Smart

A few showers helped with the year list as I managed to catch up with Blackcap, House Martin and a Tree Pipit that was displaying in the garden!

There are a few White Wagtails around now but none close enough for a photo yet so a Pied Wagtail will have to do.

The Common Scoters are still hanging around.

I didn't actually see an Otter but this Dogfish didn't haul itself out of the sea so it could be a GBB Gulls dinner!

There are plenty of Northern Wheatear around now and I have seen them pairing up and exploring nest sites.

The Shelducks are doing the same thing - how smart does this bird look?

Most of the Lapwings are on the nest so it won't be long before the chicks are on the go.

Other year ticks have included Short-eared Owl, Knot, Cuckoo and Treecreeper - 116 species for now.

Year ticks...

...and on the patch too. A few days of stroppy weather produced these birds some of which were overdue. There were two Sand Martins flying back and forth outside the shop. They normally turn up at the back end of March so the middle of April is a bit late!

In the afternoon there was no sign of the Sand Martins but there was a House Martin flying around instead! The House Martin is pretty much on time.

Common Scoter I have seen already this year but this one is on the patch - terrible weather, terrible view but an superb bird.

Another day, more stroppy weather with strong winds and a bird I've not had on the patch before. A tern was spotted in the distance, I got it in the scope and you could see it was an Arctic Tern - a great find. I turned around to get the camera, turned back to look and the bird was gone! A quick scan and I could see the bird had settled on the rocks so I headed off, on foot, in the rain. The bird was back in flight before I got anywhere near close enough so I kept going and settled down on the rocks in the rain. The bird kind of did circuits while it fed so it came reasonably close at times - some good shots and lots of bad ones but it was worth it.

A hard stare.

It's certainly been better weather for the last couple of days but it hasn't provided too many chances of photos. Cracking views of an Otter the other morning but the sun wasn't up so too dark for shots. Two hours later it was just light enough to photograph this Red Deer. 

I took the opportunity to check on a few sites while doing some errands. A flock of about 70 Barnacle Geese were easily visible but no way of getting closer to them.

A decent count of 18 Tufted Duck were nice to see with Rock Dove and Rook in the vicinity too. Best find of the day was a single Common Scoter (honest, that blob IS a bird)...

...along with a couple of Black Guillemot and a few GN Diver. You can always rely on a Buzzard to pose for a photo when all else is failing so I tend not to pass them up!

These two Otters were not much further along the road but they were not hanging around.

I hate to say it but just round the corner from the Otters was this WT Eagle having lunch.

The eagle was having a quiet time until the Hooded Crows noticed what was going on. The first one that came in landed behind the larger bird and looked like it was going for the tail pull. It seems a bit pointless when there are no other birds there but you have to try. The WT Eagle didn't wait for tail pull but just turned to the Hoodie and gave it a hard stare!

Lunch

It looked like it was going to be nice today but I had to go out this morning. After a bit of hail last night and freezing temperatures I had to defrost the van before leaving so, of course, I had a quick look round with the bins. I spotted a pale looking wader sitting in the grass that was just too far to ID with the bins so out with the scope. Nothing to see. It must have been a Greenshank but it wandered into one of the channels and never reappeared. A few Red Deer and the usual array of gulls and waders until I clocked this chap. This is one of the East coast White-tailed Eagles (I'll edit the post when I get details from the RSPB).

Back from my travels the sun was still shining so a spot of lunch and out to get some shots hopefully. As I was departing I caught sight of 2 Mistle Thrush sitting on the fence at the roadside and off they flew. Loch Scridain was a lot choppier than when I'd passed an hour earlier so I just had a quick scan. No sign of any Divers, plenty of Shag, 3 Mergs and the 4 Common Scoter was the best I could do. Back along the road to see if the Thrushes were still close enough. One bird was on the ground murdering a huge black caterpillar, yum! No idea where he found that but it looked tasty. Tried for the shot with caterpillar dangling from beak but couldn't get it. The other bird was more obliging sitting on a post and more interested in the plane flying over than me.

The local Great Black-backed Gulls were having a spot of lunch too....a sheep carcase. An easy meal and always a good draw for WT Eagle. This was probably the reason the Eagle was present this morning. The WT Eagles always seem to stand back from these offerings but they do get some stick when they dig in. The drake Goosander was loafing about in front of these gulls but promptly moved off when the camera came out and the Greenshank was well tucked in sheltering from a non existent wind! Off into the Glen to see if I could get Golden Eagle. I picked one up as soon as I got out the motor, soaring over the mountains. He came down to land below the horizon and just sat surveying his territory and watching the Buzzards no doubt. Next to break the skyline was a first winter White-tailed Eagle. Always nice to see these birds without any tags. The WT Eagle dropped out of view and the Goldie was back up. The Buzzards, six of them, were wheeling about above the Goldie but not giving it any grief. Instinct had me looking away from the Goldie and there was the young WT Eagle back again and pretty close too. Fantastic!! A good 5 minutes of looking at one Eagle then the other before they both dropped out of sight again. That was me away home grinning again:-)