OK the picture is rubbish, a burry mess of pixels and heat haze, but this represents another of my UK firsts for me, and one hell of a brilliant bird.
Osprey: With news being slow to come out due to the bird being first sighted during a vantage point bird survey, presumably due to the sensitivity to the project and clients involved I was just happy that news was put out in full with location details.
Black-throated Diver: Leaving at 1am and arriving at 9.30 Steve T and I bumped in to yong Oscar Puls and then traversed the steep hill toward the watch point together. Out of breath and sweating we arrived with seconds to go before the bird lifted off out of the tree line and took to the sky, before flying around and out of site.
We waited for it to return before time got the best of us and were forced to leave, but despite the short views of the bird and the long journey home I had a smashing day.
We moved pretty quickly once the bird was pinned down and began to be regularly seen coming out of a roost in a plantation woodland on the far side of Loch Grudie.
A good laugh in car with a top bloke and a day spent with several fishing osprey and a black-throated diver. Very nice indeed.