The big and the small.

Wednesday was forecast to be a bit miserable but the threat of rain soon passed. We started the days tour with a brief glimpse of a male Hen Harrier before heading off to look for Mountain Hares. We located a single Hare pretty quickly but missed out on the Golden Plover and proceeded to have a quiet spell that gave no better than a few Swallows, Sand Martins and Willow Warbler. Our next stop warmed things up a bit with a WT Eagle calling from a spot that we couldn't view so we headed further down the road to see if we could improve things. Result - one adult WT Eagle sitting at the bottom of a cliff next to the sea. We also had a bonus as another Wt Eagle came from the same place and flew towards us before landing on the rocks down below.

This bird is a four year old from Skye. If you check out the photos of the White tagged birds from previous posts you can see there is a tremendous difference in plumage from 3 year old to four year old. A Red-throated Diver flew past while we watched the eagle. Lunchtime produced the usual sighting of Golden Eagle plus a couple of Crossbills flew over. A year tick at the next stop was a single Black-tailed Godwit. We headed off in search of Otters next and we weren't disappointed with a single male offshore before we located another asleep on the shore. A Common Sandpiper was quite obliging while we waited for a GN Diver to surface.

Another two Otters performed quite well just after we'd scrutinised this Rock Pipit.

The return journey produced a good number of antler free stags - boy do they look odd!

Thursday was another trip out with guests. The forecast was not a good one, starting with rain, but the usual Mull climate won the day and we stayed dry. We looked for the Mountain Hares while the rain came down and managed to find two as the skies cleared.

The Golden Plover were parading about in the fields again today, Meadow Pipits were everywhere and the odd Skylark gave a good display. Sightings of Common Seals, Swallows, Wheatears and Sand Martins kept us going until we picked up a Golden Eagle in flight. It was flying at low level and eventually landed in a Larch not too far away from us. It would have been a good picture but it flew off just as I got the camera out! It performed well and landed again before being harassed by Ravens. A flock of seven Common Crossbill, including three streaky juv birds, showed well at the top of a conifer. We had Otter on the list next as we located a male just waking up and having a scratch before heading off fishing. As the Otter moved off we picked up an adult WT Eagle flying along the ridge before dropping out of sight. We moved on and found 3 Bullfinch feeding quietly while we were watching a Robin. I managed to get a shot of the male Bullfinch before they moved on.

While viewing the two WT Eagles at the nest site this Wren completely stole the show. They normally find a perch and give a blast of song before moving on but this chap just stayed where he was!

We'd had a cracking day out and comment was passed that Herons are much overlooked - they certainly are handsome birds.

Obscene

The WT Eagle sightings are continuing at an obscene rate and I'm sure everyone is getting a bit sick of the photos. Well, I'm afraid, that's tough...

... those two put in an appearance on Sunday afternoon and I wasn't going to miss out on a photo opportunity. I had the camera in frustration mode, as you can tell, so I was pleased to get the next shot right.

F-stop and PS dragged me, kicking and screaming, around the loch after the above drama and we didn't see a whole lot except this Otter.

 

Monday was another day on tour in fair conditions but rain was promised before the end of play. We started off with good views of Ringed Plover displaying and a single Common Sandpiper trying to keep out of their way! We looked for Mountain Hare and it took some doing but we got there eventually with a good haul of birds including Golden Plover, Turnstone, Wheatear, Redshank picked up along the way. We located a Golden Eagle on the way to our next stop where we took in the delights of the singing Willow Warbler, displaying Rock Pipit and the dashing Sand Martins. We headed off from there wondering what was going to come next - nobody would have predicted White-billed Diver but that is what we got. A beast of a bird still in juv plumage but I couldn't get a photo due to nasty, nasty heat haze! Lunchtime was a long wait with nothing to see until the Golden Eagle put in an appearance just as we were packing up to go. A cracking male Wheatear was begging to get it's photo took through a fence so I duly obliged.

We bagged a couple of WT Eagle flying over the ridge before we finally got sighting of an Otter asleep on the shore. The clouds rolled in as we went in search of another Otter. We did locate one but it managed to sneak off before everyone had a good look so we checked out the local WT Eagle nest before returning to the Otter. This time we found the Otter bringing a fish to shore and enjoyed cracking views while the rain came down. A female Hen Harrier was seen on the return journey with a couple of Whooper Swans adding to the days total.

This morning I saw three very tired looking Whooper Swans in a sheltered bay and when we finally got to the shop we knew why - it was blowing a hoolie! On the way to the shop we had the now expected eagle extravaganza with at least 8 birds flying around. No wing tags were seen on any of the birds in flight but one of four birds that were sitting on the shore had green tags with the letter O - another East coast bird from last year. I've tried to keep my eyes closed for the rest of today but I have one more big bird photo show before I sign off....nanoo, nanoo

The early worm gets the bird.

Thursday was another cracking day. I had a meeting to attend in the afternoon so I didn't do too much in the morning but first bird on the list in the afternoon was a WTE being chased by a Raven.

After the meeting I had a bit of a wander around trying to get a photo of Willow Warbler but they didn't want to play despite there being quite a few birds around now. Primroses are out in force as are Dog Violet with the odd Wood Anemone here and there.

I followed a GN Diver along the shore taking a few snaps along the way. With the light against me they were never going to be good but I did catch him in the middle of a fishing tale - how big?

 'It was huge, I tell you!!'

Friday was a continuation of the good weather and another sighting of four WT Eagle outside the shop. A good bit of interaction between two of the young birds and an adult WT as the youngsters seen off the adult bird. It obviously tired them out as they took turns having a lie down after that.

The adult returned an hour or so later and returned the favour!! I received an update from the RSPB on the bird sporting the ring Blue 80 - a bird from mainland Scotland on the West coast. I went to check on the Adder situation in the afternoon but couldn't find any at all. I wonder how many died in the winter cold spell. While attempting another warbler photo I snapped this Peacock on a Willow - nice.

 Staying with the insects there are a lot of Green Tiger Beetles about at the moment...

...and also the odd Bee-Fly.

A Northern Wheatear posed for a photo while I fumbled with the camera...

...before I located a stag, still sporting antlers, that had been wallowing somewhere - filthy or what?

I also found my first patch of Wood Sorrel before the day was out.

Saturday there was change in the weather with a bit of drizzle and a cold Northerly blowing. It was another tour and amongst the usual array of birds and beasts there was the odd surprise. A Bar-tailed Godwit was the find of the day...

...with a nice male Hen Harrier doing a flyby while we were watching it. Quite a few Swallows were seen through the day...

...and the same with Sand Martins. Wheatears were prominent too with a lovely display from 3 male vying for the attention of a single female. We did manage to locate an Adder today but again it was one of last years youngsters. The Lapwings performed well and looked splendid in the sunshine at the end of the day.

The Golden Plover flock has increased to about 200 Summer plumage birds - an impressive sight.

I wormed my way out of bed to watch the F1 this morning and it always pays to have a look around before doing anything else. I could see a few lumps at the side of the loch so I dug out the bins for a closer look...

...six WT Eagles sitting in a group - tremendous. The Green tagged bird on the right is the local breeding female and the white tagged bird is number 3. I had a good look along the shore and picked out another 3 birds - NINE birds it total!! Strangely there was no sign of White 7 amongst these birds.