Diamond Geezers!

Wednesday was a bit of a strange one with the weather - I started off in sunshine and drove into thick mist. There was no sign of Iona when we arrived at our starting point but the weather was due to improve. A flock of 30 Whimbrel were good to see and good sightings of the Dunlin, Golden Plover and the Mountain Hares. A couple of WT Eagle sitting together on an outcrop of rock gave us a good start with the big stuff and I managed to get a sighting of my first Tree Pipit not too long afterwards. A Golden Eagle performed well before we headed off for Otters. It didn't take too long to catch up with one of the furry beasts and 3 Lesser Redpoll landed in a tree next to us while we were viewing it (I only got two in the photo).

A cracking juv WT Eagle sailed over our heads while we were having an afternoon cuppa - a cracking way to finish.

Thursday was a nice clear day and a bus full of folk. I had most of the guests on board when we located 2 WT Eagle flying over the road. I was hoping the guests I had to pick up were looking in the right direction as they were just over the hill from where we stopped. We picked them up and  I was relieved to find out they had caught a glimpse of the birds as they dropped on to our side of the hill.

We bagged the usual array of waders and Mountain Hare before we got decent views of a Whinchat. That view was surpassed by another sighting of the same species right beside the motor at lunchtime. The Golden Eagle did it's stuff and another photo was taken.

We managed to pick up two Otters and another WT Eagle flying over the loch before we bagged two Golden Eagle flying over the ridge. There were some life time achievements had by the guests and there were grinning faces all round!

Today was a cracking day for Diamond Geezers (you know who you are). A particular request for Otters as they had failed to see them on their last visit. We headed off to pick up the other guests and within 5 minutes we were looking at 5 Otters just off shore!! I left the Diamond Geezers at the loch side and went to pick up the other guests. Straight back to the Otters and bingo....

They had hauled out a Dogfish and everyone was having a go at it. Usually they just eat the liver and leave the rest but the youngsters seemed intent on finishing the bony remains! We watched the WT Eagle feeding the youngster before we moved on to locate a Golden Eagle. Along the way we picked up a few Whimbrel...

...and a male Hen Harrier hunting along the hillside before spiralling up and out of sight. A brief glimpse of a Golden Eagle was had and we tried following it up but to no avail. Three WT Eagles soaring over Ben More were pronounced to be 'Diamond, mate'. An adult WT Eagle was spotted sitting on a rocky outcrop being harassed by a Hooded Crow.

The bird left soon after and headed towards the nest. We could see there was another WT Eagle flying in that area and there was a bit of a scuffle between the adult male bird and what was easily seen as a juv female bird. They finished off the tussle by locking talons and spiralling out of the sky!! Cracking views of Golden Eagle and Cuckoo were had before we bagged another two WT Eagle and two more Cuckoos with a fly over Peregrine to add a bit more icing to the ever tastier cake - Diamond, I tell ya! A Northern Wheatear posed perfectly on a wall next to the road to give me this opportunity.

Twite were located after listening to the birds calling and not being able to find them, they flew flew straight in front of us. The Hares were a treat too...

Our last stop of the day was a 'where do you look first' moment. Two Red-throated Divers, three Puffins and a Golden Eagle!

Over my shoulder

Sunday and Monday were quite similar days that were nice and bright but a biting Northerly wind stopped it from getting warm. Both of them were good days out on tour but it's still a struggle to get the migrant birds that should be here by now. Common Whitethroat are very thin on the ground, no Short-eared Owls that I've heard of, no Gropper, not too many Hen Harrier - I could go on! Hopefully the blank territories will be a bit fuller today. Anyway, I'll give you a few photographs from the Sunday and Monday....
One of the pairs of Golden Eagles have failed already, it's a normal thing for this pair, and it's nice to see both birds flying together.

The usual mayhem with the the WTE outside the shop continues but a bit more sporadically now. Two birds were present...

....and soon moved on with the Hooded Crow thinking it had scored a victory.

The Otters have been showing but can be elusive at times. We picked up this one from half a mile away...

....got good views before a crowd gathered. I don't think any of the crowd could see the Otter as he slipped down the back of the rock and was only visible from where I was standing on my own. It was no surprise that he went into hiding as the crowd left engines running, slammed doors and generally made a racket. Some people wonder why they don't see much! I've had a couple of sightings of the Dipper recently so I think there must be chicks on the go at last.

A Drinker moth caterpillar was a nice find too.

We also bagged a nice Speckled Wood - first one I've seen this year.

The GN Diver are starting to thin out as the birds head back North but the ones that are left are beautiful Summer plumage beasts.

The Whimbrel continue to show well but I've not seen any big numbers of them yet and they are mostly, strangely, quiet!!

A small number of Twite have been present in certain locations and seem quite settled now. They can still be difficult to find even when they stroll past you.

I finally managed to get a photograph  of a Skylark in flight. It's an achievement but it's still to far away and what's with the pose?!!

A Whinchat seemed intent on the same thing...

...they all seem pretty intent on what's over their shoulder.

Iona

I had a quick trip to Iona this morning to try to catch up with Corncrake. On the early ferry for the trip over I caught sight of a Tern flying on the other side of the boat (it's always the way) but I managed to keep it in sight and eventually I got a full view of a Common Tern. With no crowds of people I wandered up the road and heard Corncrake calling a couple of times but after 5 minutes of waiting I gave up on that one. A flock of Twite twittered and bounced along in front of me before two of them landed on the roadside.

While getting some some shots of the Twite another Corncrake started rasping away and another one called from the opposite direction. I went for the easiest option of the closer bird. No sign in the brambles or in the nettles and the bird was calling periodically. I crept closer to where the noise was coming from and peered over a wall into and area of sedge - not much chance of a view here. Suddenly, a quick bit of movement and there the bird was right in front of me! I looked at it and it looked at me. I was thinking it might make for cover if I brought the camera up but you have to give it a go.

Not a bad effort at all. It stayed in place for a good 5 minutes before creeping off into the undergrowth - fantastic! I headed back down the road and fired off a few shots of a Linnet.

I checked out the Rookery and looked for the Carrion Crow that I saw the last time I was over but no sign of that. It was interesting to see the yearling Rooks still with the feathering over the bill but the peaked crown gave their identity away. I'd heard Sedge Warbler singing while I was wandering around so I thought it best to try and get a view of one too. I headed off to locate a singing bird and just as I heard one two Jackdaws flew onto the road in front of me. I took a couple of snaps of these pretty little corvids.

Sedge Warbler next. I could see him climbing the reed stems and fired of a few shots from distance before trying to get closer. I missed a golden opportunity of a close shot as another Corncrake fired off behind me so I'll leave you with one of the distant ones!