Gums 2

Wednesday was a bit cloudy to say the least. The cloud base was down to the ground and not looking too grand but it can produce some good sightings. Our first good find of the day was this Black-throated Diver - top notch!!

No signs of any Otters as we moved along but these Greylag Geese caught our eye as there was a bit of conflict going on. There was certainly a few feathers lost by one of the adults but they soon settled down again.

The low cloud produced a bit of drizzle through the morning but we still managed to pick up some good sightings along the way. A couple of Red-throated Diver, a Snipe sitting on a post, a small group of Manx Shearwater were all seen before we had lunch while watching 5 Basking Sharks! The Sharks were viewed from above at reasonably close quarters - close enough to see the gape of these huge fish. The weather did start to lift in the afternoon so there was still hope of getting some good weather. Another RT Diver was added to the list as we viewed another Basking Shark and a family party of Whinchats were nice to see too. With the sun out and Mountain Hare added to the days tally we headed back along the way. A cracking Red Deer posed at the side of the road.

The Golden Eagles performed well before we went in search of the elusive Otter. We weren't disappointed with the Otter we found as he caught a crab just after we located him...

...and brought it ashore right in front of us!

Thursday started off in the same manner as the previous day with some low cloud and not too much wind. Thankfully it cleared a bit quicker this time as I had been offered the opportunity to get up close and personal with the Basking Sharks. We headed out to where the sharks had been seen the previous day and, luckily, there were still 3 present. We cut the engine on the boat and waited for one of them to approach. They are awesome beasts up close, absolutely massive and all you can hear is the fin cutting through the water as they approach.

The gape of the mouth was very impressive as they cruised past the RIB.

A better idea of how it all looked is the video footage - AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!

I'm still smiling now!