About time too!

It's been over a week since the last entry on the blog but with fairly poor conditions in that time I've busied myself with other things! Thursday night was the turning point as we set off for home after a night out. It was lashing down when we went for dinner but clearer skies were visible as we drove home in the dark. We put up the odd Woodcock from the verges and also bagged a nice Tawny Owl, two Barn Owls and a huge looking stag that stared at us as we drove past.
Friday was the calmest weather we'd had and decent light too so I had to get out for a fix. I had a quick count of the gulls on show with 134 Common Gulls and 6 Black-headed Gulls amongst them and about 10 Turnstones hiding in the seaweed. The usual winter count of four Little Grebe were fishing in the shallows and a couple of Stonechat posed close to the car.

A flock of Chaffinch were feeding on one of the tracks with a Goldcrest in one of the conifers behind them plus a 30 strong group of Crossbills 'chipping' away overhead. I got superb views of a Black-throated Diver but it wasn't hanging around for photos and the Great Northern Divers were all too far out to worry about. It was the usual suspects that provided photo opportunities with Grey Herons aplenty...

...Common Buzzard in flight...

...Hooded Crows foraging along the shore and posing on the rocks...

...and, of course, the views.

A quick pit stop for lunch gained me another 6 Crossbills in flight and then I was off on my travels again. No more than a minute down the road and I could see something large sticking up from the rocks - a WT Eagle. Out with the scope and the digi camera for a quick shot before driving to a better view point. A good scan around revealed two WT Eagle, two GN Diver, 12 Shag, 6 RB Merg, a couple of Curlew, a dozen Oystercatcher and an Otter! Needless to say I spent a bit of time there just soaking it all up. The cloud had built up a bit so the photos aren't up to much but here we go with RB Merg...

...and WT Eagle.

As the light was starting to go I headed for home and had a quick look at the feeders in the garden. It was nice to see the feeders quite busy with Chaffinch, Great Tit and Blue Tit...

...and a supporting cast of Blackbird, Redwing, Song Thrush, Dunnock and Wren too.
Saturday we headed off to do some visiting and do a bit of spotting along the way. We got decent views of two Golden Eagle and a WT Eagle sharing the same air space before we stopped to scan through the Tufted Ducks. With the sun glaring on the water it was difficult to pick out the 8 Goldeneye amongst the 20 Tufties but that was as good as it got...

...until we had a fly past Hen Harrier. The geese had a thorough checking next. With about 80 Greylag were a flock of 22 WF Goose a single PF Goose and a single Brent too. I was just setting up to take some shots and I could hear a quad bike on the move - sod's law the farmer was checking the sheep in the field where the geese were. A quick snap of the Brent Goose...

...was all I got before they were all in the air.

We headed off to visit friends before getting back on the trail of the geese and luckily we caught up with the Pink-footed Goose...

...a single Greenland White-fronted Goose...

...and this very mucky Whooper Swan.

We'd had a good haul for the day so we headed for home but the wildlife wasn't finished with us yet. A WT Eagle sitting on the rocks was a good one...

...as were the Common Seals 'bottling'.

A Greylag Goose was grazing down near the shore too.

Saving the best for last......a Great Northern Diver close to shore - superb.