Just enjoy it.

Monday was a pretty miserable day but I still managed to have a bit play with the Redshank down on the shore. Obviously the light wasn't the best so a static bird had to be the choice!

Tuesday I was out on an early tour in poor conditions to start with. The weather didn't clear as quick as I had expected but it didn't spoil the day. The first good find of the day was this Juvenile Cuckoo that allowed a reasonably close approach and a few digiscoped shots.

Predictably the Mountain Hares were out in force prior to the disturbance of extra traffic.

It was good to see these beasts gathering pace over the wet moorland and kicking up a bit of spray but there was not much chance of getting of photo of that. We had a couple of Golden Eagle flying around as the rain eased off and a few Ravens too. Stonechats were in good numbers and also a few of this mystery bird.

I had a few attempts at this bird when it was in the open and they were all blurred as the camera decided the grass behind was a better option! So the Yellowhammer, for that is what it is, ducked when I took the shot above! We headed off to another Golden Eagle site and wandered up the hill to wait things out. Finding a bit of shelter from the wind we awaited the arrival of the bird we'd already seen flying around. It didn't take long before the bird cruised in front of us but it was heading away and eventually landed out of sight. We had the youngster flying briefly before that landed too but, once again, it was distant. A bit of a wait and the Golden Eagle was back in the air and circling to gain a bit of height from it's hiding place...

...and then it headed towards us at a low level. It wasn't that easy to follow with the camera against the land but it came past at head height just before it disappeared from view.

You can imaging the smiles after that encounter! Another close encounter with a Golden Eagle at our next spot didn't have the cameras raised as we were too fresh from the last one! We did pick up two WT Eagle in flight along the way too but it had been an enjoyable day with some fantastic encounters.

Captivated

Sunday started off a bit grotty but by the time the guests were due to arrive the view was looking a bit like this - rain leaving, blue sky arriving.

The main aim of the day was to find Otters and did we find them - of course we did. At the first stop of the day I was busy going through the spiel of how to find Otters, their habits etc and the cry went up 'I've got one!'. We hopped out and got decent views as the Otter fished around the shallows. It started to move off to the right and crawled out on the land where it stopped and gazed into the eyes of a Red Deer! The Otter skirted round the deer and out of sight before I took this photo. You can just make out the deer in the middle of the photo - what's he doing there?!

With no Otter to look at we decided to move on but just as I pulled away I noticed some movement on the rocks in front. Otter number 2 was rolling around on the shore. Back out with the scopes for another good gander before this one slipped out of sight too. We moved on quite pleased with the way the day had started and before long we were looking at Otter number 3!! This one was moving up the shore with a purpose so we tried to get in front but he was having none of it. We left him in peace.

Another mile up the road and we were into Otters number 4 & 5 as a mum and cub performed superbly. the guests were captivated and consequently we stood looking for a good hour as they fished, crawled out, washed themselves, scared the Heron and went back to fishing again. We managed to escape the Otters captivating allure, eventually, and moved on to the WT Eagle site. We found the female sitting at the top of a tree posing beautifully before we picked up the male in flight and then spotted the youngster sitting below where the male bird landed - phew!

The male was sitting in a prime location so we headed off for a closer look - magnificent!!!

Well, how do you follow that? First of all we picked up another 3, yes three, Otters. They were moving away from us and it didn't look as though they would be giving anywhere near the performance we'd just had so we just gave them a quiet wave and moved on. We checked out the waders and found a Knot amongst the small flock of Redshank, 3 RB Merganser, 4 Common Teal and a Greenshank that hid! We were heading for lunch after looking at the Seals and wondering what else we could see when I was told to stop so we could check out two black shapes on a hillside. It was only two Golden Eagle! Close Golden Eagle!

It was a bit of a quiet lunch but we needed time for reflection and a bit of flower watching to calm things down. A 'find the deer on the hillside' challenge passed a wee bit of time and we located a few hinds in the process. We found another two WT Eagle sitting on the rocks just after lunch - yawn. Just kidding:-)

We travelled on in search of smaller things so there were plenty of Chaffinch, Meadow Pipit and a cracking Stonechat. We pressed on to find another two Golden Eagle sitting on a distant hill top before picking up plenty of Mountain Hares. What a day and we still had to get back yet. A Red-throated Diver had been requested so as the wind dropped and the loch became still we hauled in and scanned the water as the dreaded midge ate us alive. We found the crazy loon that was calling and also bagged a raft of Eider before we ran away. The final sighting of the day was this Golden Eagle that was one of the two we'd seen earlier.

You'll not get a better day out than that, until the next one anyway!

A moment in time.

Saturday morning I had a quick look round outside the shop and picked up 28 Redshank and a single Bar-tailed Godwit. The WT Eagle was sitting in the tree behind the shop for a couple of hours with people taking photos but it was gone by the time I decided to go! I was too busy trying to pin down the Crossbills. With a couple of jobs to do I headed off round the loch to have a look at a few things while I was out. First on the list was to see where the WT Eagle chick was and have some lunch. The lunch was nice but there was no sign of the youngster or the adults so I busied myself with a few other photographs to pass the time. This spider, Pardosa amentata, was waiting for unsuspecting prey to pass by. This member of the Wolf Spiders is very common and you will see them zipping away from your feet as you wander around most places.

This Devil's-bit Scabious was just past it's best but the dying flowers highlighted the rest of the cluster.

Another spider on the hunt was this enormous Garden Spider with an impressive web and some impressive fangs too.

A Hooded Crow paid me a visit while I finished my lunch but he was soon off to join the rest of his crew.

I've not featured many Otter photos recently as it's been too difficult to get any shots while showing guests these enigmatic beasts so the opportunity to get a few snaps was very welcome. As you can see he would pop up with or without something to eat.

If he didn't get anything he would move along a bit further...

...but if he did get a catch he'd munch away on the surface.

One he'd finished that would be him on his way to another foraging exercise on the sea bed.

I did manage to pick up the young WT Eagle in a different location and also another two bird flying along the ridge so with the jobs done it had been a successful afternoon. We had been out for dinner in the evening and we got a cracking sighting, on the way back home, of a Long-eared Owl - fantastic!!