Female Sparrowhawk and Great Egret

   
Photos from the Wigeon Hide at Montrose Basin. The good (reasonable) the bad (yep) and the ugly (the Fieldfare photo). 

Just as I got near the hide a Peregrine flushed everything and not long after a female Sparrowhawk took a Redshank. The Sparrowhawk came along the ditch, over the bank and went fast and low over the saltmarsh, surprising the Redshanks below the marsh edge. It returned to tree at the hide then flew along to its plucking post, the rest is in the video.

All photos and video from my P1000, the only solution I have for photography at these distances, and it serves as a makeshift scope that takes photos and video. The problem is at extreme zoom, the slightest twitch or movement at my end causes a big movement or shake. I can only stop breathing so long, and sometimes I can see my heartbeat affecting the video! (I'm big hearted!)

These below are UHD at 30fps, so may not play immediately on a phone, but broadband should be fine.

Great Egret with flounder     Sparrowhawk eating a Redshank     Great Black-backed Gull    

Sparrowhawk female, Wigeon Hide

Great White Egret

Five photos spliced in Microsoft ICE

Golden Plovers and a Golden Sunrise

   
I don't see many Golden Plovers these days, they seem to be in deep decline, or at least in Angus in autumn. Twice this week I saw small flocks of 88 and 45 on the rocks in front of South Street, Arbroath, some photos below and one video I really like!

Golden Plovers     Golden Plover close-up     Red-throated Diver     Grey Seal slowmo

Golden Plover, unfortunately they were flying in late in the afternoon, normal behaviour after feeding inland during the day

Some of the Pink-footed Geese flying of the Basin at Tayock at sunrise one morning this week

I've clipped the top of the steeple, the consequence of the lens with a teleconverter

The Great White Egret was very far up the Basin when I saw it from Sleepyhillock. By the time I was able to get past some tree surgeons taking down a large tree in the cemetery it had gone

An unusually confiding Heron at Keptie Pond, walkers passing were getting photos on their phones, I couldn't get back far enough with a prime lens

Apparently some at Keptie think this is a Scaup, perhaps the tuft is a giveaway that it's a Tufted Duck with a white forehead as some do

More head shots followed

I'm celebrating being able to ID this moth myself, well actually Google Lens did! Phone photo in a poorly lit kitchen