what did you do at the weekend? (picture heavy)

[humbug]

hi all,
had a great weekend with the camera which began on friday evening at the rspb reserve troup head, aberdeenshire.
on arrival my wife and i were just setting up the gear when a peregrine rushed past at a frightening rate of knots, it didn't appear to be chasing anything just letting us know it was there, of course i didn't have the camera ready and by the time i did it was soaring high but took a snap anyway.

we wondered up to the cliff top (which for those of us that suffer from vertigo is terrifying) to find this gannet with a chick still at foot.

and some fulmars dancing on the wind.

later in the evening we spotted from our vantage point (a couple of hundred feet in the air)
a pair of porpoise and took a few photos before the sun went down and we headed home.



saturday i caught up with the young buzzard that's been buzzing our house for the last few weeks but did nothing else as the weather was terrible.


sunday brought an afternoon's mackerel fishing which was unsuccessful but did manage a few shots from the breakwater at peterhead.
an artic skua


i think this is a juv common tern but may be wrong.


and a guillemot


a juv kittiwake


and possibly the reason we didn't catch a thing. SAMMY!!


brian.

[aeshna5]

Lovely photos- you certainly had a better weekend than me, where much of it was spent at home- but was pleased with some great views of a Hobby in the local park as I walked to the shops (so sadly no bins!)

The tern is an adult Sandwich Tern going into non-breeeding plumage- note the long black bill with a yellow tip!.

[goosey]

You had a better weekend than me too Brian. Great photo's to document your weekend - I love the one of the seal and the gannets. When I was young, if I ate too much my dad would say I was a gannet - going by your lovely photo, I would consider it a compiment now! Thanks for sharing with us .

[jdurbo]

Looks like you had a much better weekend than i had! and some lovely photos!

jen xxx

[G0NYM]

Looks like you had a fantastic weekend , nowt but rain down here in the Midlands.
Thanks for the pics,very nice.
Martin........

[jordanno]

lovely pics ecspeacialy the gannet my favourite seabirds next to puffins of course

[humbug]

thanks folks, it was a good weekend but then i'm very lucky to have this kind of wildlife on my doorstep.
cheers
brian.

[ChasCreek]

Some smashing pics there, and yes you are lucky to have that kind of wildlife on the doorstep. Seeing as part of my weekend was spent putting glass into a door and painting the door just finishing before it started raining, I think you had a far better weekend than mine.

[brucemstrs]

Thanks for sharing those pics Humbug - I used used to work in Turriff, Aberdeenshire many years ago. you really jogged my memory of how beautiful it is around the coast there, and a lot of places away from the coast too. Used to go mackeral fishing with some of the local lads there.Thanks again.

[Gytrash]

Meant to be going camping in Swaledale. But the forcast was dire. So we ended up meeting friends in a pub and the lively discussions continued for hours. Sunday was spent recovering...