April.

April was a bit of a mixed bag with the weather - a bit of sun, a bit of rain and a tremendous day of blizzard conditions. Quite a few of the migrant birds returned too.

Adders were on show all month.

Black-tailed Godwits in the blizzard.

Chaffinch in the garden.

Red Deer outside the house.

Snakes-head Fritillary on Iona.

Great Northern Diver coming into summer plumage.

Golden Plover arrived in good numbers.

Hen Harriers put on a good show.

Female Hen Harrier.

Iceland Gull on the patch.

Lapwings started breeding.

Mountain Hares are still around but the numbers are low this year.

Northern Wheatears were a welcome sight.

Quite a few Otter cubs around.

Puffins arrive in April.

Ring Ouzel was a cracking bird to see.

Short-eared Owl were pairing up.

Starling is a bird often overlooked.

Sundew were starting to emerge.

The Tawny Owls were breeding in the barn.

The views were spectacular!

Whimbrel passage was good.

A Wren was breeding in the brambles.

Quite a few young White-tailed Eagles were hanging around - 11 was my best count.

The adult birds were preparing for a new arrival.

Willow Warbler heralds the start of summer for me.

I'm back

It's been a long time but I lost the will to live with blogger due to the internet problems. It took seven months to get it fixed - Facebook was easier to upload to so that has been a big help. I'm jut dabbling at the moment so here are few photos from earlier in the year - March to June in no particular order...

Buff-tip

 Common Sandpiper

 Golden Eagle

 Golden Plover

 Golden-ringed Dragonfly

 Male Hen Harrier

 Female Hen Harrier

 Montain Hare

 Otter

 Puffin

 Razorbill

 Redshank

 Common Seal

 Skylark

 Common Snipe

 Stonechat

 Treecreeper

 Whinchat

 White-tailed Eagle

 Yellowhammer

Not quite

A couple of tours in this post with some of the birds just not quite in range. The Golden Eagle we saw just never came close enough for a decent shot...

...unlike the mating Golden-ringed Dragonflies that were quite approachable.

A WT Eagle showed very well but I managed to get the camera strap caught up so the best I managed was a quick snap as the bird disappeared behind the trees!

The first tour we managed to see an Otter but we probably didn't devoted enough time for the furry beast on the second day so we missed out. We did photograph lots of stuff on the second day though starting with a nice Golden Plover.

There were a couple of Common Gull chicks on the shore too.

It wasn't just the birds and mammals that we covered as the plants are of interest too - Greater Butterfly Orchid seem to do quite well despite the constant grazing that goes happens along the verges.

We saw an Adder at a new site and got another at my usual site.

Most of the Red Deer are seen at a distance so it was nice to get this stag close to the road.

Meadow Pipit might be a common bird but it's worth having a closer look at this attractive bird.

You wouldn't give it a second look if it was next to a male Stonechat though!

I mentioned that Whinchat seemed to be in short supply this year but there seems to have been a late arrival of these birds as they are in all the regular spots now.