Heron Addict! Saturday, 3rd August 2019

Just over a month ago we had travelled down to Cheltenham in a bid to see a Black-crowned Night Heron that had been showing really well on a small island on the lake in Pittville Park. That quest had ended in failure when the Heron failed to showed for the assembled including us. In fact the bird had obviously moved on since it hadn't been seen since. Until on Friday when the Heron was intriguingly sighted in the same spot once again! Black-crowned Night Heron's are as the name suggests primarily birds that are active during the night and virtually all sightings of this bird had been either early morning or late evening unless it's roosting spot could be found during daylight hours. We had seen two before, the first was a juvenile at Slimbridge which was incredibly difficult to see in a dense nettle patch and the second was viewed at about 400 metres distance on a fishing lake near Nuneaton. Suffice to say then that Mrs Caley and I had never had a decent view of a Night Heron except in zoos.

We were up early and out of the house by 04;30 on Saturday morning arriving at Pittville Park just over an hour later. It was a glorious morning and already warming up as we made our way to the lake side. Of course, having been here a month before, we knew exactly where to go and where to look. One other birder was already present but he hadn't seen the Heron as yet so we settled down on one of the park benches and started scanning the trees and the margins of the island. Photos published the day before showed the Heron stood prominently on a Yew branch so I searched for that tree thinking that the Heron might just return to the same spot. It was slightly concerning then that I couldn't find any Yew trees on the island!

I also knew that during its previous stay last month, the Night Heron was often observed flying into the island from a different area, presumably it feeds elsewhere and then uses the islands trees to roost in through the day. For the last few weeks it must have found a different roosting spot to laze the days out but had now returned to Pittville. We were sat on the bench for less than 15 minutes when I spotted the Night Heron flying in from the west and watched as it dropped into the far side of the island. I relayed the news to the other birders, there were now two others on site, as the bird flew in and we all hurried, well they did, we ambled, around to the other side of the small lake. Before the other chaps had got there though the Night Heron shifted again seemingly flying around to the other side and where we'd just been! There was to be quite a bit of to and fro with this bird. When we got back to our original viewpoint there was no sign of the Night Heron and I rued the fact that I had failed to take a photo of it flying overhead. But at least we had seen it and added species #253 to our year list.

The search was on and the four of us had been joined by a couple of other birders so there were plenty of eyes on the job. After a few minutes the call went up that the Night Heron was perched near the top of a tree on a part of the island that couldn't be seen from where we were so we made our way around the lake once more to where the others were now congregating. It took a bit of neck craning but with effort I was able to get a good view of the birds head and shoulders at the top of a Yew tree! So it had indeed sought out the same tree to roost, we just hadn't been able to see the Yew from the northern side of the lake. The Night Heron was illuminated beautifully by the early morning sunshine and was only around 20 metres away so my images easily surpassed any that I'd ever taken of a Night Heron before.

Black-crowned Night Heron

Mrs Caley managed to get a good view too through the scope but it was impossible to get any different angles on the bird because of impeding foliage. There was literally just a tiny window of a few feet in which to see the bird and there were now as many as ten people trying to look through that gap! The Night Heron didn't stay long though and soon dropped down into the island vegetation and we all thought that that would be that. However, a newly arrived birder who was stood where we had started out signalled that the Night Heron was showing on the island opposite him so we all made our way around (again!) to our original vantage point. This time the Heron was easy to see, it had taken up a position on a thick Willow branch that laid closely over the water and one that had proved to be its favoured fishing spot when present in July judging by the amount of photos that I'd seen of it on that branch. Problem was that the perch was the best part of 50 metres away and because of the Willow above it was shrouded in deep shadow which would enable getting good images very difficult.

After a while the Night Heron shifted position a little and went out of sight behind the adjoining weedy island so I decided to walk back to the other side of the lake, at least I was getting plenty of exercise, who ever said birding was a gentle pursuit, and see if it was visible from there. It was indeed, although again only by peering through bank side vegetation. The same problem of shade under the tree persisted but at least the bird was now at half the distance away. Another issue now though was that the sun was directly behind the bird. But at least we were now able to really appreciate the Night Heron. Primarily black above and grey underneath the Night Heron also had bright yellow legs and feet and a striking red iris. Its most distinctive characteristic though was a single white plume that adorned the crown.

