Another glorious day on Bute and so I took a dawn walk through the trees from Kilchattent to a little airfield, nothing much was awake but it was good to see a few hairs running about. Then we headed up in the forest above Rhubodach and a circuit called the Balnakailly loop. This starts from the ferry terminal and winds its way up past an old WW2 Bunker, into the forest and back to the ferry. It’s a mixture of ancient native woodland and Pines, the air was full of the singing of Wrens, Robins, Gokdcrest, Willow Warbler and Chiffchaffs, although the volume of trees made them hard to spot. We tried though and managed to single out a few birds to photograph.
Back at the ferry it was great to see a family of Eider duck, and although it was very bright and a bit hazy with heat ( not complaining) I managed to get a few shots.
In the evening as it was cooling I took a trip up to Scalpsie bay to see what was about, the Seals were still out at sea as the tide was in, but there was a good number of Wheatear, Wagtails, Rock Pipets and Oyster catchers. It was also good to see the Ringed Plovers flying about.
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