Cottage Diary - Aspenwood self catering luxury Holiday Cottage overlooking Loch Ness in the Highlands of Scotland.

On our journey back from Inverness we suddenly glimpsed a buzzard sitting quite still on the grass in a field using its sharp eyes to spot a potential victim, usually a rabbit or any small mammal, carrion or insects. At first we thought it was a piece of tree trunk jutting out of the grass but then the sun glistened on its golden brown chest feathers and it tilted its head ever so slightly. We have often seen them circling above us in hunting flight or sitting on fence posts but this was the closest we have actually been to one of these magnificent birds of prey.
Several days of rain has now washed away a lot of the snow except for the very tops of the mountains. As we drove home we could just make out Urquhart Castle standing out against the ominous clouds rolling down Glen Urquhart.