Shoveler fest, Marsh Harrier and Black Dragonfly

There were a dozen Shoveler at Kinnordy on Friday and they take top billing in front of the Marsh Harriers as they're the new arrivals and still in their moult. The two juvenile Harriers now have a finished look to their plumage and their flight and hunting techniques also look more refined.

The Black Dragonfly was what I'd been looking for and initially I thought it was a Common Darter but it's either a female or immature male Black, I never saw any mature males but I didn't get down to the area where I've seen them in the past.

The last two photos are from the Gayfield area in Arbroath where the Med Gull was preening on Chalmers roof and the Common Terns were still resting on the concrete pillars at the sewage works.

Male and female Shovelers coming in

Male

Female

Junior, looking out of proportion, how could it not with a bill like that

Marsh Harrier juvenile

Hunting

Black Dragonfly female or immature male

Lapwing, one of many being spooked by the Harriers but a Peregrine I didn't see is their real threat

Med Gull with the Black-headed Gulls in a late afternoon light barely shining through the cloud

One of the Common Terns, how much longer will they stay?