Eagle Eyes Wildlife Guiding

01/03/2023

I've been lucky enough to have spent most of this week watching this pair of White-tailed Eagles on a site I'm surveying. They've been going through some courtship rituals & today watched them mating, fingers crossed they have a successful year.
Not the greatest pics but they are about a km away.

05/12/2022

You dont see many Foxes in the Highlands. It's not surprising really, regarded as public enemy number 1 by every keeper, shepherd & stalker their numbers are kept well in check, plus a lower density due to less productive land compared to southern habitats & they're predominantly nocturnal, so like I say not a big surprise I dont see many.
So when I was driving home this arvo & a big dog Fox trotted across the road in front of me it was a bit of a 'ooh!' Moment. It was a quiet road so when i got level with where he disappeared, I stopped n had a look, & there he was, still very close n unperturbed by the car or me hanging out the window with my phone. The fact I took the pics on my phone shows how close he was, a healthy, good looking fella.

11/11/2022

Had an epic spectacle whilst out surveying today.
My vantage point had a youngish, small conifer plantation about 1/4 of a mile down to the right, while scanning I picked up a sub-adult Golden Eagle flying low in a slow, controlled flight over the plantation, several Black Grouse exploded out of the trees spooked by the large raptor overhead but the eagle seemed totally disinterested by them.
It cruised out of sight but 10 minutes later it was back, this time it wasn't alone, a second adult bird was with it. The 2 of them then started stooping on something behind a hillock, so I couldn't see what. Then a Sika deer hind appeared & ran up the fence surrounding the plantation with an eagle in hot pursuit! The deer went around the corner & out of sight but I could still see the eagle which was still stooping on the hind.
Half a dozen or so other hinds followed the 1st but the other eagle had managed to spook one the other way along the fence, I watched amazed as both eagles then came in low n fast from behind the fleeing deer, the lead bird easily caught up to it & made a grab for its rump! Which was fluffed up in alarm. It missed but kept up the pursuit, sadly they all went out of sight but I'm pretty sure the raptors were unsuccessful.
I saw the younger eagle again cruising low over the plantation a bit later but nothing else exciting occurred.

21/10/2022

Out on the moor surveying this morning & had a slightly squeaky bum moment & got to appreciate how a Red Stags personality totally changes during the rutt.
I'd heard 2 or 3 roaring but i couldn't see any & had even thought 'good, they can stay that way'

Then one appeared, he was a few hundred meters away & started roaring, then he clocked me.
Now, any other time of year he would of turned tail n buggered off rapidly, but he didn't, he started bee-lining straight for me!

Now like I said, he was a little way away & was in no rush, but the closer he got the more nervous I became, i know someone who was tossed like a rag doll n badly injured by a stag in the rutt & have read of other accounts so felt justified in my apprehension.
So of course I did what any modern person does in such a situation, got my phone out n started filming!

I was just starting to think at what point do I stand up n 'make myself big' & if I do, will that make things worse? He got to about 30-40 feet away & stopped. I thought, if he wants he could cover that distance in no time, he was scenting the air & looking intently, but a stiff breeze was blowing towards me so he couldn't scent me. He seemed to be debating it in his head but I was relieved to see that he decided to move off, although he did keep looking back at me for a bit before finally going off, much to my relief.

12/07/2022

We moved north from Perthshire with Red Deer & eagles on our minds. It was even warmer today with the wind having dropped.
We connected with some Stags chilling in the sun & thier antlers still in velvet. Sadly the eagles were playing hard to get, but we had Buzzard, Red Kite & some Crossbills.

Leaping Salmon were on the agenda too & a trip to the Falls of Shin produced a few of various sizes fighting thier way upstream to spawn.
In the evening we went to a Badger hide local to me where we had 4 feeding close to the hide when it was still light which is unusual, but very welcome.

12/07/2022

It's been a good week out with my guests Sean & Moira with a mammaly theme. We started with a hike up Cairnwell in GlenShee. It was really windy, but the sun was shining. We had a Ring Ouzel on the walk up & once near the summit started seeing lots of Mountain Hares in thier 'blue' summer coats. We were lucky enough to bump in to a pair of Ptarmigan, who were panting in the warm weather. Sad to see they had no chicks though.

In the evening we went to Bob 'nature nuts' Smith's hide near Blairgowrie where we had incredible views of Red Squirrel, various woodland birds & a gorgeous couple of Pine Marten (mum & kit) who came in breifly to grab some grub, but unfortunately the estate was cutting silage in fields nearby which was making a right racket, making the martens jumpy & ultimately scaring them off.

06/07/2022

Turn the volume up to hear the weird calls of the Petrels on the nest.

06/07/2022

06/07/2022

Stormies coming back

06/07/2022

When I was a kid I watched a feature on a programme about a Broch (neolithic fortified dwelling), on a wee island called Mousa off the coast of mainland Shetland where European Storm Petrels nest in the cracks in the walls, 500 pairs nest in the Broch alone with more in the tumble down drystone walls nearby too. It's the UK's largest & most successful Storm Petrel colony. Since watching that feature all those years ago, its been on my bucket list, I've seen it in other programs over the years since & kept saying I really must get there sometime. Well Monday evening was that time & it didn't disappoint.

Stormies are a proper pelagic species, spending all their time out at sea gleaning food from the waters surface, & only come to land to breed. For such a lifestyle they are tiny, about the same size as a House Martin, so only come back to thier nests at night when they are safer from Bonxies & Great Black-backed Gulls.
Tagged birds have revealed that Mousa petrels swap over nest duties every 24hrs after going down to feed off the Aberdeenshire coast. It's this swap over event that we had come to see.

I've been to other brochs before but they have been half fallen down, this one is pretty intact & you can climb the narrow staircase to the top.
It was nearly midnight when they started coming in, more like bats in the gloaming, a few to start, then more & more, their weird churring calls coming from the birds on the nests. I stood on the top of the Broch as the Petrels came whizzing inches past my face, as they smelt out thier nest. Later on the ground on the outside the sky round the ancient building (over 2000 yrs old), was filled with birds as they entered. It was pretty magical & everything I hoped it would be. I'd recommend it to anyone who's after an unforgettable UK wildlife experience.
shout out to father & son team Ronny & Dan, great local guides who run the trips.
I'll post some vids after.

06/07/2022

On monday I went to Sumburgh Head on the southern tip of Shetland to get a Puffin fix. There were the other Auks, Razorbill, Guillemot and Black Guillemot plus Kittiwakes, Fulmar, S**g and a gorgeous Arctic Skua. Twite were feeding in the grass here too.

03/07/2022

His patience was rewarded