The standard of entries for this year's BWWC wildlife photography competition is already amazingly high, and the entries keep on coming...

Firstly, looking at Paul Withers' work it's difficult to imagine a better image of a Bottlenose Dolphin than this one taken at the world-famous cetacean watching spot, Chanonry Point.

And then there is Bill Saxton's stunning image of one of Britain's rarest mammals, the Pine Marten caught out hunting uncharacteristically early.

If you've stayed with us in 2009 and want to enter then we'd be delighted to see your images too, and if you think you can better Paul or Bill's efforts then you must have a stunner!

Here's a wildlife image you won't see very often - a picture of a perfectly healthy Mole out and about in the middle of the day. Sent in by our guests Lesley and Robert Wright, it's difficult to say who was more surprised!
A couple of great sightings on our guided walk today included a pair of Common Terns on the River Spey catching a fish and a Grey Wagtail feeding a youngster on the river bank.
The sighting of the day, however, has to be a pair of Golden Eagles spotted at the northern end of our current favourite wildlife watching hotspot, Lochindorb.

Lochindorb has always been known to be a hive of wildlife activity in May, but the largest body of fresh water in Grampian and the Highlands is really excelling itself just now. As usual, the Black-throated Divers can be seen quite regularly and wait for couple of hours and you are virtually guaranteed sightings of fishing Ospreys. Red Grouse abound on the surrounding moorland whilst Hen Harriers and Short-eared Owls are providing regular views.

Summer breeders only add to the biodiversity of the area - our guest David Carter has sent me this rare image of the ever-elusive Cuckoo and also a photographic gem of a Common Sandpiper.

Just twenty minutes drive from the hotel, this is a remarkable wild place offering the best of Scottish wildlife and scenery.

Here at the BWWC we're lucky enough to be working with some of the leading figures in the world of wildlife - none more so than Scotland's best known natural history photographer, Laurie Campbell. Laurie sometimes drops me an e-mail to let me know what he's up to, and his latest project has been photographing Otters.

In an exclusive to the BWWC, you're the first people to see these unpublished images straight from the field - amazing portraits of one of Britain's most elusive and best-loved mammals as seen though the lens of the leading exponent of his art.

Many thanks, Laurie, and for those of you coming along on our Laurie Campbell package in a couple of weeks, we look forward to welcoming you.

It's that time of year when we all go 'aaaah!'

Whether it be on the river, on the moors or in the forest, birds of all hues are having their young.

At Huntly Peregrine Wildwatch two of the three Peregrine eggs have hatched, and by all accounts the 'eyas' - as they are known - are feeding well.

Meanwhile, on the River Spey, Goldeneye have already had their first broods and young Dippers are starting to look bigger than their parents - as our guest Christopher Allen's wonderful photos show.

And in Grantown-on-Spey itself, on the 'Mossie', an area of rough grassland, young Lapwings are running around all over in best kamakaze fashion.

Just 13 days now until the first Loch Garten Osprey chick is due!

Loads of great guest sightings - where do I start? Findhorn Valley, the 'Valley of the Raptors', is hotting up with 2 Goshawks reported along with Red Kites, Ospreys and Buzzards.

A Ring Ouzel pair are being seen at the Cairngorm Mountain Visitor Centre car park, and Ospreys have been seen fishing at both Loch Ruthven and Loch Insh.

Both Short-eared and Barn Owls are turning up regularly at Lochindorb, and a first for our guided walks is a definite sighting of a Green Woodpecker which we first thought we heard yaffelling away last week. Right at the northern edge of its traditional range, this is an unusual and exciting encounter for the Cairngorms National Park as a whole.

Just a quick Blog entry today, with three memorable images of wildlife taken in and around the Cairngorms over the past few days...

1. An Osprey at dawn at RSPB Loch Garten from Craig Westlake of Deeside Nature Activities.

2. A Roe Buck misbehaving directly behind the Crown Estate office in Tomintoul.

and perhaps best of all...

3. The rogue White-tailed Sea Eagle over Glenlivet Estate, which amazed a group led by David Newland of Glenlivet Wildlife. Apparently, the bird circled overhead a little too long for comfort, before finally deciding to look elsewhere for lunch.

A long, lonely vigil in a mobile hide on a windswept Highland moor with nothing but the plaintive birdsong of the night for company through the darkness...if that doesn't exactly fit in with your next plans for an evening out, then indulge me for a moment and read on.

I'd been fortunate enough to book a place on the Glenlivet Wildlife 'Black Grouse Photography' experience, and as my guide David Newland drove away in the Land Rover from the top secret location after erecting the mobile hide, I wondered what was ahead. What I didn't know was that I was about to have one of the most unforgettable experiences of my life.

The action started before dark as with a great 'whoosh' a pair of male Black Grouse flew over the hide and landed no more than five feet in front of me and immediately began to lek. For half an hour I sat enraptured before the cocks disappeared into the darkness.

The next six hours saw me treated to an extraordinary audible feast of Snipe drumming, and the calls of Curlew, Lapwing, Oystercatcher and Red Grouse, before at precisely 3.55am the blackcock returned.

Over the next four hours I took over 900 photographs, with the wonderful dawn light eventually allowing me to do justice to the extraordinary plumage of this endangered but spectacular bird. Knowing that I was able to do so with the grouse blissfully unaware of my presence only added to the thrill, and at one point no less than fifteen blackcock and one greyhen graced the lekking ground. It was a sight that will live with me forever.

A huge thank you to Glenlivet Wildlife and Glenlivet Estate, who have created the conditions for a truly five star wildlife experience.

Another collection of guest photos have been sent to me today which I have to share.
David Bair and his wife Sarah stayed with us recently and managed to capture several stunning wildlife images including a Wheatear, Red Grouse and Dipper.

Though David doesn't say, I'm guessing that the Red Grouse and Wheatear were taken at Lochindorb which has been an amazingly productive site over the past couple of weeks, with other wildlife regularly being seen including Hen Harriers, Merlin, Short-eared Owl and fishing Ospreys. It also appears that the breeding pair of Black-throated Divers have finally decided to settled down at the loch and so are also giving consistently great views.

All the pictures are being entered into our guests photography competition of 2009, with a prize of a holiday for two on offer to the winner. If you've stayed with us this year and have a memorable image then why not send it in?