Up to speed

This post should bring things up to speed with the sightings! A couple of immature WT Eagles caused havoc outside the shop as they drifted overhead - no doubt chuckling as they went!

On the same day there was a couple of Dark Green Fritillaries dancing about the Red Clover in the garden.

A few different things to seek out made for an interesting day even though it was red hot. An Adult WT Eagle flying to it's nest gave us a good start.

The usual suspects were along the shore so this Common Tern stood out well even though it was in poor light.

We had a look at the Pale Butterwort which was still in flower. An Otter gave us the runaround but at least we all saw the beast while this Curlew gave a superb fly past.

A couple of broods of RB Merg were seen - what a delight it was to watch them skittering across the water.

We managed to find a pair of Golden Eagle circling in the distance but we waited and we got our reward as they sailed overhead. Next up was Great Sundew and in flower too!

The earlier Otter sighting was trumped as one of the guests picked up another one just slipping into the water. Fabulous views with a bit of patience.

 A trio of Mountain Hare at the days end were good to see and that was just the topping on the cake - almost forgot the Eider family that we saw.

Showtime.

Saturday was another warm day. Showtime....2 Red-throated Diver were picked up and as we viewed them a Cuckoo landed on the wires close by! While viewing the WT eagle chicks we picked up one of the adults flying in being mobbed by a Buzzard!

We followed that up with an Otter. We must have spent about an hour watching this one fishing and coming ashore.

The usual heap of Adders were admired while we also picked up at least three Hen Harriers. A bit of butterfly chasing gave us Small Heath, Meadow Brown, Chimney Sweeper moths and Dark Green Fritillary.

We picked up the usual Whinchat, Stonechat and Wheatear trio before attempting to take a break. As we admired the views across the sea the shout went up for dolphins. A mass exodus from the motor to watch at least 7 Bottle-nosed Dolphin cruising along with the occasional leap out of the water.

As they drifted from view we decided to try to catch them up again with the hope of closer views. We did relocate them but sadly they had moved further offshore. While looking for Mountain Hare we came across an adult Lapwing that was alarm calling - we nearly missed the youngster sneaking away from us!

A couple of Mountain Hare were in the vicinity too but only one stuck around for photos.

As we turned to head back we picked up a male Hen Harrier hunting at the back of the field. We watched it starting to make it's way across the field as we headed down the road and managed good views and a few photos. We got a second chance with the bird hunting at the side of the road and then we lost it. We'd stopped on a high point to attempt to relocate the harrier again but there was no sign until it burst out of the Iris bed to give another cracking view.

There were plenty of other highlights - Red Deer, another WT Eagle, Common Seals with pups - but a bit of nature in the raw had to take top spot for the day. What was it? Two Herring Gulls, one was trying to kill the other for some reason.

The bird that was in trouble managed to escape it's torturer and headed for us as a point of safety. A guests comment at the end of the day..'That's one of the best days out I've ever had'. You can't argue with that!

Food pass.

The weather wasn't that clever on Saturday, a stiff breeze and rain! It certainly curbed the camera action a bit but the sightings were good. We started well with three SE Owl and a WT Eagle before moving on to some serious Hen Harrier action. I managed to catch a food pass with the camera. The male and female came together...

...the male drops the food...

...and the female catches it. Typical that the last shot was blurred!

Other highlights on the day were Wood Warbler, RT Diver and Adders in the rain.
Sunday there was a return to fine weather. On the way to pick up the last of the guests we bagged some stunning views of SE Owl and two Otters. A swift return to the second Otter paid off as we found the beast lurking in the seaweed.

It wasn't too long before it was fishing in open water showing well. More SE Owl action before we had the star attraction of a female Hen Harrier.

A bit of a wait for two Golden Eagle was worthwhile. Cracking views of two WT Eagle one of which flew off with it's lunch.

Plenty of Adders after lunch plus Dipper and two Butterfly species - Small Pearl-bordered and Dark Green Fritillary.

We finished the day with stunning views of Mountain Hare.