Patience

Thursday was a bit of a grotty day with the forecast saying rain for most of the day and clearing from the West. I drove through a fair bit of rain to get the last of the guests on board before we headed out to start the tour. We bagged a Mountain Hare as we looked for the Blackwits that had moved on. No sign of the Whimbrel either. We continued searching and eventually turned up the Golden Plover, a small flock of Whimbrel with a Curlew for comparison and a cracking Snipe as we headed off.

The low cloud and blustery wind was giving us a few problems in picking up birds but keeping a look out we were very pleased to locate a family of Stonechat - a male bird with 2 youngsters. As we headed off along the road an adult WT Eagle appeared to our left and flew, low, over the top of the motor and was lost to sight as it looked like it was going in to land. We relocated the bird sitting out on a reef in poor conditions as the rain came down again. Nice views of Greenshank, Ringed Plover and Dunlin at lunchtime before we made a decision to see if we could jam in a Golden Eagle. Unfortunately the cloud base was just too low to get a view so we headed off. The Eiders were showing distantly so we scanned for Otters in calm water but failed to find anything. We moved on to more choppy waters and we were lucky enough to catch sight of two Otters moving towards us. They put on a great show and it was interesting to see the young Otter climbing onto it's mothers back while they were still out in deep water. I thought the mother would lead the youngster to land but they just kept on going! A Common Sandpiper was 'peeping' on the shore trying to attract our attention - I obliged.

After viewing the WT Eagle at the nest and connecting with the Magpie we headed back along along the road. The Eiders had moved to the near shore so we stopped for a better look.

With the weather clearing slightly we decided to give the Golden Eagle another go. No sign of any birds in flight but scanning the hillside with the scope gave up one of the adults sitting - top notch. It wasn't too long before both birds were flying around, calling to each other and carrying prey around to convenient eating areas. A stunning display!!!

Another cracking day out despite the weather and showing that patience pays off.

Mad, bad and dangerous

Tuesday was another fine day but still that Northerly wind blows. With the guests on board we headed off in search of the goodies...a couple of Whimbrel, Dunlin, Golden Plover and Linnet were overshadowed by 3 summer plumage Black-tailed Godwit - excellent. We also picked up the first Lapwing chick that I have seen this year. A couple of Whinchat proved quite elusive but everyone managed to see them eventually. We had a quiet morning but things would hopefully improve in the afternoon. A cracking Greenshank was a nice find before we located a Golden Eagle sitting on a ledge. Just as we found it a shower passed through and the bird took flight and landed in a more sheltered spot that was also in the shade when the shower passed. We headed off to find an Otter - it didn't take long. We spotted one on the far shore and watched it fish before it hauled out and clambered around the rocks for a wee while. WT Eagle was bagged before we headed back along the loch. We located another Otter that was not too far out so we stood and waited for a swim by. We didn't have to wait too long for him to come ashore but he went straight back out again. A couple of dives later and he was heading back to shore with a flatfish. Naturally he found a little hole to hide in but we waited patiently for him to come out...

...well worth the wait! An extra bonus on the way home was a cracking male Hen Harrier that flew over the motor and then circled round us before heading off. In the evening a good few hail showers passed through so one minute you'd see this...

...and half a pint later it looked like this...

Wednesday was a better day with it not being too cold and no showers to dodge.The first thing we got in the morning was completely mad! A Magpie, we don't get them here, was trying to nick stuff off the WT Eagle nest - how mental is that bird?!! Mrs Eagle wasn't impressed and chased the cheeky bird off. We managed to get decent scope views of a pair of Golden Eagle just after the Magpie was evicted. We had cracking views of an Otter along the loch. We watched it bring a crab in but it must have been a dangerous one as it was only ashore for about 20 seconds before heading back out again. It came back in almost immediately with a big looking fish. When it got to land you could see it was a Dogfish - cracking stuff. Otters seem to struggle a bit with the Dogfish defence of rolling itself into a ball but they get there in the end. As for the bad bit....my photos. The camera wasn't happy with anything despite a good few attempts so this is the best I got.

