The Western Highlands part 2...Harbour Seals

Day four of our visit to the west coast of Scotland and we decided to take a boat trip to see some of the local sea life with Calum's Seal Trips out of Plockton (if you're old enough to remember Hamish Macbeth with Robert Carlyle - it was filmed here).

There's certainly a chance of seeing more White-tailed Eagles on this trip as well as Golden Eagles over the mountains along this stunning coast but the primary focus is the local Harbour Seal colony.

Ready for a boat trip...

Jake had a go at piloting the boat.

The scenery here is just as beautiful and mesmerising as anywhere else on the west coast and to be honest if I hadn't seen anything else it wouldn't have really bothered me.

Lost Boys Island on the left, yes there's a J M Barrie connection.

Perfect seal habitat and the water is so clear!

Before very long though we found our target species, Harbour Seals and lots of them.

Harbour Seal, Plockton.

Shot from some distance with the P900.

A few young pups too.

Couple of Eider sharing the rock.

There should be eagles here!

The following day we made a (very) late start and decided to explore the mainland a bit further afield heading north along Loch Carron.  As it's a family holiday I didn't get everything my own way and our first stop is Attadale Gardens. This may not sound like a bad stop, and it isn't, it's just tantalizingly close to a site I'd been given for Dark Red Helleborines but I'd have to be patient and wait. Attadale did produce a lot of Spotted Flycatchers though, which were good to see. This recently fledged bird was particularly approachable. 

Juvenile Spotted Flycatcher, Attadale Gardens.

A real poser.

This one kept flying down to catch insects at our feet.

We eventually head for the helleborine site but despite a thorough search and with light failing, I didn't manage to locate them. Not to worry, there's always next time...