Splash

A quick trip out produced a few sightings. This drake RB Merg doesn't look too impressed as the female bird causes a bit of a splash.

This bird was fishing in the shallows - you can see there is a thin film of water covering the bird before it even dives...

...and you could be excused for mistaking this for an Otter.

No mistaking the Shag when it shows well though.

There was an Otter fishing a bit further out but it never came any closer.

A flock of Curlews were feeding in a field and it was nice to see the whole bill disappear as they dug for worms.

Not a great deal of variety on the feeders at home but it does give you a chance to get a bit closer to some birds - Great Tit...

...and the stunning Coal Tit are two good examples.

Slack.

It's been a bit of a slack month but there have been plenty of chances to see the Otter families - a real bundle of fur!

The Hen Harriers have been an almost daily sighting but it's last years youngsters or females that make up most of the sightings.

The peanut feeders seem to be getting a bit more attention at the moment - plenty of Chaffinch, House Sparrow, Coal Tit, Blue Tit and Great Tit.

As I said before there are plenty of chances to see Otter and it's always feeding time.

A windy day provided a bit of entertainment of the White-tailed Eagle variety. Ten birds in the air would have been good but the best effort was 7 in the air and the other 3 on the ground but the local Golden Eagles were not amused by the invasion! None of the action was in range of the camera but it was good to see. A warm, blue sky day was fairly unproductive to start with - the Buzzard looked good...

...but the three young WT Eagle were the ones causing the stir (two of the trio).

The Ravens can't be far away from nesting in some areas but there is plenty of display and most birds are flying in their pairs.

Golden Eagles are busy displaying and keeping their territories clear - plenty of sightings but not many photos. The Stonechat pairs are quite numerous which is a good sign after the cold winters of the recent past.

A quick dash.

Just a quick run out for this batch of photos. The rain was slackening off so I grabbed a few snaps of the waders on the shore - Dunlin...

...and Turnstone.

This one could have been nice but the grass was in the way - the humble Dunnock.

While looking at a couple of GN Diver a WT Eagle flew over the top - nice!

I was hoping to come across some Long-tailed Tit but the best I could manage was a couple of Coal Tit, 1 Blue Tit and a Great Tit.

I finished the day off nicely with a Golden Eagle as I walked home.

Fledge.

Wednesday the Great Tits fledged. We found the runt of the brood first who was hopping around on the ground so I stuck that one in the bushes.

One of the other fledglings tried to fly into the shop but made it onto the roof instead - result!

Thursday the wind had picked up a bit but the fine weather was holding. We had a superb start to the day with Otter, WT Eagle and SE Owl all in the bag within the first hour. Good views of RT Diver were overshadowed by another Otter that hauled a fish out on the rocks. Lunch break gave us cracking views of the Hen Harriers, two Cuckoos and a Golden Eagle. We bagged our third Otter of the day just after lunch.

The Orchids are starting to come into flower now with lots of Heath Spotted and also a few spikes of Fragrant Orchid.

A female Hen Harrier , 4 Adders and two Slow Worms spiced things up a bit. A pair of Whinchat were feeding young with the male putting in an appearance first...

...closely followed by the female.

We finished the day off with more views of Golden Eagle and a food pass betweena pair of Hen Harrier. Another stunning view of a Common Buzzard hunting just had to be photographed.

Chilly.

Friday the skies were still blue but the wind was a chilly northerly. Just before the guests arrived I had a WT Eagle fly past me.

No sign of any Mountain Hares in the morning but a flock of about 30 Whimbrel and a couple of Black-tailed Godwit were nice compensation. The Golden Plover were still present too.

Two Cuckoos, two Golden Eagles and two distant Hen Harriers were all nice to see while we had lunch but the close male Hen Harrier made up for the two distant ones. While watching the adult WT Eagles at the nest we reckoned that there were two chicks being fed - good news there. The two SE Owls and a female Hen Harrier seemed like a good finish to the day until we came across a Peregrine - awesome!

Saturday we woke up to a dusting of snow on the high ground. The weather faired up for the tour but the chilly weather had this Great Tit lining it's nest with copious amounts of wool.

We started the day with the WT Eagles and managed to confirm that there were two chicks in the nest. We got a nice comparison between a summer and winter plumaged GN Diver in the morning. It was a bit of a quiet morning but it soon picked up with Red Deer and Common Seal seen not too far apart. A couple of Goldfinch showed well...

...just before seeing the Tawny Owl out in the open sunning itself!

Our good fortune continued with views of Golden Eagle, a couple of Adder and the first sighting of the juvenile Dippers fresh out of the nest.

A fly over Peregrine was a good find in the afternoon. The waders were good to us too with a 30 strong flock of Whimbrel, Redshank, Dunlin and Ringed Plover all seen. Our last bird of the day was a nice White Wagtail...

...that looked twice the size with it's feathers all fluffed up!