Saturday, April 08, 2017
Yesterday, we went to Inverewe Gardens; and from the high viewpoint in a cold and irritating wind, we saw some very distant ducks which I suspected were scoters. Today I went back to take a second look, driving along the single-track road on the opposite side of Loch Ewe and finding the odd useful pull-in. The little gang stayed out in the middle but I got better views today with my scope, and some marginally better record shots of (I think): three female and one male common scoter, two velvet scoters, and one long-tailed duck (drake).
I say "gang", but actually they weren't always together. The common scoters kept close company, while the long-tailed duck associated sometimes with them, and sometimes with the velvets. On one occasion, they all met up again (together with a pair of mergansers) and then the common scoters swam off; the duck started to follow them and then stopped, looking back at the velvets as if unsure where his loyalties lay. In the end, he went after the commons!
As often happens when I'm birdwatching, I forgot lunchtime. It was now two-thirty and I ate my sandwiches in the car. About to drive away, I spotted an adult sea eagle through the still-bare branches of the birches, flying high above the bay. It looked pretty impressive - and even more so when it turned and flew straight towards me. I was aware of a small bird zooming through the pic, but don't know what it was - except brave.
As I snapped the eagle, the rapidly wavering calls of a great northern diver carried up from the loch - ceasing once the eagle had passed over, although I don't know if there was a connection. This brief but magical moment provided some compensation for the fact it was only 11°C - half the temperature in the south-east of England!
// posted by Christine @ 12:50 PM 
