Rain Goose

Wednesday was another wet one and just to prove it, have a look at the rain in this shot - apologies for the bird that got in the way of the shot!

You can't let the weather put you off and you get your rewards too. We picked up an Otter despite the high tide and got good views before it clambered out of the water and ran off down the road!

As we turned to get back in the motor another Otter came away from the shore. That kept us in place for another twenty minutes. 

 Red-throated Diver is always a nice bird to catch up with. This bird is also known as the Rain Goose and they really do show more in wet weather - you hear the cackling flight call as they come to the lochs and there always seems to be a group of four to six birds around if you look hard enough.

The rest of the day went well as the rain stopped and we had a glimpse of a Bottle-nosed Dolphin, good views of Snipe, Redshank and a cracking male Hen Harrier to finish as I made my way home.

Thursday was a brighter day with showers. We started the day well with a couple of Otters, WT Eagle and Crossbill. A family party of Bullfinch took a bit of time to get good views but well worth the effort. One of the highlights was trying to get photos of a Red Deer stag with it's head up. Mostly you try to stay quiet around the wildlife but the Deer that spent time near the roads are quite unflappable as they have seen and heard it all.

While everyone was snapping away at the deer I caught a glimpse of a Spotted Flycatcher.

A cracking day all round and another male Hen Harrier to finish.

Friday started off hot, sunny and rubbish for wildlife. We picked up 3 Black-tailed Godwit at the start of the day and then it went quiet.

It can't stay that way for too long so the WT Eagle was the one to break the quiet spell. The afternoon was the complete opposite as we spent most of our time watching Otters. The first one was asleep on the shore but the next one was out fishing. We spent quite a bit of time watching this one and also got Golden Eagle flying over at the same time!

The third Otter was also out in the water...

...and we were watched closely by a Common Seal.

The last stop of the day produced a couple of newly fledged Hen Harrier along with the female bird - awesome.