Is it worth it?.

There has been the odd splash of rain here and there but it just helps to keep the place green. You can't beat a bit of lush vegetation with some raindrops and the Snipe helps.

A run out the other evening, in the rain, gave me my first family party of Red-breasted Merganser of the year - 9 chicks she had. That got me thinking about Goosander and not seeing any family parties of them. I did pick up one female bird but she was on her own.

This has probably been the best year yet for Adder sightings - it hasn't mattered what the weather conditions have been, they still seem to be on show.

Apparently one of the WT Eagle chicks fledged on Thursday. I had a look in on the nest at the weekend to find both birds there but the older of the two birds was certainly not on the nest. You can see it's sibling peeping round the trunk to see how this flapping thing works.

You don't want to be left behind so the only thing to do is follow suit while the other bird gives marks out of ten....7, I think.

Taking a tour on a rainy day usually invites the question 'Is it worth it?'. The wildlife can't just take a day off because of a bit of the wet stuff but people don't like it! Monday was that day. We had stunning views of two Red Deer stags just after viewing some Common Seals and Manx Shearwaters. Mountain Hares performed well with a nice supporting cast of waders. We followed a female Hen Harrier up the road, found a Dipper and even seen the Adder while it was still raining. We found an Otter in the loch and stood watching it while getting a good soaking - smiles all round. The rain stopped late in the day but early enough for us to see an adult WT Eagle drying off.

The cloud lifted off part of the hill so a quick dash towards the clear spot produced a decent view of Golden Eagle.

The Common Buzzards had been quite visible through the day but this one posing for us was worth the stop.

It had been hard work at times but we got some cracking views of the wildlife in the rain and a bonus clear spell at the end of the day that was spiced up with a male Hen Harrier. Is it worth going out in the rain?