Don't worry

It's always a good idea to not worry about what you will see on a day out as most things put in an appearance eventually. What was forecast as a clear day turned into a bit of a showery day which stopped us seeing Adders at the start of the tour. Cracking view of Skylark, Stonechat and then a Whitethroat were highlights. You don't see too may Yellowhammers so three birds perched on a wall were stunners. Black Guillemot, Eider, Kittiwake and Red-throated Diver were all seen before we pick up an Otter. Once again it was good views through the scope but just a bit too far for the camera.

A distant WT Eagle and Golden Eagle were seen in the afternoon. A good number of Golden Plover, Greenshank, Ringed Plover another 2 Golden Eagle and a superb sighting of 4 Crossbill. We had seen a couple of Hen Harrier but the best was saved for last as we got a fly past from a sub-adult WT Eagle.

Just a couple that escaped the camera on the day, so these were taken the day after, were the numerous Gannets...

...and plenty of Dragonflies, most of the large ones appear to be Common Hawker.

On the hunt

Another scorching day was possibly going to keep things quiet at times but we had a cracking day.We had certain targets to find through the day so it was a case of trying to be in the right place at the right time. On the way to our first stop we located a returning Great Northern Diver - a bit distant for the camera but worth seeing.

Our first target was Golden Eagle. It was a bit of a wait but we did get a couple of Adders to fill the time in. The first Golden Eagle to appear flew in from behind us and proceeded to hunt the hillside.

We had both birds hunting the same area, one behind the other, hoping to flush some prey but they didn't have any luck. The first bird flew back over us before they both disappeared from view.

A Sparrowhawk put in a brief appearance, a couple of Whinchat and a cracking view of a couple of Raven. Look at the tail on that!

A decent Red Deer stag was another target for the day. The temperature was around 27C so we were flagging a bit. Grey Wagtail and Yellowhammer were nice to see...

...before we located a couple of fine looking stags feeding in the dappled shade of a tree.

A couple of mating Common Hawkers were nice to see as we stood in the shade.

A couple of Treecreeper, Golden Plover and WT Eagle were other highlights through the day. We looked for and didn't find an Otter but it wasn't one of our targets on the day. This Hooded Crow with it's beak open and wings drooping, to try to keep cool, might give you an idea of how hot it was!