January 2016

A nice selection of images from January.

Common Buzzard on the shore.

 Collared Dove looking forward to spring.

 Cormorant drying it's wings.

 Grey Heron posing.

 Great Northern Diver with a crab.

 Goldcrest - stunning.

 Goosander in a flap.

 Iceland Gull at the hatchery.

 Jackdaw eyeing things up.

 This Knot was a good find in January.

 Little Auks were storm driven but soon moved back out to sea.

 Merlin is usually seen flying off so this sitter was a bit special.

 Plenty of Otter sightings...

 ...and a few cubs around too.

 A few flocks of Redwing are fairly easy to find this winter.

 The sun lights up the landscape as it sets - that's when you see the sun!

 A White-tailed Eagle on a dull day.

 This White-tailed Eagle landed next to the car - fantastic!

The last one

Plenty of Great Northern Divers to be seen - nice to get one with a fish.

I managed to miss a Golden Eagle photo as the bird crossed the loch a lot lower than I thought. All the gulls, waders and herons all scattered out of the way but I was definitely the last one to see it! You don't see too many Goosanders on Mull but there are regular spots for them in the winter.

Lots of Otter sightings at the moment but it's not always a close encounter. I had to wait a while for this one to climb out of the water...

...and these guys took me by surprise as they clambered over the rock right in front of me.

A Jay was a good find but it wasn't that photogenic with the fence in the way - cracking bird to see though.

Saltire

After a week off it was nice to get back out and what a cracker it was! All three species of diver were picked up at our first proper stop - Black-throated first, then a couple of distant Red-throated then a few Great Northern Diver. No mistaking the bulk of a GND.

It all got a bit difficult after that but Golden Eagle, RB Merg and 3 Otters were the highlights. A GS Woodpecker was seen while we watched a couple of WT Eagle perched in the trees. There was also a good finish as we picked up a male Hen Harrier which perched up on a post.

An early start for the next tour paid off with plenty of roaring stags. This looks like it has a Saltire on it's nose.

An Otter was seen fishing in the loch, a Merlin flashed across the road and there were a few Goosanders hanging around.

A WT Eagle flew over as we watched a few Wigeon.

Another Merlin was seen just after we had views of two Hen Harrier. A couple of Golden Eagle and a WT Eagle were seen as we had lunch. Prolonged views of another Otter and a good sighting of WT Eagle in the afternoon but the Whooper Swans stole the show for me.

Dicing with death

A quick look through the gulls that were plundering the sprats revealed nothing more exciting than this Black-headed Gull.

When all the gulls rose into the air it was fairly obvious what was going to fly by - a WT Eagle. A Common Buzzard wasn't impressed with the larger bird flying through it's territory so it had a real go at it!

The usual suspects were seen on the tour but the highlights were the three Goosanders...

...and the funky looking family of Red-breasted Mergansers.

The Stonechats have had a good breeding season this year with some of the pairs getting off 3 broods. The adult male is really nice to see.

The Adders are sticking to the sheltered spots and they can move off quickly but with a bit of patience they soon come creeping back out into the open.

Threes

A day of few photos but a collection of birds seen in threes. We had three Whooper Swan, three Great Spotted Woodpecker and three Golden Eagle.

We'd started the day with good views of a WT Eagle and then another flying past us. A single Northern Wheatear was seen by the loch with a number of Meadow Pipits and a couple of Stonechat. Plenty of people say they see Golden Eagles at close quarters but this one took it to another level.

We had initially seen the birds drifting off only to see them fly towards us and circle above us. The big problem was when they disappeared again I left the camera in the motor and one of the birds did a fly past at about 10 yards!

We didn't see an Otter on the day but I gave plenty of advice to the guests and they managed to catch up with them the following day. I managed to get some sighting while out on an errand. A couple of Common Teal were nice to see with the male looking splendid.

A pair of Grey Wagtail were feeding along a burn.

A pair of Slavonian Grebe were dancing on the loch...

...while the Goosander were not going to hang around.

A Whooper Swan was a bit more obliging though.

How big is that bird?

Doc and I on the road again. We found an Iceland Gull among a few other gulls, Common and Herring, and you pick out the colour of the bird, long white primaries and the size compared to the other gulls. When a Barnacle Goose wandered across it gave a whole different size comparison. Big gull or small goose doesn't matter but there is only a couple of centimetres difference, in length, between the birds. 

If I'd said I had seen a gull that was as big as a goose, I'm fairly sure you would be thinking what gull is as big as a Greylag or Canada Goose! A bit further along the shore there were a couple of Goosander - lovely birds to see.

A Golden Eagle was found sitting on the top of a hill...

...while another was seen to fly along the ridge and out of sight. It didn't look like things would get any better until a change of location saw another Golden Eagle flying past but this time it was below the road!

It did hang around long enough to get a much better view.

A family of three Otters were seen but too far away for photos and invisible in the choppy water so it was nice to get one crossing the road as it headed up the hill.

Another two Golden Eagles flying past was a nice finish the day. Thanks, Doc:-)

I'll wish you all a Merry Christmas and a wildlife filled New Year - all the best!!