Visiting The Neighbours

 My wife and I have just returned from a break north of the border on the shores of Loch Long which is on the fringes of the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park. Luckily the weather was for the most part pretty good and while we had to endure the odd spell of rain it was for the most part  good. While it wasn't a birding or wildlife watching trip I did get the occasional opportunity to look around.

Black Guillemot and Shag.

Most of my birding was done from the grounds of my hotel just after dawn and before dusk as the rest of the day was taken up with excursions.. Loch Long is a sea loch subject to the tides and although the upper reaches are some distance from the coast it's possible to see marine species feeding in its waters. Perhaps the biggest surprise for me was finding a Black Guillemot fishing just off our hotel. It generally appeared on a rising tide and often showed quite distantly but I did manage a few dodgy record shots, this was particularly welcome as I accidently deleted the pictures that I took of them in Oban harbour! Other species seen from the hotel grounds included several Shags, Red-breasted Mergansers, a Goosander, a drake Eider and Goldeneyes. A female Stonechat was one of the better passerines though the most interesting for me were the crows that fed on the shoreline at low tide. Clearly this area is the zone of overlap between Hooded and Carrion Crows because although he former were commonest there were a number of their black cousins present too. Several clear hybrid birds were also noted and I really do question the validity of this split. Whatever their status there's no denying their intelligence, the path was littered with shell fragments from where the crows were dropping the unfortunate molluscs in order to get to the meat.

Red-breasted Merganser and Goosanders

Away from the loch I saw a few bits and bobs on the excursions with a trip to Oban providing further views of the species that I saw at Loch Long. Great views of two Black Guillemots were the star for me and I really do regret deleting those pics. Half a dozen Eiders and more Mergansers were also noted while away from the coast at Callander I saw half a dozen Goosanders. Not much other wildlife to report though I saw Grey Seals at several spots and a couple of Red Deer too.

Hooded Crow and another view of Shag