Night Herons possess seemingly unlimited patience and this one was no exception. It stood mostly motionless on the Willow branch staring intently at the water but apart from a few stretches towards the water didn't make any lunges at any prey.

I heard a Kingfisher whistling past and was then amazed to see, through the camera viewfinder, it career straight towards the Night Heron only veering away at the last moment. The Kingfisher was carrying a fish and maybe thought it would land in the Willow to dispatch it or maybe it was just teasing the Heron, "I've got a fish, I've got a fish, you ain't, you ain't...."

After the intrusion by the Kingfisher the Night Heron became more active, perhaps it realised that it too needed to eat something, and dropped into the water right at the edge of the weedy island. There it resumed its stationary vigil once more until suddenly it made a dart for the water and caught a fish!  Well a tiddler anyway, the small fry not much reward for over an hours patient waiting for its breakfast. 

Once it had eaten the fish and the Heron had resumed the waiting game once more, we decided that we'd had enough and were feeling hungry ourselves so headed off to find some breakfast of our own. A couple of juvenile Choughs had been seen regularly at a site on the Malverns which was only 25 miles away and although they had not been reported on Friday afternoon we thought that we may as well go and have a look. We would certainly see Choughs when in Cornwall later this year but they would be a year tick and would be worth a look since they are always nice birds to see. We found a cafe in Tewkesbury and while eating I perused the latest bird news updates. There was a negative report of the Choughs but we were going to stick with the plan anyway. Well we were, until a report came through that a Squacco Heron, seen briefly a few days ago at Pagham Harbour in West Sussex, had reappeared and been found again. A quick look at the AA route planner informed that the drive was just under 3 hours and 135 miles. We were on our way within minutes!

We'd twitched a Gull-billed Tern on the Wirral on the 6th July and as we'd been leaving a Squacco Heron had been found on the Lincolnshire coast. We had considered driving the 190 miles, 4 hour plus journey across country to see it that day but wouldn't have made it to the site before 6pm and with a further 2&1/2 hour drive home from there felt it was too much so abandoned that idea and spent a few hours at the RSPB's Dee Estuary reserve instead. On the following morning we drove up to Frieston Shore to look for the Squacco but ultimately left disappointed as there was no sign that day. We vowed then, if possible and within reason, to definitely go for the next Squacco that came up without any delay. The one and only Squacco Heron on our lists was one that we saw very early on in our birding careers (1997 I think) that was spending some time in a large and beautiful garden within the Cotswold Water Park. That encounter, our second twitch and coming the day after seeing a female Red-footed Falcon close to home, cemented our combined love for birds and kick started us on our birding journey which we will never ever stop until the day we aren't able carry on.

Mrs Caley kept a close eye on the bird news as I drove towards the south coast on busy roads, I detoured away from the M3 owing to heavy traffic. Our ETA was for around 12 o'clock and 20 minutes before that the news arrived informing us that the Squacco "had flown west". Typical! We stayed on our course, it would have been daft not to with us being so close to Pagham and parked up at the visitor centre where we enquired as to how to reach the spot where the Squacco Heron had been seen. Directions duly acquired we first took the short walk down to Sidlesham Ferry Pond, where some years ago we'd seen our first ever Curlew Sandpiper, and promptly found a Wood Sandpiper! Not a year tick, we'd seen one on its breeding grounds in Scotland in June, and very distant away from the newly built and very bouncy hide but Woodys are a favourite of mine so nice to see and scant consolation for the seemingly wasted journey.

Wood Sandpiper, Frampton Marsh 17/08/2018

We discussed where to go next since we were now at a loose end with no rare bird to twitch. In the absence of anything else that grabbed our attention we thought that we may as well walk to the spot where the Squacco Heron had been seen on the off chance that we'd find it, a highly unlikely scenario since we don't ever find anything that good ourselves despite much effort. Then just as we were about to start on our way an update informed us that the Squacco had returned to the same field! Thank goodness for that, the twitch was back on! A local had told us that the North Wall was around a 40 minute walk and seeing as we'd left the car at the visitor centre and it would take time to fetch it and drive we thought that we'd take the healthier option. It appeared as if the Heron was sticking around so even if it disappeared again before we got there it would likely be back later. The walk around the harbour basin, fantastic habitat throughout but largely ignored owing to our goal, was quite arduous in the heat. We dearly wanted to drop into the Crab and Lobster halfway there but we feared that any delay might scupper our chances of seeing the Squacco. Maybe we'd celebrate on the way back with a lemonade. After getting more directions from another friendly local we arrived at the field and saw in the opposite corner to us just 5 other birders. They were all looking at something so rather than waste time walking to where they were I tracked their line of sight and was delighted to see the Squacco Heron striding purposefully through the tussocky grass of the field. I got Mrs Caley onto the bird and took a few quick photos of our #254th bird of the year.

