Scotland part two

 08.06.22 More Red Squirrels from the cottage and a visit to Loch of the Lowes. I have been in some hides for hours at a time even in the winter but I have never been as cold as I was in this hide. My (long suffering) wife and I were in the hide for around two and a half hours waiting for the male Osprey to bring in a fish (he hadn’t been seen since the previous evening and it was now 12.30 in the afternoon). The female was hunkered down in the nest keeping its three chicks warm and it needed to because the wind was freezing, as it was in the hide we were literally shivering with cold. My wife decided to have a walk down to the reception area to get warmed up and I followed shortly after. I no sooner got to the reception desk to have a chat with the receptionist when he pointed at the screen and said “he has just brought in a fish” we were gutted that we had missed it after freezing for so long. I dashed back up into the hide but by then the male was perched in a tree.

Red Squirrel. You wouldn’t know it to look at the pictures but the wood where the Squirrels were was really quite dark so I had to use a high ISO to get the shots

They liked to chase each other around. I saw at least five Reds while we were staying at the cottage.

Male Osprey perched in a tree after delivering a fish to the nest.

Female feeding the chicks.

The male flying off to hopefully do more fishing.

Great-spotted Woodpecker taken through glass. I wish I could get the people who keep the windows clean in the shop to come and do ours, they were absolutely spotless.

At around 21.45 we were sitting watching television when I noticed this Brown Hare coming into the garden of the cottage. I rushed to get my camera and rattled of some shots at high ISO through the bedroom window.

It was eating the plants in the garden…

…when it was startled by a Pied Wagtail and ran off.