Divers

I had a quick look for the Glaucous Gull but there was no sign - it must be about somewhere. The Turnstones were hiding amongst the seaweed while the tide was in.

A few RB Merg were making their way up a river so I waited behind some cover and managed to get a few shots despite the stiff breeze.

You can see the wind was quite strong by the stance of this Grey Heron.

The Turnstones were still present when I returned so I had another go at them.

A single Common Gull was loafing just offshore...

...and a Greenshank was activly feeding along the strand line.

Another run out to look for a couple of wing-tagged WT Eagle was a fruitless search but I did get good views of a female Hen Harrier. A Black Guillemot was on the patch but just too far out for the camera.

A Shag and a GN Diver were fishing in the same spot in a choppy sea. I wasn't sure what I was seeing as they surfaced alternately and then disappeared in the chop but eventually they appeared together.

There were plenty of Oystercatchers on the beach...

...and a bigger group of GN Divers were seen at the days end. There are 10 birds in this group, one behind the flapping bird.

Blasted

It's nice to be back online at last! I get what I get when I go out and I'm not targeting anything in particular. I've spent more time looking to add birds to the Patchwork list but I'm not having much luck in that department - I can't even find a Pheasant to put on the list! Anyhoo, while crossing my patchwork boundary I came across a WT Eagle cruising along the shore but with nowhere to stop I had to keep going and that put some distance between me and the bird.

A bit of sunshine didn't encourage anything of note to appear in the areas that I visited (bet something showed up after I left though!) but there were nice views of Song Thrush...

...and Redwing to be had.

We got blasted by the weather - 60 mph winds and a bit of rain and snow - so the expectation was that something would turn up. It all looked fairly quiet apart from a decent smattering of GN Diver (about 20 birds) on the loch. Plants are fairly reliable so I checked out the Pale Butterwort.

A Redshank was feeding in the shallows but with strong light behind the bird - good pose though.

There were masses of gulls on the shore as the tide was receding so I gave them a good grilling and turned up a nice adult Glaucous Gull - result.

There were a few RB Merg along the shore and they look impressive in flight.

This Curlew may stand out quite well in the photo but trying to keep an eye on it while I found somewhere to stop wasn't that easy.

End of November

Well, that's the end of another month - no year ticks to be had but I managed another couple of additions to the Patchwork Challenge, Bullfinch and Goldcrest, to take the tally up to 108 species and 134 points.
An early trip out was fairly productive in dull conditions. Plenty of Reed Bunting about, 100 Barnacle Geese, WT Eagle, 20 Lapwing plus all the regular stuff. A Buzzard was looking like a real savage frowning at everything from his post.

Maybe it was the Rock Doves that were frustrating it - no chance of catching them!

An Otter was spotted quite far out on the loch but heading for shore with a fish in his mouth. I had enough time to scramble down to a closer position as it cleaned itself up on the seaweed.

Look at the face on that - another one with a frown!

I keep saying there are plenty of GN Diver on the loch but they are mostly single birds scattered across the sea. It was nice to find a group of six birds just loafing together.

A female Hen Harrier was seen sitting on a fence post close to the road but it didn't stay long. I'd stopped out of sight of the bird but it was in flight before I got sight of it again...

...and they don't often fly towards you after that! Let's see what December brings.