Magic

Well it's the usual quiet spell at Christmas - I managed to get a photograph with some snow on just before it disappeared. Merry Christmas to you all.

A trip out with Doc saw him trying some unusual parking in the middle of the road so I could take a few snaps of the Buzzard having some breakfast.

The Black-throated Diver is still hanging around in the same area but it never seems to be close enough to shore for a good shot.

A great find in December was a juvenile Greenland White-fronted Goose - I can hear the gasps of excitement - but it really is a good find on my patch.

I didn't notice this WT Eagle was sporting a satellite pack until I looked through the photos. It was a bird released on the East coast of Scotland in 2008 and has now set up territory on Mull.

We watched this Otter from a distance, he knew something was up but couldn't figure it out so he just disappeared. I'm pretty sure it's magic.

Finally

Finally, a nice day! I had to put some fuel in the car so that gave me a chance to go a bit further afield. No sign of the WT Eagles on the rocks above the Common Seals.

I came across a couple of Jackdaws in a group of Rooks and there were a few Tufted Duck on the loch.

A 130 strong flock of Barnacle Geese...

...were in the same field as 25 Greenland White-fronted Geese.

A bit of a wander around was worthwhile as I came across this Mountain Hare enjoying the sunshine and keeping out of the breeze.

A flock of Wigeon were flying along the shoreline...

...as the hare decided to move off.

It didn't go too far but it kept an eye on me as I headed in the opposite direction.

A small flock of Ringed Plover stayed put as I walked past them.

Best sighting of the day had to be a Woodcock flying over the house at dusk.

Never a dull moment

The forecast had said the weather was going to improve through the day so I headed out for a look about. A couple of Otters were seen but I wasn't keen on hanging about as there were other things to see. The pale Buzzard was in posing mode.

It looks like the Black-throated Diver is going to spend the winter here so hopefully it will stick close to shore.

The Red-breasted Mergansers are almost finished moulting into fresh plumage - looks like it's an itchy process!

There are not that many Great Northern Divers about yet but I did see five through the day.

A Stonechat sitting on the fence - I couldn't help myself.

The local pair of WT Eagle were loafing at a favourite spot...

...and despite the heavy showers there was still an Adder basking not bad for the end of October.

Not the best of photos but this is the flock of Greenland White-fronted Geese - 23 birds in total.

A Hooded Crow in the sunshine - what can you say?

Mornings.

The posts have been a bit thin on the ground this month but if there isn't much going on...anyhoo...mornings can be productive. The first birds I see every morning, at the moment, are a Buzzard that perches up at the front of the house before settling into a tree round the back...

...and the other species is Hooded Crow - two of them see the Buzzard off every morning! The landscape will be changing a bit, over time, as a floating pier arrived so the forestry can be taken out.

There are still no Pied Wagtails on the patch but I did come across one on my travels.

Greylag Geese are all over the place at the moment...

...and the Skylarks are starting to reappear. I have a few Skylark outside the house and I have had some singing birds - what a fantastic thing to hear at this time of year.

There are still 25 Greenland White-fronted Geese hanging around but they will be heading back north next month.

The pier was soon in place and this shot shows the forestry that will be first to disappear.

Another treat was almost a disaster as I'd left home with no camera so when a Merlin was flying alongside the motor I was thrilled. The bird landed on an electricity pole there were stunning views to be had. I pulled out the Lumix to get a couple of snaps but the battery was flat and the spare was in my coat pocket back at home. Stupidly, I headed for home to pick up the camera and then thought it was unlikely the bird would still be there - how wrong was I?

I was pleased I went for the camera and only managed a few shots before the bird flew off!

January done.

The plovers that had put on a good show have all disappeared - not a sign of them! I managed to get another couple of year ticks to take the tally to 70 species but nothing added to the patchwork challenge which remains at 54 species and 66 points. Hen Harriers have been a daily sighting through January but that will change soon enough!

Twite are always around somewhere, you just have to find them. A flock of twenty birds was a nice find on the day.

There seems to be quite a few Song Thrush around but I've not had one singing yet.

A Greylag Goose sporting a lot of white stood out from the crowd of regular plumaged birds but I was surprised to find the same bird 20 miles away a couple of days later.

The Greenland White-fronted Geese have not been easy to find so it was nice to get them on the list for the year.

Both types of eagle have been fairly easy to see but they are keeping their distance at the moment as you can see from this Golden Eagle.

Best find of the month had to be the Little Auk but a Dipper on the patch came a close second. I only saw the bird once until Jan 31st when it put in another appearance and in full song - a nice way to see the month out.

Busy doing nothing.

I've managed to be busy on the nice days and not really ventured out on the scruffy days. Despite the poor weather Hen Harriers are a daily sighting at the moment - the males are more elusive but I managed to get two together. I got my first sighting of the Greenland White-fronted Geese of this winter as 20 birds flew overhead...

...and landed in a field - five of these birds are this years young.

Another quick trip out produced a few photos. Red-breasted Merganser and...

...Great Northern Diver...

...were within range but the two Red-throated Diver and a single Slavonian Grebe were too far out. The Red Deer looked good in the sunshine...

...and the only bird of prey to come close to camera was a single Buzzard!

Spots.

The weather forecast wasn't too good for this tour so we did our best to work around it. We started off in spitting rain to look for Golden Eagle. You could see the weather starting to close in but a single Hen Harrier, a distant WT Eagle and this young Golden Eagle were good enough.

Prolonged views of GN Diver as we hit the lochside and another two WT Eagle were seen before the rain started properly. Our next stop was a real treat as we picked up 4 Otters - a dog Otter was quite far out but the mum and two cubs gave a superb performance. We spent the next couple of hours looking for smaller birds and our reward was good views of Redpoll, Siskin, Song Thrush, Redwing, Reed Bunting and Mistle Thrush to name a few. Another visit to a site for Golden Eagle as the rain started to abate gave us good views of two adult birds. You can see this one has a full crop.

We finished the day off with a couple of WF Goose...

...two Lapwing, an itchy Mountain Hare...

...and a single Barnacle Goose.