Loch of the Lowes and Seafield (Kirkcaldy)

 We took a drive up to Dunkeld and the SWT Reserve at the Loch of the Lowes, bad planning though, we neglected to check if the visitor centre was open and it wasn't!! One hide was open though, so we spent some time in there, but also popping out to check the feeders from time to time.

It was a good job a hide was open because the weather was a lot worse than we expected, very drizzly! So as you can see the light was poor over the Loch, but the Wigeon didn't care,

neither did this Nuthatch,

or the Goldeneye.

Other highlights were Treecreeper and Great Spotted Woodpecker. Sadly the Red Squirrels we usually see there didn't put in an appearance.

A couple of days later we had some errands to run in Kirkcaldy, so went for a little walk along the sea at Seafield. The tide was way out, so all the birds were pretty distant and there was very little activity in the scrub on the other side of the path either. Having said that we were delighted to see three Long-tailed Ducks off shore always brilliant to see.

There were tons of Redshank about, these were a few of them catching the last bit of sun:

as was this Heron:

Other waders seen were Turnstone, some Purple Sandpiper, Oystercatcher, a couple of Black-tailed Godwit and a final flurry from some passing Curlew:

Finally on the way back to car this wild Rabbit posed nicely:

A Week in Wester Ross

 We've had a quiet start to the birding year, we've had so much on! However we managed to get away for a week and booked a cottage in Aultbea overlooking the sea.

Most of the birding was pretty distant, with very little coming near the shore apart from a pair of Red breasted Mergansers.

Around Aultbea we did find quite a few birds though, but getting some decent photos proved difficult, although this Common Gull posed nicely

as did a few Lapwing.

We visited Poolewe a few times and made use of the hide at the National Trust Inverewe estate, although the windows don't open fully and they were filthy!

Anyway, we did manage a few sightings, over our visits; Grey Heron,

Cormorant,

Buzzard,

and Curlew.

We were delighted to see an Otter as dusk set in, again not close, but for the record:

We did a lot of mooching about exploring various roads, this wasn't in a Glen but definitely a Monarch:

I'll wrap this up now with a few more photos while we were out and about:

Godwits,

Ringed Plover

and snow on the Mountains after Storm Eowyn.

Isle of Bute

 As I said in an earlier post, we had a trip to the Isle of Bute in September, it wasn't a birding holiday as such, more Prosecco and Ale!! But we had a great time. Here's a few scenic shots and there might be a a couple of birds as well.

View from the digs!

Farmyard Duck or as we like to call them Heinz 57!

Little Grebe in the sun.

A nice night!

Grey Seal.

Greylag Geese.

Curlew on the shingle.

St Ninian's Bay

That'll do!

More From Orkney

 Here's more from Orkney...

The causeway at Birsay to the Brough of Birsay

and  believe it or not these were used for storing boats hauled up from the beach below.

Red Throated Divers at RSPB Birsay Moors

There were always plenty of Greylag Geese about

as well as Curlew.

Wherever we went there was always marvellous scenery. 

Oystercatcher with chick

Plenty of Orchards up at RSPB Cottascarth

as well as Wheatear

and calling Curlew.

From the hide at Cottascarth on the opposite hillside, there were a pair of Hen Harries nesting, we visited a few times and were lucky to see the male bringing food in and the female coming up out of the nest in the heather and catching his offerings as he flew over. They were probably keeping it low as the wind was ferocious at times.

This is the nearest the male came to us, so even with a 500mm lens and cropping the photo, he still shows up quite small!

Not too far from the RSPB sites was the Broch of Gurness, well worth a visit.

So not too many bird photos from Orkney, we saw loads but mostly rubbish photos due to distance and weather. We did see 71 different species of birds as well as Brown Hare and Rabbits.

So it was on to Kirkwall and the overnight ferry to Shetland.....................