Glossy new year

Last November I undertook a significant drive up to Wick in search of the reported Glossy Ibis. The day turned into a fairly wretched dip- a 250 mile drive for not a lot. Following recent reports of another bird near loch Watten in Caithness and with yesterday offering a 'weather window' it was fairly inevitable that a return journey had to be undertaken.  The distance between the Wick bird reported in November and the one reported yesterday is less than 10 miles so it seems feasible that the same bird has been frequenting the same general area since November as there is a lot of suitable habitat that is generally under watched. Anyway, after a brief, stressful 10 minutes trying to find the 'flood' we got onto a very obliging glossy!

The ibis turned out to be a very nice bird but it was rather eclipsed today by my lunchtime dash to loch Flemington to see the American coot- what a way to start the year- two great birds in a weekend! The light was poor for both birds and although the coot was too distant for my 400mm, I did get some shots of the ibis. I suppose I should try and get a coot on my year list now!