Fight

Another cracking day in paradise. We started the day with a brief view of an Otter before moving on to some of the migrant birds - Common Sandpiper and Northern Wheatear. Most of the Great Northern Divers are in their summer plumage now.

We got superb views of three WT Eagles with one of the birds flying straight overhead. I'd left my camera in the motor but it's the memory that counts. Another WT Eagle was seen when we went to have a look at the Tawny Owl - awesome stuff! Golden Eagle, Dipper and Sparrowhawk were all seen while we had lunch.

A few Rock Pipit and three Linnet were the best we could manage at the next stop.

We witnessed a fight between two Hooded Crows - another three corvids stood around watching!

A few Turnstone were seen and the Golden Plover flock had increased to about 200.

The annual trip

Joy and I had our annual trip out to Staffa on a nice sunny day. Not too many Common Seals on the way out but there always seems to one that will pose for a photo.

A couple of RT Diver were seen and quite a few GN Diver but nothing that exciting until a Great Skua flew past the back of the boat.

There were plenty of Manx Shearwater sitting around on the sea...

...and we saw the Royal Navy HMS Exploit training patrol vessel out on an exercise.

All the usual stuff was seen around Staffa - Black Guillemot, Common Guillemot, Razorbill, Eider, Twite on Staffa itself and plenty of Shag.

The Puffins were still being a bit shy so they didn't come ashore but we got good views all the same.

WTE

Another cracking day out with not very many photos taken. We struggled a bit to start with but it soon got going with Yellowhammers, RT Diver, a couple of Common Scoter all seen before we picked up a flock of 5 WT Eagle. A Golden Eagle put in a brief appearance beside the bigger birds too. A distant male Hen Harrier was appreciated before we headed off to lunch where we saw another Golden Eagle and a single Adder. There are plenty of Skylark singing but it can be difficult to see them when they gain a bit of height.

A decent sized flock of Golden Plover were seen while we looked for Mountain Hare...

...and a decent view of WT Eagle right at the end of the day!

I did manage a few photos on my way back home - the RT Divers were a bit closer in.

We'd had Guillemot and Razorbill (below) but the closer ones had been feeding so they didn't stay on the surface for long.

The next day the male Hen Harrier was hunting along the side of the road...

...and the Turnstones that we couldn't find the previous day were in plain sight.