Squacco Heron, Sidlesham 03/08/2019

We'd been in the field for about a minute when the Squacco suddenly took to the air and disappeared over a hedge. I was annoyed as well as temporarily dismayed because I'd missed the chance of getting a flight shot since I was wrestling with extending the tripod legs of the scope. Bugger! We ambled over to the other birders but by the time we'd got to the corner where they'd been stood there was just one left. The chap then very helpfully gave me the lowdown of the area around the field and where the Heron may have gone too and also pretty much exact timings of when it had flown in and out. It appeared as if the Squacco came for about an hour before flying off for another hour. It had repeated the hourly turn around three times already, it was now 13:20 so I figured it would come back some time around 14:00-30. It made sense just to sit and wait so we sought shelter from the sun under some small trees and settled down. There were other birds around to keep us occupied, a Chiffchaff called from the trees and a huge party of over 20 Long-tailed Tits hurtled through the bushes. A female Kestrel was very active over the field and regularly dived into the long grass to snare a titbit. 

Kestrel

Little Egrets periodically flew along the stream by which we sat, coming close enough for some nice flight shots but by 14:15 there had been no return by the Squacco and Mrs Caley was becoming anxious. I advised that we'd travelled a long way to see this bird so there was no point in giving up just yet and I was confident that it'd be back. I should add that Mrs Caley has a fondness for all things Heron and the Squacco was one of the birds near the top of her list to see again. The brief view earlier had not satisfied her at all. 

Little Egret

We had been joined by a few other birders including a volunteer from the visitor centre that we'd met earlier. He was recounting to his mate about a mad birder who had twitched a Black-crowned Night Heron this morning and had come to see the Squacco now. He looked slightly awkward when he remembered that the mad bastard was me! With Mrs Caley becoming ever more fidgety and not much happening I kept looking at the time. The Squacco had been gone for well over an hour and in fact it was almost 14:45 when another Little Egret flew past. This time however, it was closely followed by a more compact and duskier looking Heron, the Squacco! I called it as it flew towards us and instantly started firing away with the camera. I heard "that's a Little Egret (you plank)" from one of the other birders and, as she scrambled to her feet, "that's it, brilliant!" from Mrs Caley. The Squacco had flown in and landed before any of the other birders except for Mrs Caley, she trusts me you know, had seen it since they were all fixated on the Little Egret! I had taken over 30 frames of it flying in and some of them were corkers (by my own humble admission). 

The shots of the flying bird taken against the dark green of the background trees, although not as sharp as the ones taken against the sky, showed the contrast between the white wings and buffy orange body. When the Squacco landed amongst the grass it resembled a mythical Griffin in profile.

The Squacco Heron was visiting this dry field to feast on Grasshoppers which were teeming among the rough grasses. Its hunting technique was to walk to slowly through the grass and then when it had spied a tasty Gropper (not to be confused with a Grasshopper Warbler) it made a lunge for it in much the same way that the Night Heron had lunged for a fish this morning.

Grasshopper Heron!

The Squacco was maybe about 50 metres away but was surprisingly difficult to get a clear view of in the long grass unless it reared up tall to survey its surroundings. There always seemed to be some wispy grass stems in the way. I didn't want to encroach any closer so manoeuvred myself around laterally to try and get some clearer views while Mrs Caley filled her boots with crippling scope views. I found that by sitting still the Heron would actually walk closer by its own accord.

Many Grasshoppers were devoured over the next 45 minutes or so that we watched the Squacco and it eventually had found an area of shorter grass where I could get some photos of almost the whole bird. At times I likened it to a Stone Curlew since it had that same piercing stare and even a Corncrake owing to its creeping gait and its "up stereoscope" habit. But of course the Squacco is a Heron so doesn't really look like those at all and is naturally most like other members of its own family such as Little Bittern and Great Bittern. It just seemed a bit of an odd setting for a species of bird that is normally associated with wetland habitat of which there were plenty right next to the field and which the Squacco seemed uninterested in.

