Where's me birds?

Wednesday was a bit of a grey day so not many photos. After picking the guests up and checking out the GN Divers we headed off around the loch. A mum and cub Otter were located and watched for a while until they hid themselves behind some rocks. The WT Eagles are still sitting on eggs so a view of an adult sitting on the nest was nice to see. It surprisingly quiet out there at the moment as the migrant birds are slow coming through. I've heard reports of Tree Pipit across the island but I can't find any down here at the moment. They'll come in time, I'm sure. I did get a couple of year ticks with a Common Whitethroat and a Whinchat both showing briefly. Our last stop of the day was probably the most productive with the usual selection of shore birds and a nice flock of finches that included 20 Linnet and 10 Twite. Best find of the day for me was this Brent Goose.

In the evening I finally made the journey up to Calgary to see if the Bee-eaters were still around. When we arrived the wind was howling and the rain was lashing down - not the best conditions so it was no surprise that we didn't connect with the birds and the lone Whimbrel on the beach was no compensation.
Thursday was a much better day with the sun shining and trying to negate the chilly breeze. With the guests on board we headed off in search of the days delights. We didn't even have to look for Mountain Hare as one raced across the road in front of us before we discovered 4 Dunlin amongst the flock of Golden Plover. There was no sign of the Twite today and only four Linnets were found. Our next stop gave up a few of the small birds and was looking pretty quiet when, suddenly, a female Hen Harrier cleared the ridge. Just as we were packing up we picked up a Golden Eagle in the distance but it was soon out of sight. A lone Black Guillemot was found while looking for divers and a Willow Warbler posed briefly nearby.

Lunchtime gave us another two Golden Eagles but closer views this time. The birds were up in the air when we arrived and still flying about when we left!

The Dunlin and Ringed Plovers were showing well outside the shop but we couldn't locate the Greenshank that was calling. Just before we got to the small pool where the Greenshank often hide out we found this Snipe sitting pretty.

While looking for Otters a juv WT Eagle flew straight past us scattering the gulls and geese. The bird flew out of sight and then reappeared as we pulled over again to watch an Otter. The Otter was fishing in the loch so I grabbed a few snaps of the WT Eagle.

We moved on from there to search for Red Deer which were easy to find and a Cuckoo was located perched up in a tree. A couple of Sparrowhawks were seen being mobbed by a Hooded Crow when we headed back down the road. Both of the adult WT Eagles were present at the nest site and a juv Golden Eagle cruised the ridges. On the run back through we picked up another Otter that was hauled out with a fish.

Today was a bit wet this morning with some heavy showers passing through and a lot clearer this afternoon. I had a look through the Dunlin and Ringed Plover to see if there was anything else but with only 10 birds of each it didn't take long. Two WT Eagle and two Golden Eagle were over the ridges in opposite directions but always distant.

The rain can stop now.

Monday was a day of rain but just the light stuff. We headed off in search of Otters round the loch and found a cracking Redshank sitting on the fence to start with.

Good views of Wheatear and Lapwing were had before we picked up our first GN Diver. While watching the diver we located an Otter fishing on the far shore so we watched as it made it's way along the shore. Next on the list was a juv WT Eagle sitting on a spit of land. Another 3 Otters were found a mile or so further round before we viewed the WT Eagle nest on the second attempt due to a heavy shower spoiling the view the first time! Another single Otter was seen on the return journey and also two more juv WT Eagle before the rain started in earnest. A quiet afternoon was had but we still managed to pick up Sparrowhawk, Whimbrel, Kestrel, Dunlin and Golden Plover amongst the usual fare. Six Mountain Hare were found lounging in the Iris beds before we had a quick look at the Lapwing nest while the sitting bird was away.

After I'd dropped the guests off and returned home I caught up with a male Hen Harrier flying past the shop - cool!

Tuesday was another day of rain but heavier than the previous day. Six WT Eagle were sitting around outside the shop while I waited for todays guests to arrive. I managed to get a shot of three of the birds together in the dull conditions just before one of the birds made a few attempts to catch a swimming RB Merg!

The guests arrived in time to take in the eagle fest before we headed off in search of Otters. Whimbrel, Common Sandpiper and the many Wheatears were admired before we picked up an Otter scrambling over the rocks. We had to reverse down the road to pick the beast up again as he headed out fishing. It was a tough day but we had many highlights including a Snipe that was drumming right over our heads, a flock of Twite performed superbly about five yards in front of us, cracking views of both Great Northern and Red-throated Divers, lots of Dunlin and this Pink-footed Goose was a surprise find too.

I could add to the list but a healthy 54 species on a rainy day isn't a bad result.

More rain please.

Friday was a bit dull to start with and then rain pushing in as the day went on. Luckily we had a cracking start to the sightings for the day with a good number of Otters. A dog Otter to start with which hid itself away not long after we found it so we headed off to view the WT Eagle nest. Both birds were present on the nest but not doing a lot so we went back to see if we could relocate the Otter. No luck with the dog but we found mum and two cubs a bit further along.

The female headed off and left the cubs to sleep so we moved on again. We got good views of 2 juv WT Eagles at our next stop one of which was busy demolishing a goose.

Another two Otter were spotted running behind the eagles heading for the sea. The rain started after this and washed out the afternoon a bit. We did pick up a few Redwing along the way and my first Gannet of the year before our last stop. A few birds had dropped in with the rain so the flock of 27 Dunlin were nice to see...

...and the Golden Plover did a nice fly by for us too.

A Mountain Hare was showing well at the side of the road...

...with a Lapwing sitting on the nest in the rain not too far away.

Saturday the weather was the other way round with cloudy conditions in the morning and brightening up in the afternoon. We set of in search of the Otters first and managed to get cracking views of one just after we'd been viewing Common Sandpiper and the first Whimbrel I'd seen this year.

We had the adult Wt Eagles in the bag before we located a couple of younger birds in flight. A cracking Golden Eagle at lunchtime was nice to watch...

...before we located a Cuckoo sitting on a fence post. The sightings of GN Diver had been good through the day but the numbers of Razorbill were starting to build and it was nice to hear the birds calling to each other. We had good Hare sightings again and a male Hen Harrier but no sign of the Dunlin today. A White Wagtail tried it's best to avoid getting it's photo taken.

Sunday was a day off and supposed to be an afternoon trip to Staffa. The weather was dreadful so we ended up on Iona instead. We heard a single Corncrake while we were there and watched the Rooks flying in and out of the Rookery.

The Snake's Head Fritillary was still in flower so a couple of shots of those too.

The Jackdaws were trying their best to stay out of the way so just a flight shot.

Lastly a puzzler...is it a Rook or a Carrion Crow? I've not seen a Rook with white in the wings before and we don't have Carrion Crow on the island!

I found out this morning that there are two Bee-eaters in the North of the island and have been there for a couple of days....I'll not be seeing those then!