Smart

A few showers helped with the year list as I managed to catch up with Blackcap, House Martin and a Tree Pipit that was displaying in the garden!

There are a few White Wagtails around now but none close enough for a photo yet so a Pied Wagtail will have to do.

The Common Scoters are still hanging around.

I didn't actually see an Otter but this Dogfish didn't haul itself out of the sea so it could be a GBB Gulls dinner!

There are plenty of Northern Wheatear around now and I have seen them pairing up and exploring nest sites.

The Shelducks are doing the same thing - how smart does this bird look?

Most of the Lapwings are on the nest so it won't be long before the chicks are on the go.

Other year ticks have included Short-eared Owl, Knot, Cuckoo and Treecreeper - 116 species for now.

Dodging showers

The weather forecast says there will be passing showers - how long does a shower last? A couple of minutes, an hour...or two, well, it's just relentless with barely any time between them. I don't let it stop me going out but it does slow me down a bit. The best I managed on such a day was a few photographs of a pair of Curlew setting up territory.

The Stonechat pairs seem to be well up this year so you never seem to be that far from a singing male at the moment.

A couple of Otters were having a scrap on the other side of the loch to me as I sat out another shower - it wasn't too long before they were feeding side by side!

I'm guessing this Shag wasn't too impressed with the weather either - it didn't even bother surfacing properly!

I hit lucky in more ways than one as a clear spell came in I could see a large bird sitting in a tree. I took a few shots from too far away before moving in a bit closer. The White-tailed Eagle wasn't to bothered as I pulled up next to it - very impressive!

Not too far away from that was another WT Eagle was carrying some food as it flew past.

After all that excitement it was back to the small stuff - plenty of Rock Pipits displaying, the Meadow Pipits doing their thing and still only male Pied Wagtails.

Waiting

I found this Pied Wagtail sitting on the roof of the bus stop - I don't think it was waiting for a bus.

A pair of Reed Bunting were hanging round a cattle feeder - he looks like he is trying to impress the female bird by raising the crown feathers.

A GN Diver caught my eye but as it moved away I could see a Guillemot coming in a bit closer. There was no cover so it was never going to be good - just sit and wait.

A pair of Golden Eagle were seen flying around together while a pair of WT Eagle were sitting in a tree. The WT Eagles were quite vocal...

...probably because of the pesky Buzzard. They certainly make the Buzzard look small.

The birds were seen to mate before flying off. Nothing left to photograph but the Primroses!

Time marches on

The signs of a change in the season are everywhere now with the Hazel catkins looking good, the willow trees coming into leaf, Daffodils in the garden and the return of the Pied Wagtail setting the boundaries for his territory.

A nice calm day but still overcast - I'm sure the weather will improve soon.

I finally caught up with a Tawny Owl the other morning - he was going to bed just as I was getting up! The place is alive with birds singing at the moment but it's all the common birds like Blue Tit, Great Tit, Chaffinch, Robin, Wren and Song Thrush.

Even the Great Northern Divers were calling to each other.

The Common Crossbills are seen every day at the moment and some views are better than others but you can always hear the male singing.

The gulls will start searching out their breeding sites but for now they are still gathering on the shore but the display flights are becoming more regular - time marches on.

A pile of poop

A nice run out to put some fuel in the motor was quite productive as I picked up a few year ticks. A Great Northern Diver was fishing close to the shore and I managed to catch it just as it was diving.

The first place I picked up a few year ticks was a pile of poop (or maybe it's a reference to the photos). A few Reed Buntings were dotted about with this female bird standing proud.

A small flock of Meadow Pipit were present...

...along with a single Rock Pipit - a good comparison.

I noticed a pair of Reed Bunting feeding on the ground - the male has the black bib and the head will darken soon.

Most of our Pied Wagtails disappear in the winter so it was nice to see this male bird back on the island.

A flock of 18 Tufted Duck on a loch had a drake Scaup with them - a good find.

A decent amount of Lapwings were back to their home ground but the flock of 300 Starling was quite impressive. A couple of Shelduck were swimming across the bay in front of these Common Seals - if you look at the back of the rock you can see the head of a Grey Seal too.

Back on home turf I delayed having lunch while I took a few snaps of this Otter cleaning himself up...

...and a Common Crossbill was in full song back at the shop - never a dull moment!

Keep on your toes.

There has been an intermission while the internet was repaired after a lightening strike. I do have a bit of a backlog so there may be a few posts to catch up!
A quick run out to do some errands produced a Pied Wagtail that thought a bath was necessary after a day of rain...

...splash it all over!

The Skylarks just look splendid - no clean up required.

As for keeping on your toes...Dunlin do it very well!

A quick check on the Golden Eagles produced a couple of birds and with a drier day the Adder was back on view.

Hot.

The temperatures were up around the 26°C mark for this tour and it never dropped below 20°C  - it would be a tough day but would it be any good? With the guests on board we headed off in search of Otters but the sea was a bit of a dead zone! We did see a male Hen Harrier, plenty of Common Seals and a stunning sunbathing Grey Heron.

We saw the young WT Eagle on the nest but there was no sign of the adults and the same result at the Golden Eagle nest. Things were going to have to pick up a bit! Our next stop was another search for Otters but this time we were successful. We found three of the furry beasts just settling down for a kip so we had lunch and waited. We were still having lunch when they moved off but I had a plan. We changed location and settled down onto the rocks while the Otters fished off shore.

It wasn't long before a couple of them came out of the sea to dry off - there are two there, honest!
It was a superb encounter but as soon as they were out of sight we backed off and left them too it. Almost forgot to mention the WT Eagle that flew over too! The Common Seal colony was fairly busy and very noisy. Our next location really came up with the goods as we found three Adders...

...a Golden Eagle...

...plenty of plants to look at and a few butterflies, dragons and damsels too. Black-tailed Skimmer, Golden Ringed Dragonfly and Large Red Damselfly...

...Meadow Brown, Common Blue and Pearl-bordered Fritillary.

We managed a few more common species of birds on the last two stops plus Mountain Hare and this strangely postured Pied Wagtail. It turned out that the wagtail had a damaged leg but it was still feeding well.

Twisted.

A day off with other things to catch up on kept the wildlife sightings to a minimum so the best I got were a couple of Lesser Redpoll on the fence at home. I presume this is the male...

...and this is the slightly duller female.

The following day I managed to twist my ankle just before setting off on the tour!! Needless to say it was a painful day but the sightings were good and the photos were almost non existent. After getting good views of the WT Eagle on the nest we found a Pied Wagtail perched on the fence sporting some rings...

...the details of that have been sent off and we'll see what comes back. Good views of the Golden Eagles and a Cuckoo were had but after setting the scope up I spent more time trying to keep the weight off my ankle. Three Otter were well watched before headed into the woods for Wood Warbler - cracking views but a slow walk. Another Golden Eagle was seen just before lunch...

...about 15 Common Tern and before the end of the day we'd had another two Golden Eagle, Whinchat, Adder and a single Swift.