More fun in the snow

Yet another pleasant day and an opportunity to 'do the view' - it's hard not to.Another sortie out the back of the shop finally gave up a Coal Tit that was too hungry to fly away!Maybe you were wondering why there wasn't a photograph of the view South yesterday, here it is...The tide was just dropping away and the waders were flitting about so it was time to have a go at them. I'd seen a single Common Snipe flying about and I relocated the bird feeding on the shore with the Ringed Plover and Turnstone. A more bizarre sight was a Blackbird that landed in the water and seemed to be enjoying the experience of 'relaxing in the radox' - just the head and tail sticking out. It soon moved on when a car came past. With the water flat calm it was worthwhile trying to get a shot of the birds in flight complete with a reflection. Plenty of poor shots but this one of the Turnstones has the single Dunlin that is hanging around for the Winter.This is what I was trying to get though....I got distracted then by a bird singing in the trees - not a song that many will be familiar with but one you should seek out sometime - a Common Crossbill in full flow. I found the female bird but I couldn't find the male that was singing.I managed to get a run out in the afternoon with f-stop and PS - really worthwhile! You could point your camera at anything and it looks good with a bit of snow on. We tried it out with a sheep for starters........and then a Grey Heron.We were keeping our eyes open for Otters along the way but it was a WT Eagle that was next on the list - what a monster......a three year old bird still sporting some brown in the tail by the looks of it. The sun was getting close to the horizon but there was enough light if you looked East.......but not much time left if you looked West...A different angle on the view to the West was always going to make the blog.......and a mini mountain of snow on the road was worth playing with.We finally caught up with two Otters that were crossing the loch heading in our direction. A bit of patience and we had them close inshore - a fitting end to a cracking day.