A cold one.

There was a brisk wind that kept things distinctly chilly so heading for more sheltered parts might help - it didn't. There wasn't any escaping the wind. A good look for Otters produced nothing but a good view of a female Hen Harrier as she came across the water to head off over the forestry. The Otters were a short distance away and they were good enough to clamber onto the shore for some mutual grooming - not nice standing in the wind though!

The usual array of RB Merg, GN Diver, Buzzard, Oystercatcher and another three Otters were along the next stretch of road. A warming cuppa and some shelter were welcome while waiting for WT Eagle to appear. Just like buses there was nothing for ages and then three turned up together. One of the birds was an intruder so a bit of action was nice to see and I managed to miss the shots of the birds when they were closest.

Golden Plover, Ringed Plover, Pheasant and Common Seals were seen as we headed for lunch. A male Hen Harrier kept us entertained for a couple of minutes as it hunted along the hillside.

Despite the cold wind there were not one...

...but two Adders trying to soak up some heat.

No sign of any Goldies but both male and female Hen Harrier were seen displaying. We thought we'd hit lucky when a couple of large birds appeared in the distance but they turned out to be WT Eagles. A change of location finally turned up a Golden Eagle being chased by a Raven. We got the bird perched up before it's mate turned up and they both headed off.

We had already seen a few Red Deer but the topping on the cake was this superb stag that we saw crossing the river.

Sport.

A quick trip out to check on one of the Otter families was a good decision. I noticed one of the Otters hauled out on a rock with a fish and the other two were still fishing. The wee beast on the rock finished it's fish and then headed back out to join it's family.

Next on the hit list was a female Hen Harrier that was just gaining some height to head from one hunting ground to another.

I was lucky enough to come across some Red-breasted Mergansers that were close enough to get some shots of. Not only that but the sun was shining too. First off the male and female together...

...and then the male on his own - stunning birds.

A WT Eagle was picked up just as it cleared the forestry and as I stopped I noticed there were a few Buzzards in the air too. This appeared to be good sport for the young WT Eagle as it out flew the smaller birds and proceeded to dive bomb them!

With the Buzzards scattered the young bird carried on with it's own business...whatever that was at the time.

A pair of Lapwing have been on their territory for a week or so and have become accustomed to the traffic passing by. It's always nice to capture a bit of behaviour so when the bird started feeding a few snaps were taken. It's interesting to see how intently the bird was looking at the ground for movement.

While watching the Lapwing feeding I'd noticed a few Starling flying past and I could hear them 'talking' to each other. When I looked round there were four of them sat on the back of a Sheep. One of the birds slid down the side of the Sheep just before I captured the moment.

A day of two halves.

A bit of a run out and a couple of year ticks gained - a couple of Whooper Swan on an inland loch and 2 male Bullfinch.

A small group of 10 Redwing were well scattered over a field and a pair of WT Eagle were seen having intimate relations. The weather was good so it made looking on the lochs difficult from some areas. This GN Diver was quite badly backlit but I still had a go.

A flock of nine Golden Plover have been hanging around for a few days, seven males and two females, but they have always been distant.

It had been a pleasant morning with the roads quiet, Skylarks singing, Lapwing calling in the distance, some good sightings and to top it off a Golden Eagle circling outside the house when we returned for lunch!

We headed for higher ground in the afternoon and the contrast was massive. There were no sounds of bird song at all on the higher ground but we had different targets. It wasn't too long before we saw an adult WT Eagle flying away from us over a ridge soon followed by a younger version of the same species.

This activity prompted the local pair of Golden Eagle to get in the air and do a bit of display to defend the territory and also escort the larger birds away.

Both of the WT Eagle had come away from the hill with full crops so it wasn't that surprising when a third bird put in an appearance.