Red-throated Diver

We've seen pairs of divers before on remote lochans, but this is the first time we've been able to get close enough, without disturbing them, to identify them as red-throated divers.

The red-throated diver, Gavia stellata, isn't faring too well, and now has an amber conservation classification. Unlike in the rest of Britain, they are resident in western Scotland all year round, but only some 1,300 pairs breed here.  To see them is therefore quite a privilege.

There's more about the red throated diver on a Radio 4 'Tweet of the Day' on the BBC iPlayer Radio here.