Awesome!

I'd like to use a different title for this but nothing else will do. With most of the guests on board we headed off to get the rest but we had a slight delay when we spotted an Otter. We told them of our good fortune as we headed towards the WT Eagle nest. With just the female bird on the nest we had a good look and headed back for the Otter. We were lucky enough to relocate it across the other side of the loch but at least everyone could see it. As we watched it started to head back towards us so we moved to a better position and got the beast as it came ashore - result!

The Golden Eagles were a must see bird for the guests and I'd said they may be difficult unless the wind picked up a bit but we diligently scanned the ridges and managed a couple of distant birds just before lunch. We allotted and hour and a half for lunch to attempt good views of the Goldies and filled time with a look round the flowers, a male Hen Harrier and bit of Adder watching.

I suspect that the guests were losing heart as to whether we'd get the eagles at all and the fly over Crossbills don't really have the same effect. I'd wandered off to try to get a couple of shots of the Adders and as I had a quick scan round a Golden Eagle was just rising up from the ground. It must have been sat just out of sight from where we were but it looked mightily impressive against the forestry in the background. All of a sudden it was like a war zone as the cameras started firing off and a Raven came in for the aerial dogfight! Just look at the way the Golden Eagle has turned it's head to watch the Raven coming in.

The first Golden Eagle was joined by it's mate and they circled above us at close quarters...

...real close!!

As if that wasn't enough the two adult birds were joined by a juvenile Golden Eagle too!! How do you follow that? You can't really but it's an amazing experience to be that close to wild eagles. We carried on regardless and upped the tally of the small birds with nice views of White Wagtail, Linnet and Whinchat.

Just as I was putting the camera down after that shot a Cuckoo flew past us too. We did have a small diversion to take in some Early Purple Orchids but the aim is to please everyone.

The Mountain Hares continue to be a crowd pleaser too and they performed well today. We had a few in the regular reddish colouration but the white one was a lot harder to spot. This one below was on the white sandy beach and blended in perfectly but as you can see it stands out well on the grass.