Ice, Ice, baby!

We had a nice run out on Sunday that produced a couple of nice birds, wonderful scenery and a few photos too. I hadn't caught up with any of the white winged gulls last year and I didn't want to see another year out without one so first port of call was for an Iceland Gull. These birds can hide themselves away in a crowd of gulls but once they take flight they really do stand out.

I watched this bird fly past and land beside the Herring Gulls but when I turned to look the other way there was an Iceland Gull! I looked back towards the first bird but it was gone and I couldn't see it in flight - odd. I took some flight shots when the other? bird took flight.

As you can see they are completely different birds;-) Just to prove the presence of two birds here they are together - ice, ice, baby!

It was a bit chilly standing in the breeze coming off the loch so we did the same as these Curlew and headed for some shelter.

The scenery was taken in next as we had a bit of a walk scanning the snow capped tops and choppy waters. I couldn't resist a snap of a Slavonian Grebe. Too far away for a decent shot but a stunning bird to see and I just had to share!

A trio of Fallow Deer were grazing near the road but best of all they were all sporting a different colour variant - an all dark one, a mid brown and a regular pale one.

Time was cracking on so we started to head for home taking in some nice Redwing...

...and Fieldfare along the way.