Friday 19 August 2011

Ring of bright water.

Tuesday was a pleasant enough day and the top priority was to locate an Otter. Within five minutes of getting some of the guests aboard we got our first view of an Otter. We had to head off to pick more guests up so we let that one go. A WT Eagle was perched in a tree so that got a good grilling too. With all the guests present we headed back to the Otter to get everyone on level terms. Golden Eagle was the next target and it couldn't have been further away! It was watched while it flew closer then it turned to go further away. A change of location and we got better views but while we had a comfort break another Goldie put in an appearance. A trio of reptiles, Mountain Hare and a few waders padded out the day. I'd not had a chance to use the camera all day so when the Tawny Owl put in an appearance in the evening I gave it a shot - what a waste of effort!
Thursday was a pleasant day with no wind and full of midges! On the way to pick folk up for the day I managed to see four Otters - the ring of bright water works well. Was it easy to find another one with the guests on board? The mill pond conditions were perfect for Otter spotting but all the ring of bright water bits turned out to be fish! We eventually found an Otter making it's way quietly along the shore away from us and out into open water. We got well in front of it and waited until it swam under our vantage point and hauled out - superb! After viewing the WT Eagles we headed back for more Otter action - another one with a crab for lunch was the best we could do.
A brief view of a female Hen Harrier was good and we saw the Common Lizard that is growing a new tail.
The female Adder is still showing well too.
Best sighting of the day was a Sparrowhawk that posed perfectly in the middle of the road.

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