Food

A couple of things that needed done saw me travelling from one end of the island to the other with a bit of wildlife watching along the way! Some nice sightings of Red Deer on the roadside and a group of Grey Heron looked nice as they roosted on a spit of land and the sun was rising behind them - no time to stop unfortunately. A quick stop on the way back to base was productive as an Otter was seen heading into the loch as I stopped, plenty of RB Merg, a few Goosander, a flock of Wigeon and a couple of Buzzard squabbling over some food. The action of the Buzzards drew the attention of the Hooded Crows which caught the eye of a WT Eagle...

...the smaller birds cleared off as the eagle swooped in...

...and made off with the food.

A brave Hooded Crow briefly perched on the back of the WT Eagle.

Not bad for a 10 minute stop but I had to keep going. Back to base for a quick lunch and then it was straight back out again and I had a bit more time for fun this time. A Hen Harrier was seen dropping into long grass so I hopped out and pointed the camera in the right direction just in time to see the bird come into view with it's catch.

It was obviously a day for feeding well as there was, just behind the harrier, a Buzzard sitting on the fence with food...

...a Stonechat catching flies...

...the PF Goose was grazing in the field...

...as was a juvenile Whooper Swan...

...and a single Barnacle Goose.

I spent a bit of time waiting for a Slavonian Grebe to come close - it never really came into range but it was a nice bird to watch.