Time was pressing and we still had a two hour drive home plus the walk back to the car to look forward to so we finally dragged ourselves away from the Squacco Heron. But before heading back we walked out onto the North Wall to find a couple of Cattle Egrets that we'd been told about. We found them on an island in company with around 20 or so Little Egrets. Cattle Egrets are quite stunning birds in breeding plumage with their prominent orangey head feathers and bright orange bill. 

Cattle Egrets & Little Egrets

On our walk back to the car we stopped for that lemonade at the Crab and Lobster and jokingly suggested that we have Crab and Lobster for dinner. Not at the prices being touted though, we weren't that hungry! 

A brilliant days twitching though and please read the title of this piece carefully which I first saw coined by the excellent band British Sea Power who have a penchant for birds. I wouldn't want to give out the wrong impression.

Got the T-shirt!

Birds at last! And Dolphins! Tuesday 4th June 2019

Our trip from Northumberland to The Cairngorms on the Saturday 1st June was unremarkable even allowing for the fact that, despite leaving in sunshine (a rare commodity during the previous week), it was raining heavily yet again by the time we approached the mountains. We had tried and failed to locate a Common Crane on the English and Scottish border for the second time this year after a similar dip in February and there was little on offer at our chosen coffee stop at Loch Leven bar the usual Tree Sparrows at the feeders in the garden. We drove the long way round passing through Braemar and Tomintoul rather than get bored on the A9, pausing at Glen Tanar to take in a bit of reconnaissance for a future trip later in the year. The drive was largely uneventful but at least we saw that some Black Grouse still persist on the outskirts of Tomintoul. We arrived at our holiday home in Carrbridge excited to be back in Speyside for another fortnight, one day we'll make it a permanent home. And yes, it was still raining!

We were eager to get going on the Sunday morning and there were some good birds to be had that would all be additions to our year list. I planned out an itinerary that would take in a fair chunk of the Moray coast searching out a King Eider, Spoonbill and Iceland Gull amongst others. We were also hopeful of watching Ospreys fishing at Lossiemouth and an Otter that had taken up residence in a small pond in a public park in Elgin. The day ended up being one of our most frustrating days birding ever, since we managed to find absolutely none of our target birds or mustelids! Apart from a good lunch in the Old Mill at Brodie, it was a desperate day, despite plenty of walking and effort on what turned out to be a very warm day, and we were left empty handed. 

Monday was spent driving north and westwards to a small hamlet called Mellon Charles to twitch a Blue-winged Teal. The weather had reverted to bordering on horrible again and had thwarted us in our efforts to see Eagles since we could barely see the hills for most of the day but we were at least ultimately successful in seeing the rare Duck but even that was hard work. You can read that account here Blue-winger.

So we were already into Tuesday of our first week, how time flies, and we had a good weather forecast for a change. The decision was made to repeat Sundays expedition to the Moray coast and have another attempt at year ticking the same birds that we'd missed out on a couple of days previously. In the meantime I had also armed myself with more information so wasted walks shouldn't be on the agenda this time.

First though we made our annual excursion to a well known local lochan where one of the UK's rarest breeding birds make their summer home. We've been responsibly watching Slavonian grebes at this site for nearly 20 years now but this year circumstances have changed. For some reason the BBC chose to pick a nest at the Lochan as a feature for their Springwatch programme despite filming at another well known breeding locality a few years ago. This not only advertised the location, they very helpfully showed a panoramic view of the area which aided folk to know exactly where the birds were, but also aroused Joe Public into wanting to see the birds for themselves. The irony being that the BBC then had to broadcast a warning on their programme about it being illegal to approach any schedule 1 breeding bird too closely without a license, since so many birders and toggers had been to see them! It wasn't helped by the birds themselves building their nest very close to the main path (public access) that runs around the Lochan. So we arrived early but kept a long way away from the nest and stayed less than 10 minutes in total. I took photos from over 50 metres away but if you look hard you can see a chick sat on the back of the female while she was being tended to by the male.

