End of February

Can you believe February is history already?! There is nothing exciting happening on the wildlife front except that slow crawl into spring. There is something new every day - it might be another species of bird bursting into song, the Collared Doves getting frisky or the Crossbills eating shells on the shore!

You can't fail to be impressed with the splendid male Red-breasted Merganser - he has already won his mate.

I have seen my first bunch of frogspawn at the end of February plus the Primroses are starting to emerge.

The Treecreeper becomes more obvious for us during February and it's nice to get a shot of one being the tree mouse and scampering up the tree trunks.

The WT Eagle will soon be on the nest so they have less of the wanderlust and spent quite a bit of time flying around together.

I have seen quite a bit of this young Golden Eagle over the winter and it seems to like stirring up the Buzzards - come on if you think you're hard enough!

The year list stands at 89 species while PWC scores are 61 species and 73 points.

Duck weather

It's the usual January weather - mostly overcast. The sunny days do make up for it though. A quick trip out in the sunshine didn't produce a great deal but it was nice to see the Oystercatchers wandering around protecting their mates and making a lot of noise.

The local WT Eagles were sitting out on an island too far away for a decent shot but still an impressive sight.

The usual signs that spring is approaching Robins singing, Starlings in subsong...

...and the RB Mergs doing a lot of displaying.

The rainy days have been good for the ducks like this Common Teal standing in a slightly sheltered spot.

Just to make sure that you know that winter isn't over yet we get another covering of snow - it'll soon be spring!!

Lilo

The wild weather is not the best for birding but it has to blow something interesting in! I'll settle for the common stuff to keep me going for now. A Lapwing was a first for the year...

...as was this Meadow Pipit. No wonder they are hard to see!

Any bird that is snorkeling makes you look twice in case it's an Otter. This Red-breasted Merganser...

...just happened to have an Otter fishing just behind it.

Always nice to get on the lilo too.

Most of the birds I saw flying were going backwards in the wind so this Buzzard is just about to join the backward club!

End of November

The weather has been pretty good through November. No complaints on the wildlife front either. The White-tailed Eagle is a regular sight just outside the shop but it was nice to have the camera handy for this one.

Mind you, the rest of the birds are never impressed by a raptor in the air. This Grey Heron was heading into the wood to hide!

A few photos of the view...looking from Glen More down to Loch Scridain.

A popular spot for photographs is the three lochs in the middle of Glen More.

I do prefer to be beside the sea - you can't beat the views when it's flat calm.

I could just sit there all day soaking it up.

There are plenty of Red Deer close to the road now so if you are lucky a close up is always possible.

If the good weather continues I might even get a decent shot of the Red-breasted Merganser.

Inspiration

I seem to be lacking in inspiration for the blog at the moment but I'm sure things will turn around before long. The wildlife is still doing it's thing and I'm enjoying getting out there to watch the antics. The male Red-breasted Mergansers are back into their breeding plumage so there is lots of interaction to see.

I haven't had that many close encounters with WT Eagles recently but that tends to happen when you don't go out. I did pick up a Jay, my first this year, just before this WT Eagle cruised overhead.

I had been watching three Golden Eagles flying together. They were a bit distant but the fact that it was a pair of adults with this years youngster made it all the more special.

This particular Buzzard has always been obliging but I wonder if any of the youngsters will pick up the same trait.

The Stonechat population has made a full recovery so there are not too many place where you won't pick one up.

We seem to be stuck in a spell of good weather at the moment so there was nice light on Ben More as the sun was going down.

Dicing with death

A quick look through the gulls that were plundering the sprats revealed nothing more exciting than this Black-headed Gull.

When all the gulls rose into the air it was fairly obvious what was going to fly by - a WT Eagle. A Common Buzzard wasn't impressed with the larger bird flying through it's territory so it had a real go at it!

The usual suspects were seen on the tour but the highlights were the three Goosanders...

...and the funky looking family of Red-breasted Mergansers.

The Stonechats have had a good breeding season this year with some of the pairs getting off 3 broods. The adult male is really nice to see.

The Adders are sticking to the sheltered spots and they can move off quickly but with a bit of patience they soon come creeping back out into the open.

Chicks

It's the middle of July and the photographs have dried up - more a case of not getting the chance to point the camera as the guests always come first. All the regular stuff is showing as it should but the exciting thing for me is the return of the wading birds at this time of year. The Redshank, Ringed Plover, Oystercatcher and Curlew have had good breeding seasons. The Greenshank are starting to appear in reasonable numbers.

Golden Plover numbers are coming up nicely with about 50 birds out there with plenty of youngsters in there too. A few Dunlin have appeared and again there is youngsters there too. A superb sighting just outside the shop was a female RB Merg with 16 chicks! The chicks appear to be two different sizes so it's probably a creche but who knows...part of the flock of youngsters - notice the larger chicks at the back.

They don't take any looking after either as they have to catch their own fish.

This WT Eagle pays us a visit every day at the moment - nice to see.

Up to speed

This post should bring things up to speed with the sightings! A couple of immature WT Eagles caused havoc outside the shop as they drifted overhead - no doubt chuckling as they went!

On the same day there was a couple of Dark Green Fritillaries dancing about the Red Clover in the garden.

A few different things to seek out made for an interesting day even though it was red hot. An Adult WT Eagle flying to it's nest gave us a good start.

The usual suspects were along the shore so this Common Tern stood out well even though it was in poor light.

We had a look at the Pale Butterwort which was still in flower. An Otter gave us the runaround but at least we all saw the beast while this Curlew gave a superb fly past.

A couple of broods of RB Merg were seen - what a delight it was to watch them skittering across the water.

We managed to find a pair of Golden Eagle circling in the distance but we waited and we got our reward as they sailed overhead. Next up was Great Sundew and in flower too!

The earlier Otter sighting was trumped as one of the guests picked up another one just slipping into the water. Fabulous views with a bit of patience.

 A trio of Mountain Hare at the days end were good to see and that was just the topping on the cake - almost forgot the Eider family that we saw.