Osprey (again!)

 

After several days it became apparent that this bird was going to be a regular visitor, normally in the mornings and I could set up the gear accordingly. Fishing sessions became more prolonged as the resident Oystercatcher flock had become somewhat organised in Air Defence. One day I counted 38 on the grass adjacent to the lochan, alarms from more distant birds put them into alert and they made concerted efforts to deter the Osprey. On one foray I counted twenty two oystercatchers in close formation and they successfully drove the Osprey away. Oddly, the close proximity of Buzzards, which are plentiful here, and Herons raised not one peep from the waders.

This composite (my photoshop skills are limited) is intended to show how difficult it is to track an Osprey in a dive. Unfortunately as the bird descends the autofocus is grabbed by the higher contrast background resulting in this:-

So I abandoned any idea of capturing those dramatic plunges and concentrated on trying to capture lift offs.

Over the weekend Osvaldo, well we were now so familiar it had to be first names, was joined briefly by a Red Kite, a species of  bird I haven't seen in the area before but around Tollie on the Black Isle they are now numerous. This one, tagged V2 Red Right and Left Blue appears to be have been tagged on the Black Isle during the summer of 2014 so it's a juvenile really. Anyway he hung around for five minutes before departing to quarter the fields just in front of the gamekeeper's cottage. I did glimpse it again for a short time later in the holiday - great if they become established.

 

By now the Osprey was showing signs that human presence whilst he was fishing was not a problem and indeed as he repositioned after being disturbed by the waders he frequently gave me a close flyby.