Feeding station

Thursday evening I was sitting outside the house having a relaxing cup of tea and a chat. We've just started up the feeding station so the regular Chaffinches were buzzing about and the Meadow Pipits are present in good numbers. A whole cloud of birds erupted from the ground as a Merlin came screaming through, targeting one bird, twisting and turning as they sped across the road to disappear into the forestry. Who knows what the outcome was but I'm happy the feeding station is working for all! The next morning as the Chaffinches gathered for their morning feed they all suddenly disappeared - why? A Sparrowhawk was perched up on the table - quality!! Friday was another glorious day and with the guests wanting Otters we headed off in search of them. The first one we spotted didn't want to play so after some initial good views of it we moved on. A mum and cub were next and this gave us a good hours worth of entertainment as they chased each other across the seaweed and did a bit of hide and seek in the margins. No chance of any digiscoped shots so we'll have to make do with a distant shot. 

We could have stayed longer but there is a lot to see through the day. We had good views of one of the WT Eagles in flight before we headed back along the way picking up the first Otter again but with better results this time. We watched him fishing but he wasn't having too much success. He would twist himself around in the water...

...before heading a bit further along the shore.

Next up was a Greenshank and a Redshank together feeding on the shore. Nice to see them both together and see how much bigger the Greenshank is and the difference in plumage.

We had cracking scope views of two Golden Eagle and again the photo doesn't do any justice.

We'd searched around for the Adders with no success but I guess they are on the hunt for a decent meal or two before they go in to hibernation. The sighting of these reptiles get a bit sporadic towards the end of August and the beginning of September so it was nice to find this one snaking it's way across the track.

We paid a visit to the pigs for some light entertainment as we waited for something to appear. Surprisingly the Golden Eagle that appeared was just given a cursory glance as the pigs decided to have an argument at the same time! We headed off to our last stop to get some quality views of the Mountain Hares but they were all camera shy for once.

With stunning views all around and a good selection of small birds on offer we'd had a great day but there was one more surprise in store for us. Just as we got back in the motor a Sparrowhawk flashed across the moor and landed on a wall not too far away. A fantastic looking bird with a manic stare that just look ready to kill anything that moves. We managed a couple of snaps before it raced off to see what it could catch - superb stuff!