Having a paddle

The usual array of waders were seen outside the shop with Golden Plover, Knot and Greenshank being the picks. A large lump was spotted on the shore and on closer inspection it turned out to be a young WT Eagle having a paddle.

When the eagle eventually took off it caused a bit of a stir. Lots of gulls and quite a few Grey Heron. A particularly tatty looking heron flew overhead...

...as the eagle dominated the sky.

A Buzzard that was hunting the roadside didn't seem too worried about the grass dangling from the talons but he did have a glance at me!

Golden Eagle was a bit of a struggle with nothing to show from our first effort but a change of location gave us a view of three very distant birds. A bit of a wait and one of the birds had come close enough for a decent view. A couple of Adder, Mountain Hare and a few Dunlin finished the day off nicely.

Jumpy

With the migrant birds disappearing fast and just the odd bird dropping in, the local birds are always going to get more attention. A pair of Hooded Crow hang around the garden but they are still quite jumpy as a rule but this one was happy to stay put on a miserable day.

A trio of Bullfinch were seen feeding at the side of the road but the distance and dull conditions prevented any decent shots. I presume that the right hand bird will be a female as the male plumage is just starting to show on the left hand bird.

Talking of birds dropping in...a couple of Knot did hang around for a few days. They were not jumpy at all.

It seems like you can't go far without seeing an eagle over the ridge at the moment. A WT Eagle cruised along this ridge while a pair of Golden Eagle appeared to be hunting just below.

This long billed bird looked a bit like a Curlew Sandpiper from a distance but when I got a bit closer it was clearly a Dunlin. My, how it laughed!

I'm starting to see quite a few Grey Wagtails around now.

A Golden Eagle flew across the road quite low and it was interesting to see there was quite a bit of white in the tail. It was more noticeable on the top of the tail but a nice sighting all the same.

End of August

A quick round up of what's happening at the end of August. Despite the Golden Eagles having a poor breeding season there are still sub adult birds around to show the different plumage.

There seems to be quite a few Grey Wagtails now.

Plenty of Buzzards on show as the youngsters are now venturing out.

The hirundines are starting to gather before their migration south so Swallows and House Martins perched together is nice to see.

There are a few Little Grebes starting to appear on the sea lochs.

Stonechat - just stunning.

This Buzzard was drying off and allowed a close approach.

There doesn't seem to be that many Linnet or Twite around but you can always rely on a Skylark.

The Adders should continue to perform until we have a cold snap.

A variety of waders around at the moment with Redshank, Greenshank, Ringed Plover, Golden Plover, Curlew, Knot and Dunlin.

We had two attempts at getting this Golden Eagle but it was worth the wait.

The Otters are continuing to be elusive at the moment - some sightings but nothing close enough for photographs. There are plenty of gulls around as the Mackerel...

...are chasing whitebait onto the shore.

It does mean that the WT Eagles are trying to get in on the act too.

PWC - species 102, points 127. Year list 141

Shaggy

A bit of a damp start gave us some superb views of a very shaggy Raven - it's the new look, you know!

As the migrant birds head back to Africa the numbers dwindle for us so it was nice to come across a couple of Common Sandpipers - this will probably be my last photograph of this species until next year.

An Otter had been seen making it's way along the shore under the seaweed but it eventually hauled out on the rocks so we could get a better view. One of the adult WT Eagles was perched up in a conifer...

...while the youngster had finally fledged and was perched up not too far away.

A couple of birds that were seen to dive looked quite interesting so we hauled over and jumped out to find a couple of very smart looking Red-throated Divers - stunning!

A couple of Golden Eagles were found hunting the hillside. We watched one of the birds drop to the ground and when it took flight again it was carrying an Adder in it's beak!

After the Adder was demolished both birds flew around together - an impressive display.

A stop for ice cream proved useful as one of the guests picked up a Hen Harrier on the hunt. Nice views too.

Mountain Hare and Adder were seen at our last stop but the one that stole the show was the Dunlin in the stream.

Rain

It was a tremendous spell of hot weather but all good things come to an end. A Buzzard shot in the sun just before it melted...

...and a Dunlin in the heat haze.

The rain came to dampen things down, replenish water supplies but it also keeps the island green. It may even help the likes of Hen Harrier to find food as their prey gets flooded out.

It certainly keeps the eagles in one place as you can see from this bedraggled WT Eagle.

The rain never lasts for too long so the Buzzard was the sunny shot again.

Cooler temperatures are better for Adder sightings as they will bask more often. Too hot and they will head for the shade.

More overnight rain gave another opportunity to get a close look at the WT Eagle but at least there was a bit more light.

Golden Eagle sightings have been pretty good but there is distinct lack of young this year but when it takes 5 years to mature it doesn't matter too much if they have a bad year. Last years youngsters are still around.

Otter sightings have been pretty good most days but we still miss out now and again. A mum with two cubs was a surprise find on one of the tours as I hadn't seen any activity in the area for a while.

Fed

Another classic view of WT Eagle to start the day.

There appear to be less adult GN Diver now while the juvenile birds still remain. An adult that was close to shore had caught a crab...

...broke off the legs...

...and then swallowed the body - great to watch.

Through the day we had sightings of Cuckoo, Whinchat, Golden Eagle briefly and a Snipe on a pole. It was quite windy while we looked for Mountain Hares but we found a few sheltering among the rocks.

While looking for the hares we almost trod on a couple of Dunlin!

A surprise find was a very obliging Whooper Swan - this bird actually swam towards us like it was looking to be fed.

We finally found an Otter at our last stop just after we had a young WT Eagle fly overhead.