You can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear - as my old Granny used to say. So no apologies for what follows, in photographic terms they are a disaster but these images represent the best two hours birding I have enjoyed in a long time.
The Golden Eagle is probably Scotland's most iconic bird and no birding trip is complete without at least a try to locate one. Boy, were we lucky, the weather window was small, the forecast for later in the day was continuous rain. As we arrived in the Findhorn Valley it was still dry and scanning the tops we located a pair of Ravens and then a larger bird, try as we might we couldn't get a positive ID, on reflection it was probably an eagle but at the time it just wasn't right. Who sees an eagle within five minutes of arrival?
Then high on a crest a much more encouraging sign, a large raptor carrying a sizeable chunk of carrion. Yup a Golden Eagle - a long way up but a definite sighting. Then there were two and for a couple of hours they popped up and entertained us royally. Oh that the conditions had been better, just a small amount of sunshine would have helped - but that is how it was and it just means that we shall have to return another day.
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| First sighting - a long way off. |
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| Confirmed ID - first winter bird? |
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| Then there were two!! |
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| Upside down. |
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| A very heavy crop!!! |
After the excitement we journeyed down to Inverness by way of the Farr road and spent some time at Alturlie Point where a flock of nearly 40 Scaup loafed offshore. Travelling further along the coast gave very little but at last we started to see Pink-footed Geese in larger numbers.
A wonderful experience to see Dave something that I still need to achieve.
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