Scotland June 2023

 17.06.23 The early morning of our second day was spent around the cottage taking pictures of the Red Squirrels. The rest of the day was spent near Loch Garten looking for Dragonflies and Damselflies.

Red Squirrel.

Juvenile Robin.

Male White-faced Darter.

A pair of White-faced Darter.

There were a few around.

Male hovering.

A male Northern Damselfly.

A pair of Northern Damselfly.

Common Blue Damselfly.

 Blue-tailed Damselfly.

I have never seen as many Four-spotted Chasers as I did on a small pool near Loch Garten there were hundreds of them.

Bumblebee Robberfly.

Mason Wasp Sp.

“Cucumber” Spider?

While we near Loch Garten we visited a small lochan where Slavonian Grebes have been known to breed. I won’t get on my soap box about what happened but I did manage a shot of one of the chicks.

Images from Scotland…

 …part four (the final part). On our penultimate day in Scotland, we had a drive up to the Boat of Garten for White-faced Darter. Unfortunately, we didn’t find any in fact we only saw one Large-red Damselfly in the time we were there. What I didn’t expect to see were Crested Tits, I have seen them around the visitor centre at Loch Garten during autumn but they tend to stay high in the treetops during spring so to see them, all be it at a distance, was great. While in the area, we went to see the Slavonian Grebe it’s always great to catch up with them. 

Crested Tit

Slavonian Grebe

Oystercatcher

Netted Mountain Moth. This is the first time I have been able to get images of this moth they usually don’t stay still long enough.

Cranefly laying eggs

Willow Warbler.

Buzzard above the visitor centre at Loch Garten

The cottage has a large pond and when we got back from Boat of Garten I had a look around it. This Orangetip Butterfly was near the waters edge.

In the pond, I saw these nymphs the large one is, I think, a Water Beetle nymph unfortunately I don’t know what the smaller one is.

On our final day I opened the curtains to find these Pheasants fast asleep on the fence. 

Scotland week 2 Part 2

When we pulled up to the lodges at Loch Garten the gentleman who runs the place was there to meet us. He explained all about the lodge but I was more interested in asking about the Pine Marten. He said if we kept the water bowl topped up we would definitely see a female (we would recogniser her by her bent ear). The first few nights came and went and I was beginning to think Pine Martens were only mythical creatures, only ever seen on celluloid or digital pixels, however at 23.01 on our 4^th night we saw the female Pine Marten drinking out of the water bowl, fantastic. Over the next few nights, not only did the female turn up but she also brought her two kits with her, brilliant.

I managed to photograph the Slavonian Grebe early one morning on a Loch when I was the only one there but unfortunately, the light was not very good. I went back to the Loch, however on the afternoon I went I was not the only one there. On the Loch side was a man with a dog and a fisherman, the light was nice but the fisherman was not so nice. Suffice to say I had a bit of a run in with said fisherman. He took exception to me being there to photograph the Grebe. He said he was there to protect the Grebe from people like me? Now I know the Slavonian Grebe is a scheduled one bird and you need a licence to photograph the bird on the nest and you are not supposed to disturb the bird, but I did not know where the nest was and I did not want to know where the nest was. I know some photographers want to get as close as they possibly can but I‘m not one of them. The Grebe was swimming out in the open that would do for me. I can’t even call the fisherman a jobsworth he said he was “protecting” the bird voluntarily. Now it begs the question who was going to disturb the bird more, the man who was letting his dog run around, the fisherman who was fly fishing in waders or me sitting on the Loch side with a 500mm lens and all the gear on to blend into the trees and bushes. Howay man I ask you? Anyway enough of the rant here are some of the images I got.

 

Female Pine Marten just outside the patio doors

Female with one of it’s Kits

With both of them

The female was looking was looking up at me from underneath the steps of the decking. I was only about four foot from her.

Slavonian Grebe

I’d been looking for Crested Tit all week but it was not until our last morning at Loch Garten that I managed to catch up with one. This was the only decent shot I got.

Male Ring Ouzel

Juvenile Ring Ouzel

Two juvenile Ring Ouzel

Red Squirrel