March - Out like a Lion

So much for the idea that if March comes in like a Lion it goes out like a Lamb - it's wet, windy and the ferries are cancelled again. Enough of that though.
Wildlife sightings have been pretty good over the last week. The Mountain Hares have performed well - poor picture but it was nice to see this one running about.

The WT Eagles will all be incubating eggs now but the final touches were still being added - the essential soft furnishings!

The good days have been awesome...

...the Red Deer seem to be hanging on to their antlers but they will be shed in the next couple of weeks.

A nice encounter with a Golden Eagle being mobbed by a Buzzard showed the size difference very well.

A particularly wet and windy day saw this Grey Heron sheltering on a river.

The feral Goats are still hanging around on the beach but they will soon drift off to the cliffs again.

Otter sightings have been difficult recently but it's not unexpected. Normal service will now resume!

I might be a bit quackers but not as quackers as this Mallard.

Aftermath.

After the wedding and the showers...

...the kids stayed in for a bit of Mull therapy.

All the usual trips to the beach and wandering around in the landscape will always produce something of interest. Feral Goats hung around when we went to the beach - a bit too close with the wind blowing their scent right at us!

Plenty of butterflies were seen but the grandkids were a bit too keen to get close - a Peacock is always a delight though.

An Adder was an exciting sighting for all but there wasn't much excitement for the Black Darters that were flying along the forest tracks.

A superb sighting of a couple of Golden Eagle had me wishing I'd had the DSLR with me.

A hard life.

Saturday the weather was a bit poor but when it cleared I headed out to have another go at the Short-eared Owls. I could see three birds sitting on fence posts and another flying around from the shop but when I drove round there was nothing in sight. A few minutes wait and an adult took flight...

...closely followed by two youngsters. One young bird landed on the fence, calling and giving everything the hard stare! Awesome bird!!

On the way home I spotted two female type Hen Harriers interacting. By the time I'd stopped I could only see one bird and I wonder if the other bird had been a first summer male passing food to the female.

Sunday was a better day but the threat of a shower was always there. We started the day with a trio of Mountain Hare and a brief glimpse of a male Hen Harrier. Next up was a Red Deer stag that was relaxing in the sunshine and looking like life was easy.

A Red-breasted Merganser was looking like it was having a hard life but once it's moult is complete it will be back to it's best.

The sightings came thick and fast after that with WT Eagle, three Hen Harrier, Spotted Flycatcher, Dipper, another Hen Harrier, four Adder, Slow Worm and cracking views of the humble Rock Pipit.

A couple of WT Eagle were seen circling over the loch and when one bird headed off the other bird...

...gained a bit of height before performing a spectacular stoop down to the rocks below. Naturally, this upset the gulls that were loafing below and they gave the eagle a real hard time! It's a hard life being an eagle!

Our last stop of the day produced the Golden Eagles that we'd been searching for with the added bonus of a small herd of Feral Goats. Another cracking day in the field!