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Monday 1 September 2014

Howmore Sunday 17th August 2014... Windy

Hi, today was very windy, 30 mph winds in fact but did that deter me? Nahhhh...

The racing Skoda was off in haste towards Ardivachar point, South Uist in hope of something worth talking about! It didn't pay off. However, the 30 odd Oystercatchers that were sheltering from the wind on a distant rock was satisfying. My Granny managed to pick out three Redshank, surprisingly camouflaged next to some dark rocks.
Surely the red legs make it obvious!
Good spot Granny! After that we decided that Loch Eynort may hold a beauty. Martyn, the expert told us that a pair of White-Tailed Eagles had been nesting there. My reply was "the Eagles come to you. Not you going to them". INSPIRATIONAL! I was right as usual (that's what my Granny always tells me, "the little fiend"). We found another Wheatear by the same patch, this time a juvenile. Again, the strong pink-buffish colour did carry on down the front, Greenland Race Wheatear?...

Looks snug, ayy! While driving back we encountered a brood of Red-Breasted Mergansers. All 3 of them...
They breed scarcely on both Coll and Tiree so was very nice to come across them. I think an average brood for them is sixteen so one of the predators must have had a rather large feast! We got back at around one with all the "family" still there "hostage"! The weather had prevented them going up North so all of them decided to have a rest. 

My Granny and I had other ideas... Back into the "Aladdin's cave", my Grandma's car, then off to the stubble fields. Fortunately the fields close to us had been cut which acts like a magnet to waders. Golden Plovers, Lapwings and Greylags are the true wonderers of the fields, with countless numbers all around. Our ambition was to pick out something different, we did that! Around 5 Black-Tailed Godwits were in the field showing off their Black-Tails for us...
Great birds, more was to come as another scan from me produced a Ruff! Not one...
not 2 (no picture, awkward!) but three...
Great to see, this photo shows one flying: left, and another two sat down: right. I suspect the one flying and the one sitting down at the back are ads while the closest is a juvenile judging by leg colour. The Rock Doves were having a committee meeting while this was all going on...
So great day even though the weather was a limiting factor. I even managed to swim for 15 minutes without a wetsuit (badman)! Great day!

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