Fix

I had to get out today for a bit of a fix as I've been busy with other things this week! It's the usual story of nice days when I can't get out and when I can, it rains. Thankfully it was just showers this morning and I managed to get out between them. It was nice to see that a female Goldeneye has turned up and the male is well pleased. You'd think he was on a roller-coaster the way he's bouncing up and down in display! There are still two Little Grebe hanging around and everywhere I stopped and there were trees I could hear or see Crossbills - fantastic. A couple of Great Northern Divers were fishing close to shore before I located 3 Otters fishing. I parked up and waited for them to come to the shore.

There must have been something worth sniffing at as their noses never left the ground.

It was good to see them again after a bit of a lay off so hopefully I could do the same with the WT Eagle. I headed off to check the nest area but there was nothing nearby. A scan round the trees produced the prize I was looking for. I moved off to get a closer view....

....what can you say? Stunning!! What chance of a Golden Eagle then? It didn't look good for that one but I was happy with what I'd had. With the F1 qualifying imminent I was heading for home. There was rain falling just about everywhere but on me so a scenic shot seemed appropriate.

If you look carefully at this photo you can see the Grey Heron standing on the rocks and the little black speck just to left, in the water, is an Otter! I had a quick look for the waders but they must have been hiding in the channels as all I could find were 11 Lapwings, 3 Redshank and 5 Curlew. The Highland Coos were on the move as I approached home so I took a quick snap.

With the qualifying out of the way (there was a Yellowhammer sitting in the tree watching me watching the F1) and the rugby to watch this afternoon it was time to do this blog. I'd just finished picking the photos and prepared to empty my head of the mornings adventure and thought a bit of fresh air first might be nice. As I'm standing outside admiring the view a few gulls started moving off then the Greylag Geese took flight and the GBB Gulls were giving the panic call - where is the cause of their concern? A distant speck was getting closer....

...expectations of another WT Eagle as the flat winged bird floated closer....

...but you can see this bird has a long tail - it's a Golden Eagle. Drawing it's wings in to gain speed in the head wind flattens the wings and can fool the unwary. It kept coming and flew straight over head!!

Top quality stuff - you couldn't make it up!! Time for the rugby now.