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

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.