March

March is always an interesting month. The winter visitors are still hanging around but by the months end the first signs of spring are there to cheer you up.

Adders have been out of hibernation since the begining of February so they can be quite active in March.

Sea Anemone in a rock pool.

Common Buzzard.

Changing light conditions will change the colours that you see on the bird.

Red Deer have still got their antlers.

Frogs in my pond.

Young Golden Eagle.

Glaucous Gull.

Great Northern Diver starting to get it's summer plumage.

Male Hen Harrier.

Iceland Gull.

Northern Wheatear just back from Africa.

Otter.

Raven.

Redwing will soon be heading back to Iceland.

The Tawny Owl is nesting already.

Whooper Swans having a rest before they do that last 1000 miles!

White-tailed Eagle bookends.

Almost the equivalent of holding hands.

 Everyone likes a good sing-song.

If you want to keep up to date just follow the link.

Bliss

I saved a couple of photos of the Otter for this post. It had a good look round...

...before rolling about in the seaweed - bliss.

I took a photograph of the view as we were forecast to get some snow...

...and they were right - not as much snow as I thought though.

Out on an errand I picked up a few more year ticks. Shelduck was a nice one to see as were a few Wigeon.

Find of the day had to be the Glaucous Gull as it doesn't hang around for long.

2014

That's another year over and not much to report from yesterday except...a nice Glaucous Gull.

A lone Redwing was digging up the dirt at the side of the road...

...while a Mountain Hare loped across the grass before settling down for a nibble.

This WT Eagle was seen earlier in the day when it was still a bit dull. It was still there two hours later so I took a few snaps as there was more light.

Looks like the RB Merg is looking forward to the new year too.

Scores for the year list 145 species and the Patchwork Challenge finished up on 105 species and 131 points.

Blasted

It's nice to be back online at last! I get what I get when I go out and I'm not targeting anything in particular. I've spent more time looking to add birds to the Patchwork list but I'm not having much luck in that department - I can't even find a Pheasant to put on the list! Anyhoo, while crossing my patchwork boundary I came across a WT Eagle cruising along the shore but with nowhere to stop I had to keep going and that put some distance between me and the bird.

A bit of sunshine didn't encourage anything of note to appear in the areas that I visited (bet something showed up after I left though!) but there were nice views of Song Thrush...

...and Redwing to be had.

We got blasted by the weather - 60 mph winds and a bit of rain and snow - so the expectation was that something would turn up. It all looked fairly quiet apart from a decent smattering of GN Diver (about 20 birds) on the loch. Plants are fairly reliable so I checked out the Pale Butterwort.

A Redshank was feeding in the shallows but with strong light behind the bird - good pose though.

There were masses of gulls on the shore as the tide was receding so I gave them a good grilling and turned up a nice adult Glaucous Gull - result.

There were a few RB Merg along the shore and they look impressive in flight.

This Curlew may stand out quite well in the photo but trying to keep an eye on it while I found somewhere to stop wasn't that easy.

Phwoaaaaarrr!!!

Sunday was a day off for both of us so we headed for Iona to have a look round the Abbey. There is some scary stuff in there!

We had a look at the Glaucous Gull...

...before heading off to Staffa. A Great Skua was trying to turn a Gannet into lunch on our way out.

There were plenty of Manx Shearwater, Razorbill, Guillemot to see and the Puffins put on a good show so we all went home happy.

Monday the weather was a bit drizzly to start with but it soon cleared. The young WT Eagles were just lying on the nest looking miserable in the damp conditions. We had picked up an Otter earlier but it was a bit elusive so it was nice to get good views when we returned to the same spot. A Short-eared Owl put on a good performance for us too. The camera didn't come out until later in the day but it was well worth the effort. A female Hen Harrier was spotted mobbing something in the distance by one of the guests. A bit of a look round located a Golden Eagle sitting in a tree but it didn't stay for long. The Goldie gave us a fly past and disappeared but the Hen Harrier told us it was still there!

A bit of a wait and the Golden Eagle appeared over the trees at close quarters - phwoaaaaarrr!!!

The Hen Harrier was not happy with the presence of the bigger bird - awesome encounter!

There was no way of topping that one but we did manage to keep up some of the excitement with the likes of Great Spotted Woodpecker, Whinchat, Wheatear, a male Hen Harrier and a Mountain Hare.

Different.

Friday I set off in the rain but the sun was shining as I picked up the guests for the day. It was a normal start to the day picking up the wading birds getting some stunning views of the Black-tailed Godwit...

...and Mountain Hare.

On our way to the next site we were stopped in our tracks by the appearance of an adult WT Eagle carrying the remains of a Mountain Hare!

A few Dunlin, Ringed Plover, Gannet and Rock Pipit restored the equilibrium.

The next big bird was of the metal variety as a Typhoon F15 Eagle flew past.

A male Hen Harrier showed well as we looked for, and found, Golden Eagle. A couple of Adders were quickly added to the list before we set off for closer views of the Goldies. Lunch was consumed before the Golden Eagles reappeared to show well.

We then turned the day on it's head as a decision was made to go for Corncrake in the afternoon. We checked a couple of locations which produced some calling birds and then picked a spot to try and see one of the elusive birds. A short wait produced the goods but it was tricky.

A bit of a break, supping tea and watching Gannets and a Great Skua, and then we headed back for more action. There were plenty of Goldfinch and Linnet flitting about providing some distraction.

We were on the verge of calling it a day when another Corncrake walked out of the Iris bed and then wandered back in again. It was good to get a view of the whole bird this time.

As we waited to board the ferry a Glaucous Gull was spotted on the beach so we let the ferry go. The Glaucous Gull played it's part well and paraded around in front of us.

A Jackdaw filled in the time waiting for the ferry to return...

...and the Gannets put on quite a show on the return trip.

It was a bit of a different day but well worth the effort!