Photos

I thought it was about time I put some up to date images on here. We've had a couple of grey days but this morning looked like it was going to be a peach.
Off I went to see what I could get shots of. As I pulled up so did this Buzzard so it was out with the 'scope and the camera and snap away merrily....not. I'm sure this bird was transfixed by the antics of the lunatic trying to photograph him. The lenses were all misted up and I was having to demist before every shot - what fun! It kept the Buzzard amused anyway.



I'd had enough of the 'wipe and click' game so it was time to check the Loch. I was hoping to get a shot of the Black-throated Diver but every time you point a scope at it, off it goes. I put my eye to the scope and there was an Otters tail just disappearing from view - did I imagine that? No, he was there heading somewhere with a purpose and that somewhere was closer to me. I had a quick scan with the bins to see if there was anything else I should be paying attention to and there was the trusty BT Diver making haste away from me but heading for the Otter. Camera back on scope in a hurry and try to get the shot - not a great result but you can see the BT Diver and the Otter in the top left.

The Otter was heading for a point of land a bit too far away and he'd probably emerge where I couldn't see him so I had to dash along the road and try to get in position. He was well into his breakfast before I was in position and, you've guessed it, the lenses were misted up again. I managed a few shots but he was chewing that rapidly that his head was always blurred. Fish finished he was off like a shot running towards me then a toilet stop and then into the water..bye! I watched him swimming away from me and turned my attention back to the Divers. No chance of any shots but the BT was still there and a decent count of 11 Great Northern Diver.

Next on the hit list were the Common Scoters that we'd seen on the bird race. A quick scan around and the Scoters were in the same area but the Otter was heading in the same direction. He had another fish so he was going to haul out again. He surfaced close to a GN Diver which skittered off over the surface calling away and that put the Otter off his choice of where to haul out. I left him in peace and concentrated on the Scoters. When these birds turned up they both had the white faces of female/juv birds but one of the birds is now moulting and it's a male - superb!



All of that in an hour was pretty good going so I headed back to base and took some snaps of this Redshank and also some hinds that are hanging around. Thought I'd leave it at that and try again after lunch.









I headed off round the other side of the Loch to see what was on offer. The usual Little Grebe, Lapwing, Curlew, Teal, Wigeon and Shag. I caught a flash of movement on one of the points and there was the second Otter of the day - back lit but better than this mornings effort. He was soon asleep with nothing to see but a bit of fur sticking over the rocks....onward.
















I'd seen an adult Golden Eagle flying around earlier in the day and I was quite surprised to find this juv bird sitting proud and watching the day go by. You can see the white on the tail and the lovely golden head. This was quite a distance away - scope on 60X and camera on full zoom too. It won't be too long before the Goldie's are in full display mode and this one will be put in it's place. I was short on time so I moved on. The tide was well out and so were all the seabirds so I scanned the ridges again and there was an adult Golden Eagle but too distant to photograph or chase for that matter.

I tried for some more shots of the juv Goldie but the sun was behind clouds and a breeze was picking up. I headed for home not expecting to get any more photo opportunities - foolish. Red-breasted Mergansers are a pain to digiscope but I'll get a decent shot one day. Here is today's effort plus the closing scene for today's entry - a view down the Loch.