Normality at last!

Monday was a superb day out despite the fact it was raining steadily in the morning. We started off with displaying Snipe, Redshank at close quarters and then a flyby female Hen Harrier. This was closely followed by a male Hen Harrier, Merlin and Swift as we stopped to look at a Mute Swan and LBB Gull. The day just got better and better with the weather improving the birds started popping up all over - Sedge Warbler, Whinchat, Lesser Redpoll, Common Whitethroat, Ringed Plover. At lunch we managed to locate an Adder and a Dipper feeding a youngster with a nice male Grey Wagtail as well. The WT Eagle youngster is growing up fast, the Otters performed well and we got a last gasp Golden Eagle.
Yesterday was a sunny day that didn't produce as much but some great sightings all the same. We started with some spectacular Eagle sightings. An adult WT Eagle cleared the ridge closely followed by a young bird. They both headed towards the clouds and promptly disappeared and no sooner had this happened and a Golden Eagle appeared out of the cloud. We eventually had all three flying around together - superb. We picked away at the bird list through the day and eventually turned up a male Hen Harrier that rapidly disappeared but we relocated it and we were rewarded with better views. Not five minutes later we had another male HH at close quarters.Sanderling and Dunlin were seen at close quarters and the camera was in the vehicle - I hope they are there today! We finished the day off with an Otter doing what we wanted to do - giving it zed's in style!!

Closer?

I've made a bit of an effort to get some flight shots but if they won't come close then it's not worth the effort. I reckon a bulletin went round about my camera and nothing will come near me now ha ha ha! A distant WTE is better than none at all.....

This Greenfinch was singing it's heart out so I obliged but even that wasn't close enough!
This is the Common Buzzard that gets reported as Osprey and Rough-legged Buzzard just about every year. It has to be something different because it doesn't look like the other Buzzards.

I've tried hoying the brakes on and sticking the camera out the window which results in this....
So I had a go at some flowers and butterflies instead. Birds Foot Trefoil - it didn't fly away and it was close enough!

I got a glimpse of a butterfly disappearing down on the beach so I charged across expecting to find nothing - a cracking Small Tortoiseshell.
And then we nearly stood on this Peacock - marvellous!

It really was a good day today though as we started off with WTE, Golden Eagle, male Hen Harrier and Red Deer all within 20 minutes. I failed to find Otters yesterday and it was almost the same thing today. We had cracking views of some summer plumage birds - GN Diver, RT Diver, Linnet. Close encounters with Gannet, Common Tern, Cuckoo, Redshank, Raven and we even found a Swift but no Otters. I returned to Loch Beg in double quick time and started the search again - no problem this time with 2 Otters asleep on the shore.

Cracking days

Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday were all good weather days but an increasing Easterly wind is keeping it cool now. The battery on the camera finally gave out this morning after 471 photographs - that's not a bad shout at all!
In my last post on Tuesday morning I mentioned that I might not get any Otters - I was nearly right. The whole day with not a sniff and than right at the last stop we picked one out, asleep on the shore - phew! It's all been pretty easy pickings over the last few days with the Eagles showing well, Hen Harriers, Whimbrel, Whinchat, Whitethroat etc - if it's there we'll look at it. A few pictures from the last few days - some good, some not so good.
A Whinchat that stayed still for a photo but we had a stunning male that wouldn't stay still enough! The Whimbrel are hanging in at Fidden - four birds in this photo. There is a Blackwit or two hanging around down there too.
A male Northern Wheatear that was vying the Whinchat for attention - the Wheatear won.

The hot sunny days are all a bit too much for some - this Red Deer was just too warm to move. Great views though.

Another Fidden speciality is the good views of the Lapwing chicks as they pick their way through the Iris beds.

An Eider on Loch Scridain in a different pose to normal out of the water and standing proud.

The Butterwort are now in flower - stunning in the sunlight.

Yesterdays tour had someone who really wanted to see Hen Harrier. I normally see them at lunchtime but it all went a bit flat and the best we got was an out of place Collared Dove, House Martin and a couple of Siskin. The Golden Eagle was picked up after we came down from the hill but still no Harrier. We watched the male WT Eagle feeding the youngster and then the female flying in before we moved off to get an Otter or two. The female Otter with cub duly obliged with good views of them rooting about in the shallows. I recommended that people stay on a bit longer to try to clinch the Harrier. It was a worthwhile effort as we came across this stunning male bird at very close quarters - enjoy......

A fitting end to a great day. Just for those folk missing the views - it wasn't a bad sunset last night.........