Snow, Gulls and Eagles

Today, the weather was supposed to sunny and of course, they were wrong - pretty overcast with bits of white stuff floating about but still dry.  I couldnt get excited about the housework so suggested we went to Calgary Bay to blow off the cobwebs.  We decided to drive round the coast rather than through the glen road.  We hadnt gone far when we spotted one of the male sea eagles doing a fantastic fly past and then fly straight into his nest!  Not bad for starters.  Great Northern Diver, mergansers on the Loch and a kestrel sat in the top of tree as we drove past - quite close but the light was awful for taking a pic - he would probably have flown off as soon as I picked the camera up!  We called in at Ulva Ferry as there is usually an otter and seals in the area - a great black backed gull with a youngster were close into the pier - managed to get a shot of him as he came into land - I thought his wings and tail resembled one of our eagles from behind - they are such a huge gull.  As we turned inland heading for Calgary, I was amazed at just how much snow there was!  I took a picture of one of the drifts - Hannah was playing in the snow and it was up to her knees (and she's quite tall!).  As usual, at this time of the year, there was just us and one other couple on the beach.  As we pulled into the car park, the common gull who always seems to be there came over to greet us - there's something about common gulls not sure what but I have a bit of a soft spot for them.  A herring gull was hanging about waiting for crumbs and it was interesting to see the difference between the two gulls.  We did two lengths of the beach before the cold northerly wind got to us.  We drove home through the glen and was delighted to have a white tailed eagle flying parallel with us and then land in the river just yards away - stopped for a drink before he flew up to a nearby crag where he eventually was getting hassle from a buzzard - guess he was sat in his spot.  Finally had to return home and quick lick and a promise with the housework - sat down to read the paper only to spot the barn owl hunting outside - not seen him for sometime so hopefully he's now back - hopefully he's got a mate tucked away somewhere!