January 2016

A nice selection of images from January.

Common Buzzard on the shore.

 Collared Dove looking forward to spring.

 Cormorant drying it's wings.

 Grey Heron posing.

 Great Northern Diver with a crab.

 Goldcrest - stunning.

 Goosander in a flap.

 Iceland Gull at the hatchery.

 Jackdaw eyeing things up.

 This Knot was a good find in January.

 Little Auks were storm driven but soon moved back out to sea.

 Merlin is usually seen flying off so this sitter was a bit special.

 Plenty of Otter sightings...

 ...and a few cubs around too.

 A few flocks of Redwing are fairly easy to find this winter.

 The sun lights up the landscape as it sets - that's when you see the sun!

 A White-tailed Eagle on a dull day.

 This White-tailed Eagle landed next to the car - fantastic!

On the doorstep

I'm not out for more than an hour these days and it's always close to home but when it's all on your doorstep anyway why go any further?! The weather has been a bit changeable so when I located an Otter in good light I thought my luck was in.

He came ashore for a bit of a sniff around...

...and then the rain started. I thought the eyepiece was steaming up with the damp conditions but it was the lens getting covered in rain so most of the photos turned out like this.

I waited for him to head off and then I left. A few Greenfinch paid a visit to the garden early one morning so I was lucky to get a poor shot.

A sunny day was a bit more productive with Golden and WT Eagle seen while a male and female Hen Harrier circled around underneath them.

A Cormorant tried to show off it's good side but whether it has a good side or not is in the eye of the beholder.

A GN Diver was just offshore from that but even though it was a bit distant it's nice to see the bill pattern as it changes from summer to winter colours.

There was another encounter with a Golden Eagle but it was out of range before I even thought about the camera. Quite a few Raven were foraging along the shore - not sure what they were eating but there seemed to be plenty of it.

The rock in the loch

A quick run out to see what was about. At one stop I could see a WT Eagle sitting on a rock in the loch. It looked quite settled so I left that for later! A bird disappearing under water had me stopping again but it was just a Cormorant - I missed the fish swallowing as it surfaced behind...a rock in the loch!

With the sun shining I had a look for the Adders again and found one in the basking area but nothing beside the hibernating area - too warm I guess.

I'd noticed a couple of Great Northern Divers when I was waiting for the Cormorant to surface but they were too far away at the time. When I returned they were a lot closer in so a few snaps were taken. The summer plumaged bird was looking good...

...and it was nice to get the comparison of what they look like in winter plumage. A pale bill and a noticeable neck band.

The White-tailed Eagle was still in the same place, a long way from the shore, so I took some shots of that too.

Honeymoon?

No honeymoon period apart from taking the Sunday off and then straight back into the tours. Normal service will return soon but for now there are just the photos from the tours...plenty of Cormorant sightings but most of them are too far for photos.

An Otter cleaning itself on the shore was a treat but no Otter the following day.

The Hooded Crows are starting to gather into bigger groups now the young are fledged.

A couple of sightings of this Hen Harrier were worth the chase.

I have no idea what this WT Eagle is carrying but it was taking it back for the youngster.

We still get the occasional sighting of Common Crossbill but getting a female...

...and a male sitting at the top of a tree long enough for a view through the scope was a treat.

The Golden Eagles were a bit of a struggle but our persistence paid off when two birds took to the air...

...and one of the birds came in for a closer look.

We saw this Adder shedding it's skin on the first tour and seen it in it's shiny new form the following day.

Heads you win, tails you lose.

With bits of sunshine breaking through there was nothing for it but to go reptile hunting. A bit of a hold up when I came across the Otter family fishing just offshore. They hauled out at one point and it looked like that was going to be it but they chose to swim back the way and into camera range. The only way to keep a look out...

...and it must be thirsty work as they clamber out for a drink.

It was a nice way to start the outing and there were two WT Eagle circling overhead at the time! A Cormorant was drying off in the breeze - I noticed the bird was sporting a ring when checking the photos.

I didn't have any trouble finding this Common Lizard...

...but, somehow, I didn't pick up the Adder until the last second when it's tail was disappearing into the vegetation. I gave it 10 minutes and had another look - no problem.

The following day I found a Slavonian Grebe reasonably close to the shore so I grabbed some shots.

A couple of Woodpigeon feeding in the open were hard to resist. They seem to be increasing in numbers on the island.

I picked up a year tick in the shape of a Peregrine - nice view through the scope but not worth pointing the camera at it but you can see what it is!

A few Pied Wagtails are appearing, all males, along the lochs. It's a real treat to see them back.