Wag

It was nice to catch up with a Willow Warbler again - the song of this bird is always the sound of summer for me. No sooner had I published the last post where I mentioned the Greenshanks had moved on and there were three birds back on the loch! A pair of Grey Wagtails were getting frisky on one of the burns.

It was nice to catch up with the mum and cub Otters while they were reaping the rewards of a few Dogfish. They were seen to bring two ashore in about 20 minutes.

The Highland Cattle are always popular with the guests.

A few more Northern Wheatears are being seen now.

There was a decent breeze blowing while this Rock Pipit was trying to hang on to the fence.

Decent numbers of Linnets can be seen in various locations.

It was a bit of a struggle to get a good view of Golden Eagle until this one flew past the motor!

September ends

September finished on a bit of a whimper for me as far as the lists are concerned - year list 141, patch list 103 with 128 points.
The last tour of the month was more about sightseeing than wildlife but they did want to see an Otter. We saw two on the day but the only photos were of this one that was backlit, hence the B&W image.

A popular sight over the last days of September were the Highland Cattle in the shallows of the loch.

Let's see what October brings.

All dressed up...

The weather has turned overcast instead of the blue skies but there is still no rain for us. Some of the pools that the frogs have used are now dry and the spawn will be lost. No frogs in the garden pond so it's another bird waiting to get on the feeders - Chaffinch.

Nothing else came close enough for the camera. Even the GN Diver kept it's distance.

No improvement in the weather on the next day but being out earlier helped with the sightings. The Otter family were out fishing and catching well so I didn't have to wait too long before one hauled out.

The Black-headed Gull is that common (for me) so to see two birds coming into breeding plumage was worthy of a bit of camera pointing!

You can find the Red-breasted Merganser close to the shore but they are not that keen if you stop to look. You can see the speed of this bird as it heads off - love the hairdo though!

Not a native bird but Pheasants are striking birds - all dressed up and nowhere to go.

A Common Gull was doing circuits...

...round a herd of Highland Cattle.

I managed to get reasonably close to two of the Skylark when I got home and got some photos of of one of them in the open - result.

Wet.

Another wet day that proved difficult to start with. There were good sightings of various waders, Buzzard and Tawny Owl before the camera came out for some Highland Cows!

The weather was improving as the day went on but a single Redshank was the best we could manage.

Things were starting to look a bit better when we found a Mountain Hare next to the road.

We finally found an Otter late in the afternoon and watched as it ate a fish on the shore. Two Eider were seen catching Crabs.

A Dipper showed well too.

An adult WT Eagle was found sitting in a tree and some Red Deer put in an appearance just before the guests were dropped off.