The warning signs

male Slavonian Grebe

Slavonian family, chick is just visible on the back of the sitting female

We headed up to Nairn on the Moray coast. On Sunday we had taken a fairly long walk out past the golf course and onto the fine sandy beach to view the equally sandy Culbin Bar a few hundred metres off shore. We were looking for "Elvis" the drake King Eider, a bird that we normally encounter on our day out to the Ythan Estuary each summer, but Elvis has decided to do a tour this summer and has spent a lot of time gigging off the Moray Coast. There was no sign of him on Sunday and we just got roasted by the unfamiliar sunshine and heat of that day. This morning it was again sunny but being still early it was also fairly cool, particularly at the end of Nairn Pier which was, I had learned since Sunday, the best place to look from for the King Eider. Sure enough I quickly located the Eider flocks, maybe containing a hundred or so birds, and shortly after the King Eider, #229 for the year, which was slightly apart from the main body of ducks and keeping company with just a couple of Common Eiders. Enjoy the record shot below, in my defence the birds were probably 400 metres away, but I have better photos of him taken in previous years so I wasn't too bothered.

King Eider (honest!)

Our next stop was at Findhorn Bay where the Spoonbill and Iceland Gulls were purported to be. I had done my research here too and now knew that the birds were frequently seen in the south-west corner of the bay. Findhorn Bay is a very large tidal basin roughly measuring some 2 miles square and when the tide is out acres and acres of mud are exposed presenting a rich feeding ground for birds. Once we had found a parking spot close to the access track, we walked down to the Bay and  that huge expanse of mud stretched out in all directions. Add in a now fierce heat haze and this was obviously going to be very difficult viewing indeed. There is a grassy track that runs around the bay so we elected to take the the path in a westerly direction towards the place where the River Findhorn empties into the bay. At the furthest end of the path where it meets a tributary and goes no further we set up and scanned the immediate area for birds. We found a couple of Little Egrets, an Osprey sitting on a dead tree that had drifted down river and snagged in the mud, and various Gull species, although not the targeted Iceland Gull. The heat haze and distance made getting any shots of anything impossible apart from a Shelduck that flew past offloading as it went.

Bombs away!

We were joined by a local chap, Iain, who I had been in conversation with via Messenger the day before and had been the source of much valuable information for which I am grateful. He told us that the Spoonbill would be out there somewhere, it always was, and it would just be a case of finding it. He had had the bird at close quarters just a few days before. I scanned different areas of the bay and after around ten minutes did indeed find the Spoonbill but at around 200 metres away and certainly not close enough for any decent shots. This was a record shot kind of day! The Spoonbill was bird #230 on the Old Caley year list and I felt we were doing well. As we chatted away to Iain we watched the tide roll in covering the muddy expanses very quickly indeed and it wasn't long before all of the birds were forced either onto small grassy islands or into the remaining shallows.

Spoonbill 

At high tide there just wasn't enough dry ground to go around and the Spoonbill which had been under almost constant harassment from Herring and Great Black-backed Gulls was forced to take to the wing. In flight it was pursued by an unrelenting Herring Gull and chased out of the vicinity. Luckily they both flew past us, albeit still some way off, enabling me to get a few half decent flight images, the black wingtips designating the bird as an immature that hatched last summer.

I had inquired of a rather special Gull that had been seen on and off at Burghead Harbour over the past few months, a Gull that is known as a 'Viking' Gull, a cross between a Glaucous Gull and a Herring Gull. Iain had seen the Gull just the day before so we made the short journey along the coast to look for it. We walked around the harbour but couldn't see any unusual Gulls at all so decided to stride out to the end of the quay and see if the Viking Gull was resting out on the water since I'd been told that it follows the Prawn fishing boats as they come back into harbour. I noticed a nice Rock Pipit feeding on the concrete pier and stopped to take a shot.

Rock Pipit

I was interested in the behaviour of a couple that were also walking out, rather quickly I thought, towards the pier end. Interested because they were filming something with their mobile phone cameras. I looked out at the sea, I was still some 50 metres from the end of the quay, and saw that they were watching Dolphins! Turning to Mrs Caley I shouted "There's Dolphins!" and started running towards them. I'd only seen Dolphins from afar before and these animals were swimming and leaping just metres out from the harbour wall. For the next 15 minutes both of us were enthralled as the small pod of Dolphins pulled their antics right in front of us. There were maybe 8 altogether and they just appeared to be playing and having fun. At times they would clear the water completely as they leapt up and would frequently roll completely over in the water, I guessed they were having a Dolphin equivalent of a brush up but I admit to knowing very little about Dolphins or their behaviour.

