Tangoed!

Not a great deal of birding over the last few days but a few interesting sightings along the way. There has been a lack of activity from the Tawny and Barn Owls recently which, I am guessing, is down to a lack of breeding. No youngsters to chase off territory so they have been largely quiet or just not showing. The last couple of evenings have given views of both owls and also Woodcock and Snipe - cracking. Friday morning we had a couple of Whooper Swans drop in briefly and Saturday morning we had a cracking fly by of a WT Eagle. Way past us by the time the camera was deployed!Sunday was a day of torrential rain so I didn't look for anything but a big TV to watch the F1.
Monday was another day out with guests that started off with persistent showers that wouldn't let up - as soon as one stopped the next one started - marvellous! It was a bit of a slow start but we had good views of 9 Whooper Swan, 10 RB Merg, 2 Common Seal, six GN Diver together, 2 Red Deer and 8 Curlew. Between one of the showers we picked up a WT Eagle sitting in a tree........it's only blurry because of the rain - honest! The showers persisted and we pressed on. A brief glimpse of a bird that 'looked like a gull but just wasn't right' had us pulling over to check it out. Naturally, it had dropped out of sight but we waited patiently in the rain watching a few Ravens bombing about. A flash of white caught my eye and the bird was in view again....male Hen Harrier being harassed by a Sparrowhawk! We decided to head as far West as we could get and hopefully find the forecast better weather. Man, did it work! The sun was out and the sky was blue and the sheep had been Tangoed!!I had been concerned about the lack of Greenland WF Geese that had arrived as they are usually in by now but I guess the weather has been that warm that they hadn't left home yet. With a cold Northerly airflow I was hoping for an increase in numbers. Twenty five was the tally but still only the two young birds - hopefully there will be more birds to come yet. Another male Hen Harrier put in an appearance and while watching that a Peregrine flew into view and took our interest - things were looking up. Off to the beach for a cuppa next and hopefully a few more things to add to the list. There wasn't a great deal to see but just before we'd finished slurping tea a Golden Eagle graced us with it's presence! We were starting to run short on time and we still didn't have Otter so we dashed off in search of the elusive beast. A couple of stops produced nothing and the third stop got us another Golden Eagle - a lot closer and a juvenile at that. It drifted out of sight so we went in search and found it sitting on the ground not looking interested in flying at all. We waited to see if it would go.....a juv Peregrine flew past!.....two Red Deer stags put in an appearance!!...but the eagle just sat there - ah well. A mile or so on we spotted another two stags at the side of the road....camera out....click....result....
A quick dash down the road and we had an Otter in the bag too. A cracking day out!