30th July - Geronimo!

Geronimo! It's not just the rarities that can provide some enjoyable views.

27th July - Busy Week

It's been a busy week with great sightings which culminated in a truly fantastic day today. 
5 minutes from Portree we had our 1st Golden Eagle of the day drifting up and down the ridge. A short while later a young Sea Eagle crossed the glen and kindly landed to provide great views in the telescope. 

Lunch gave us two more Golden Eagles and three Sea Eagles as we picnicked in the sun. 

We finished the day at Neist with great views of a Minke Whale passing the point and a couple of Harbour Porpoise bobbing by . . . and I caught a bit of a tan too!

23rd July - All Lined Up!

There are a family group of Ravens in the glen that were very helpful the other day (more to follow) but for now here is a shot of them all lined up!

22nd July - Well that was a first!!!

The last few Tours have been in brilliant sunshine but it was a different story last week. An annoying first half of the day as the weather forecast was completely wrong, which meant we spent a lot of time driving in thick fog, struggling to see the road let alone any wildlife! Finally I did my own forecasting, and we found a few breaks in the cloud. So lunch was spent watching a Golden Eagle also dodging the worst of the weather as it quartered the far hillside below the cloud bank.

Bad weather doesn't normally affect the Otters, so we hit a lot of territories, initially with no success. But as the afternoon drew to a close we spotted a young female swimming close inshore then disappearing behind a small headland. Moving down the road we soon picked her up again running back down the beach and into the water. She swam a little further then back on to the rocky shore where she hid amongst the boulders before returning to swim. As she faded from sight we had a quick scan for any Divers in the bay . . . and there was another Otter, about 200m out to sea! I've seen male and female Otters together and family groups, but I've never watched two distinctly separate Otters from the same place before. This Otter put on a great display fishing and diving, in fact we had to tear ourselves away eventually as time really was getting on.

I'm not sure how these two Otters fitted in to the area! Possibly a mother and cub, although they usually stick fairly close together. Maybe the first was a youngster just passing through looking for a territory of it's own? . . . . One thing is for certain . . . . I'll be back to try and work it out.

6th July - You don't have to be mad . . . but it helps!

Well today's weather forecast was bang on - driving heavy rain and low cloud all day. I always say don't let bad weather put you off, and certainly put that adage to the test today.

Despite hardly being able to see the road ahead at times, continually wiping binoculars clear of rain drops, and getting soaked, our tally wasn't bad. Great Northern Diver, a great view of a Snipe, a close Red Deer stag with velvety antlers, Grey Seal, Great Skuas, plus plenty of common species.

But it's all really about enthusiasm and putting in a little effort. 

We'd searched the shoreline for a good while, getting wetter and wetter. But that bit of anticipation kept us looking, even though most sane people would be heading for somewhere warm and dry. One last scan of the waves . . . and there was our Otter, diving and hunting, and much better suited to the conditions than we were. She put on a great show for us, finally dragging a huge fish ashore to eat it, and allowing us to admire her in the scope.

I know that most of the UK is bathed in brilliant sunshine . . . but I wouldn't swap - today I was more than happy to be out in the rain.

4th July - More is less!

The weather hasn't been great for the last two Tours, so subsequently the wildlife sightings have been down a little. But I always say that the weather isn't a major factor in having an amazing day, and the last two days have proved this.

The Golden Eagle was where I'd hoped, sitting on the mountain only a few hundred metres away. It looked huge in the scope and posed for a good 15 minutes. Then it flew, and dropping in to wind, headed straight for us. Being a gusty day it dropped lower and lower, passing right over our heads at a height of 15 metres. About as close a view of a Golden Eagle as you are likely to get!

Today the Sea Eagles took centre stage. Ravens alerted us to possible carrion, and a stooping Gull indicated something on the hill it didn't like. Driving nearer I saw something huge land and scatter the Ravens - a Sea Eagle. Well we had a leisurely lunch watching the goings-on of two adult birds as they carried off bits of carrion, or defended their lunch from a 3rd young Sea Eagle. A 4th youngster drifted by without stopping.

Neither day had lots of different sightings, but the Sea Eagles put on a close display worthy of any TV documentary, and the Golden Eagle is certainly in the running for "Sighting of The Year".

2nd July - It's a Record!

Well the record total of 9 Sea Eagles seen on a Tour was well and truly broken today, with an outstanding 13 sightings. Including four youngsters together, although one was refusing to cooperate and sat almost out of sight while the other three circled the hill. A lovely close flypast while we had lunch (halfway through pouring the coffee!). And another young bird acrobatically dodging a Buzzard. . . . And to top the day off a fantastic close and lengthy view of a female Hen Harrier quartering a moor.

The most amazing thing is that I'm sure this new record will be broken - such are the numbers of Sea Eagles here on Skye.