Bottle-nosed Dolphins

More accurately these were Bottle-nosed Dolphins and I think the first of that species we've ever seen. We've always shunned going to Chanonry Point on the Black Isle because it's very popular and just too "touristy" so seeing them here with just another couple of folk present was brilliant. The stars of the show were, presumably, a mother and her calf which made many leaps and dives. Taking photographs was a bit and miss since it was hard to fathom where they'd surface after going underwater so I just pointed and fired at a likely spot whenever I saw activity at the surface. Luckily I got lucky once or twice!

Bottle-nosed Dolphin calf and mother

After the Dolphins had moved away to the north and I had regained my composure, it had been a very exciting and exhilarating experience, I suddenly remembered why we had come to Burghead, and that was to try to see the Viking Gull. I looked across to the other side of the harbour and there laid down on the tarmac amongst the crates and creels was the bird. And what a brute it was! Definitely at the Glaucous Gull end of the scale and would certainly dwarf any Herring Gulls.

'Viking' Gull

We made our way around to the area where the Viking Gull, sadly not a valid addition to the year list, was loafing but before we got there we saw a fisherman walk straight through where it had been. When we arrived at the spot we couldn't see it and yet we hadn't seen it fly off. Even large birds can disappear as if by magic it would seem. I scoured the harbour and adjacent buildings for the bird to no avail so we made to leave, at least we'd seen it and I had a record shot. Then as we passed the central quay I looked up and sat on a metal container was the Viking Gull. In the position it had taken it couldn't be seen because of another slightly higher box on top of the container. The Viking Gull was once again laid down not doing much at all but was extremely wary and watched the comings and goings with its very beady and sharp eyes. If there was a fish going spare then that bird would be ready to go for it!

The Viking Gull looked essentially like a pure Glaucous Gull apart from some darker feathers in the wings and I believe it was first identified as a second calendar year Glaucous. However better judges than myself had since decided that it wasn't a pure bird and had given it the 'Viking' tag. Still a handsome looking beast though with its most prominent feature being a rather outlandish and elongated bill that looked as if the original beak had had an extension added!

A fishing boat chugged into the harbour and the Viking Gull erupted from its stationary lookout post and flew strongly away to investigate. It came so close to us as it departed that we could feel the rush of its wings and most of the photos that I took only caught parts of the bird since it was so big!

Next we went to Lossiemouth, firstly taking in a rudimentary but perfectly satisfying lunch at the west beach cafe. We watched Ringed Plovers, Dunlin and Sanderling scuttling along the sands and were grateful for the warm sunshine after the miserable weather of last week in Northumberland.

Ringed Plover left, Dunlin right

Sanderling

We had come to Lossiemouth to watch Ospreys. The river Lossie empties into the North Sea on the other side of the town and the stretch of river in front of the caravan site had become locally famous as somewhere to watch as many as 10 Ospreys fishing. The Osprey's attendance was far from guaranteed though and we had already spent a couple of fruitless hours there on Sunday evening. This time though we were in luck as two Ospreys appeared after just a few minutes. Unfortunately though for us the wind was blowing onshore towards us so that when a bird decided to hover over the water while looking for prey it was facing in the other direction! 

Osprey

But we were getting fantastic close views of these fabulous Birds of Prey as the two birds patrolled up and down the river. Frustratingly though neither of them made a single dive for fish while we watched and I wondered if the water was too dirty after the heavy rainfall of previous days. So, apart from when one of the Ospreys landed on the opposite river bank, all of my views and photos were of them soaring and flying overhead. At least I had good clear conditions for photography.

We ended our long day out by driving past Lochindorb where we easily added Red Grouse to our holiday list. Red Grouse are very numerous on the moorland that surrounds the Loch but sadly we all know why. I watched some young Grouse chicks cross the road and hoped that they'd survive the awful slaughter that marks the shooting season in August.

male Red Grouse

Red Grouse chick

Rather more happily we spotted a Common Sandpiper by the Loch-side and were delighted to see that it was guarding a small chick that scrambled clumsily over the rocks. At least we knew they'd be safe from the guns since they would have departed the area well before the very wrongly named 'Glorious twelfth'.

adult Common Sandpiper

Common Sandpiper chick

As we left Lochindorb behind the rain had started falling heavily once more but at the end of the plantation we managed to stop and watch a Cuckoo in the failing light. 

Cuckoo

It was time to bring the curtain down on a long and busy day and one that had many highlights not least those fabulous Bottle-nosed Dolphins!