Golden Eagle was next on the hit list as we located a sitting bird that took flight soon after we found it along with it's partner. Quite a bit of flying and landing was going on so it was busy time trying to relocate the birds in the scopes but cracking views were had. The female bird flew quite high and then came screaming back in towards the cliff face...

...before finding some ready made lunch.

Absolutely cracking stuff! We hit a bit of a flat spot which gave us time to reflect on the sightings we'd already had. A couple of WT Eagle sitting on the rocks kicked things off again in style. Superb views of Whinchat were had as we searched for the elusive Hen Harriers - no luck with that one. Two Dunlin and nine Ringed Plover flew on to the beach in front of us...

...while we checked out the view of Jura.

I picked up two WT Eagle in flight, just circling round and we decided it was probably the two birds we'd had on the rocks. We got distant views of a Mountain Hare munching on the grass along with a decent number of Dunlin, Ringed Plover and Whimbrel. The Black-tailed Godwits were still present too. As we left the area I caught sight of a close hare in mid stride - brakes on, camera out. I went for the wider shot as another hare appeared off to the left.

On the way back we got close views of one of the WT Eagles flying next to the road. It's all good stuff!!

Beaver Patrol

Saturday was a fine day with a brisk NE wind. With the guests on board we headed off to see what could be found. A group of Whimbrel were first to be added to the list along with 2 Curlew for comparison. A Sedge Warbler was on a singing perch allowing nice views through the scope as a couple of Skylark were dust bathing on the side of the road next to us.

I picked up a flock of 10 Whimbrel in flight that had 2 Black-tailed Godwit with them but we couldn't relocate the birds as they had landed in an area we couldn't get a view of. Dunlin, Golden Plover, Wheatear and Mountain Hare added to the interest. A cracking Cuckoo perched up on the wires was a first sighting for some of the guests. It dropped down in the grass to pick up caterpillars and then back onto the wires where it called and wagged its tail - tremendous stuff. The guests today were all ladies and when one asked a question about Beavers another piped up, in a Scottish accent, 'Have you seen any fine Scottish Beaverrrrrrrs aboot?' the whole bus was creased up with laughter. This was brought up a number of times through the day with the same result - not the best when your looking for Otters (is that one of them Beaverrrrrrrrrs? Hoots of laughter). We, surprisingly, never disturbed anything but I'm sure everyones sides were aching as much as mine at the end of the day! Back to the sightings - good views of Tree Pipit, Common Whitethroat and Golden Eagle at lunchtime along with a first for me, a Green Hairstreak  - excellent. The next stop we made was one of those where you don't know here to look. I'd spotted a couple of Golden Eagle in the distance so we headed up the road to get better views. We couldn't find the birds when we arrived but picked up 4 WT Eagles and a male Hen Harrier. The Goldies came back into view as the WT Eagles gained height and two female Hen Harriers broke the skyline briefly. We picked up an Otter not long after this but we were soon distracted by two juv WT Eagle flying over. A quality day all round but we didn't see any beavers!

Sunday and Monday were similar days being a bit cloudier and a lot colder at times as the cold Northerly was still blowing. I managed to get a snap of the Common Gull that has been sitting at the roadside for a few days now and what a stunning bird it is.

Good views of GN Diver were had before we caught up with an Otter on both days.

The WT Eagle is certainly feeding one chick - nice to see these big birds being so gentle with the youngsters. The afternoons have been a bit quiet but some cracking sightings of various different things like the Dipper, a young Red Deer posing...

...Buzzard hovering...

...and of course the Mountain Hares along with all the wading birds. A popular sight along the way have been a group of rare breed pigs!

It all makes for an interesting day out and that includes the Purple flowers we saw on Monday;-)