Looking good.

The sun was shining on Thursday!! Not quite the blue sky extravaganza but it was nice enough to venture out with the hope of a few photographs too. First thing of note was the lack of small birds around on the shore and the land - not many birds coming to the feeders and no sign of the Turnstones and Ringed Plover. As I was driving along the lochside I could see there were quite a few gulls circling and stooping towards the water indicating something interesting was there. I got to a suitable parking place and jumped out to be faced by this...

A bit too close to get it all in but the Red Deer was looking good in the morning light. Turning my attention back to the loch I found the reason for the gulls behaviour. There must have been quite a few fish close to the surface that had pulled in a few other birds too as I scanned past numerous divers and a few auks - a closer inspection was worthwhile. Four Guillemots that wouldn't stay on the surface very long, 3 Red-throated Diver (only two in the photo)...

...a single Black-throated Diver...

...and about 10 Great Northern Diver.

There were numerous Shag, a couple of Cormorant and a few Red-breasted Merganser to fill the gaps - not a bad haul! I wasn't particularly looking for Otters but I had to stop when one popped up close to the shore. A quick run down the shore got me close enough for a shot but with no cover I was never going to get too close.

Half a mile down the road was another Otter so I gave it another shot. A bit of a wait for this one to come ashore but well worth the effort.

Lots of Buzzard, Hooded Crow and Ravens around all looking for food and a nice female Hen Harrier on my way back for lunch. A couple of Golden Eagle and three Hen Harrier (including 1 male) in the afternoon were nice to watch. Two Mistle Thrush (on the left) and a single Fieldfare (on the right) were seen in the last of the sunshine - nice!