Didn't See You Coming....Ouch!

Shopping day in Campbeltown gave me the usual excuse to disappear for an hour with the camera. Mrs B prefers it this way as apparently the shopping costs much more when I am with her due to the bottles of wine and beer I throw in the trolley....if you can believe that!

Anyway, I headed on my usual route towards Davaar Island in search of some wildlife. At a small inlet I noticed a dozen or so small ducks that I didn't recognise. I pulled into a passing place and spent the next half hour trying to get a decent blip of them, although they kept their distance and were never less than 40 metres away. Once I had a few shots I checked them in the bird book that is always in the car and discovered they were Teal, a bird I have never seen before. Unfortunately because of the distance the images were all a bit grainy. Still the colours on the head and wings are beautiful.

I picked up Mrs B at Tesco and we headed to one of our favourite cafes for lunch where we had gorgeous bacon rolls and home made soup. Just the job for a cold day!

After lunch we headed back to Carradale on a road I now know like the back of my hand. There is always something interesting to see like the Buzzard that took off from the roadside right in front of us with its feathery legs still dangling like a plane's undercarriage before it is lifted.

As we neared Torrisdale doing about 40 mph a Sika Deer jumped from a ditch at the side of the road in front of us. There was only time to swerve slightly before there was an almighty thump and the animal bounced of the front nearside corner of the car. A quick look in the mirror showed the deer staggering to the side of the road. I stopped at a forestry road end expecting to see the corner of the car all mangled, but there was only a large dent in the bumper. I remember the sales pitch for the X-Trail talking about the shock absorbing qualities of the bumpers- well it certainly lived up to their claims! Just grateful we didn't take Mrs B's wee Mini, as we often do, or it could have been a totally different story!

Decided we should go back in case the poor deer was lying injured at the side of the road. However, it was standing amongst the bracken and grass about 15 metres from where it had been struck. It was staring at us in a menacing looking way and wasn't for moving, probably because it was still in shock. I grabbed the camera and as I did so it started to slowly walk away. This was one of the few shots I got when it didn't have its back to me. Hopefully, any injuries it might have are not too serious.

I couldn't help wondering if Bradley Wiggins gave the motorist who collided with him the same menacing look!