White-tailed Eagle.

White-tailed Eagle (left) with Buzzard, Perthshire glens 23 July 2010 (Photo: Angie Bushell).

Well, nearly done here in Perth and back to Lancs at the weekend. July has been a bit of a wash-out after a super couple of months for weather in Scotland generally. Of course we need the rain, especially in the north-west of England where I'll find myself by Saturday evening. Nevertheless Hen Harriers, Short-eared Owls, Red Kites, Ring Ouzels and the like have kept me amused while working in the glens and at weekends too for that matter.

Loch Rannoch, Perth & Kinross 24 July 2010.

Mrs B came to visit last weekend and I picked her up from Perth station after a brief (and unsuccessful) search for Hawfinches in the Scone Palace grounds on the edge of the city. After a quick visit to Auchterarder for lunch we headed out to the glens to stretch our legs. I wasn't really expecting too much on a sunny Friday afternoon so the Red Kites, Ravens, Dipper, Wheatears and Grey Wags were well received. There are odd sightings of Golden Eagles in the Perthshire glens every now and then so we had a gaze fixed to the craggy horizons at times, but we did not expect the "flying barn door" that appeared at the edge of a nearby hill being mobbed by corvids! We watched this wing-tagged immature (2nd calendar year I think) White-tailed Eagle for the best part of half and hour before it drifted off north. Mrs B managed to capture the moment on film too!

River Guaer at Rannoch Moor, Perth & Kinross 24 July 2010.

Perth & Kinross maybe a little neglected by birders visiting Scotland; most heading direct to the highlands where many of the "Scottish Specialities" are more readily available in relatively reliable sites. One site that I wish I'd visited earlier in my stay here is Rannoch Moor. We made our way there on Saturday afternoon; a long way from anywhere (although it does have a railway station) at the end of an enormous loch west of Tummel.

Rannoch Moor NNR, Perth & Kinross 24 July 2010.

We didn't have sufficient time out here and I'm sure a visit earlier in the spring would be very rewarding indeed. Maybe next year?

Birding at Glenshee on the Aberdeenshire / Perth & Kinross border 25 July 2010.

On Sunday Mrs B and I walked out to Glenshee. Quite a climb and no sign of any Ptarmigan on the side we checked. Monday was better though with at least one Honey Buzzard in one of the Tayside forests.

A "tipple" from the "Famous Grouse Experience" near Crieff (the nearest I've got to a Ptarmigan!) and the latest and long-awaited addition to my library - Donald Watson's "The Hen Harrier".

With Angie in the Cairngorms last Sunday.