore - wrong! The fish it was catching were all small so it stayed out for a while.

Notice the rain in the photo above? It stopped...briefly, just as the Otter headed to shore with a crab.

I had to stand and listen to the crunching of the crab being devoured as I couldn't view the place where it hauled out. I never got any closer to the Otter but there were a few distractions along the way. A flock of Greylags landed out on the loch with a lot of splashing and cackling, there were quite a few Red-breasted Mergansers flying up and down the loch too.

A single Dipper was calling and eventually revealed itself as it flew off, there was a Black-throated Diver well out and a Red-throated Diver in the distance too. The Otter came back out on the shore but once again it was distant.

I could see the rain approaching again so I headed back to the motor and grabbed a quick snap of a very cheesed off Hooded Crow - could it get any wetter?!

I managed to catch up with the RT Diver just as the weather hit again. It's surprising how dark they can look when the light goes.

On the run.

Not a great deal to report at the moment more down to the poor weather than anything else. I had a quick run out on Friday and found a Black-throated Diver way out on the loch. I gave it a bit of time and managed to get it a bit closer but not really close enough.

The wind was pretty savage and getting worse so I headed for home. A couple of Buzzard were hunting the side of the road and one of them stayed long enough to be photographed.

A single Whooper Swan dropped in on the loch and hung around for most of the afternoon before flying off into the gale. Not the best photo but you can see how much the bird was leaning into the wind!

The weekend was really wild with gale force winds and plenty of rain - needless to say I didn't bother going out!

I picked up the spycam this morning so here are a few pics from that. First into the frame was a cat.

Next up was the main target - an Otter. It hung around the camera for a while before disappearing.

I think I was lucky that the camera didn't get washed away too. There were quite a few shots of water splashing the lens and you can see the tide is well in!

Doing the rounds this morning I managed to get a snap of the Grey Heron that stands in the river every morning as we head to the shop.

I did well with the birds of prey too. A nice Hen Harrier to start things off...

...then a possible Merlin that was perched up. Not that sure as I couldn't stop but it looked a good candidate. Next up was a Kestrel that would give nothing but rear end views.

As the Kestrel veered away from me a Peregrine came screaming in and tried to take the Kestrel - times must be hard in the poor weather. A real bonus next as I was checking out the flock of 18 WF Geese a male Hen Harrier put in an appearance.

If you thought those last few photographs were pretty bad, brace yourself for the next three!! I was heading for home when an Otter came out of a burn and onto the road in front of me. I followed it up to a point where I could stop and the Otter left the road and headed for the sea. It was fair distance away by the time it came out of the long grass - splash...

It didn't like the look of the next bit of water so it took a leap...

...across to the other side.

It was certainly on a mission and it could still be on the run now!