Scotland - Day Two,Sunday 9th July 2023.

Today the plan was to travel from the hostel to Loch Maree and then onto Gairloch for our stay overnight.

Unfortunately the weather threw a spanner in the works for looking for insects,with heavy rain for the start to the day.

We made the journey towards Loch Maree,after an aborted attempt to visit Loch Ruthven,due to torrential rain.

The drive up to Maree was enjoyable,particularly after you get past Inverness and the view along the valley into Loch Maree itself is just stunning.

The best of the mornings sightings went to the stunning sight of 7 summer plumaged Black-throated Divers swimming along together from the Benn Eighe visitor centre car park.

These birds are just beautiful and it was a real pleasure to watch them at their main breeding site in the UK and in such an impressive setting.

After attempting to look for insects here and then at Slattadale,we gave up and headed over to Gairloch and decided to do some birding while the weather broke.

Loch Gairloch was pretty productive it has to be said,with a further 7 Black-throated Diver on the sea here,along with 11 Red-throated Divers,all in summer plumage,just stunning!.

Other birds seen included 2 Sandwich Tern,5 Common Tern,76 Guillemot,a Hooded Crow,a distant Bonxie sat on the sea.

A small group of 5 Harbour Seals were also seen resting on the rocky shoreline here.

After enjoying some lunch,the weather finally broke and it became sunny and we then headed back towards Loch Maree,when Tim spotted another Eagle just as we were leaving Gairloch.

We pulled in off the road and watched as this stonking bird soared around the hillside and then it was amazingly joined by a second.

We watched as this pair of Golden Eagles just soared around giving some stunning scope views,what an absolute privilege to see.

Three Golden Eagles in 2 days was beyond my expectations to say the least.

We then visited Slattadale and later Bridge Of Grudie,two absolutely cracking sites with regards to scenery.

I love this area!.

Loch Maree,Just Stunning.

Gairloch.

Loch Maree,From Slattadale After The Weather Broke.

Slioch,Taken From Bridge Of Grudie.

The Change In Colour And Shades On The Landscape Of The Mountains Was Spectacular.

Bridge Of Grudie.