Similar

A couple of tours had fairly similar sightings so here is a selection of photos. The Red Deer are starting to drop their antlers so this sight will become less frequent over the next couple of weeks.

The WT Eagle sightings are good at the moment but then you can't have a bad sighting of one of these!

Crossbill sightings are a bit hit and miss but you can hear them calling and singing around the forestry.

The Otter is a slippery customer at times so it was nice to have distant views to start with and then a closer one. You have to mark your territory as you move around...

...and a shower is nice too.

There is a smattering of migrants coming through, Sand Martins have arrived from their winter quarters in Africa...

but there is also winter visitors that are back on their way north. The Redwings will probably be heading for Iceland.

Both days had rain at the time we went for Golden Eagle - a bit of patience required and the birds did show.

Along the shore there are quite a few Wheatear, lots of Meadow Pipit, Reed Bunting and Rock Pipit...

...while the wader numbers have dropped - very few Greenshank, small numbers of Ringed Plover and the Turnstones are on the move. Another change has been the reappearance of the Tawny Owl in the barn.

Catching up.

This is the last post from April - the patchwork challenge score is 85 species and 105 points (year list 115 species).
April went out with a bang - plenty of GN Diver...

...a good performance from the WT Eagle...

...and an Otter close enough to hear the crunching of it's snack.

There were still some of the Redshanks hanging around...

...and there was a fly past Golden Eagle while we had lunch.

A WT Eagle made a brief appearance at lunchtime and another gave good view about half an hour later.

A couple of Whinchat were seen as we searched for Adders - initially no luck but then we found this beauty!

A Willow Warbler thought the camera shy look was better than showing well.

A trip to the beach was productive as we caught up with plenty of Redshank, 6 Ringed Plover, 3 Turnstone and an obliging Sand Martin.

Three Black-tailed Godwit were still in the Iris beds...

...a good showing of Golden Plover, a single Mountain Hare and this Skylark was either trying to attract a mate or was threatening a rival.

Year ticks...

...and on the patch too. A few days of stroppy weather produced these birds some of which were overdue. There were two Sand Martins flying back and forth outside the shop. They normally turn up at the back end of March so the middle of April is a bit late!

In the afternoon there was no sign of the Sand Martins but there was a House Martin flying around instead! The House Martin is pretty much on time.

Common Scoter I have seen already this year but this one is on the patch - terrible weather, terrible view but an superb bird.

Another day, more stroppy weather with strong winds and a bird I've not had on the patch before. A tern was spotted in the distance, I got it in the scope and you could see it was an Arctic Tern - a great find. I turned around to get the camera, turned back to look and the bird was gone! A quick scan and I could see the bird had settled on the rocks so I headed off, on foot, in the rain. The bird was back in flight before I got anywhere near close enough so I kept going and settled down on the rocks in the rain. The bird kind of did circuits while it fed so it came reasonably close at times - some good shots and lots of bad ones but it was worth it.