Scottish birding holiday - January 2025

Day 4

Today, our last, was again very mild but mostly overcast though the light was good. 

The day started with a scenic drive to the little-known and unpronounceable Creag Meagaidh national nature reserve in the heart of the equally unpronounceable Monadhliath mountains. 

In summer, this is home to nesting dotterel, but our quest was for golden eagles which are known to be present all-year. 

In our two hours there, the walk could scarcely have been more enjoyable given the enchanting setting and the thin mist above the peaks and crags. 

For some, there was a magnificent view of a red deer stag, and for others an otter was a highlight. 

Coal, blue and great tits were plentiful as were chaffinches.

There was also a noisy and flighty flock of grey lag geese, plus another of c 30 fieldfares and redwings, mostly the former. 

Also recorded were a jay, a mistle thrush, siskins and, high in the sky, wheeling ravens and a few buzzards. But golden eagles. No.  Alas, must remain a species for another day. 

On the drive back to the hotel, some alighted at the village of Newtonmore, ancestral home of the MacPherson  clan and wildcats.

They then walked along a footpath back to Kingussie and our base, the Duke of Gordon hotel. 

Later, in the couple of hours that remained before dusk, some took a further one-mile walk along the length of the village and beyond to the mound where, reputedly, two vengeful witches were buried.

Folklore has it that there is a curse on anyone who sets foot on it. Oh dear!

 It was hard not to think of this  as we marvelled at the expansive view over the River Spey, the flood plain that is Insh marshes and the glorious mountains beyond.

Day 3 

Today’s excursion was to Cairngorm Mountain - for some to admire the views, for others to seek out one of those enigmatic birds of the Highlands, the ptarmigan. 

The weather was remarkably benign. Bright, breezy and warm. 

But maybe the  mild conditions worked to our disadvantage. One of our group had a sighting of a white mountain hare, but despite numerous, intensive scans by ‘scope and ‘nockies’, ptarmigan were nowhere to be seen.

 Earlier in the month when when temperatures were freezing and snow lay deep, word was they had ventured as low as the car park. But snow was absent and maybe they had moved to higher and inaccessible peaks. 

Curiously,  nor were any red grouse to been seen, though ravens occasionally passed overhead in twos or threes. 

However, some consolation for our ptarmigan dip came  shortly before our departure with superb close-up views of five or six very confiding snow buntings on the edge of the car park. 

These were significantly whiter birds than those seen in winter on the Lincolnshire Coast, and many of the Cairngorm birds are thought to be all-year residents. Some birders even suggest that they may even be a separate species in their own right. 

Before reaching we stopped for an hour at Glenmore Forest Park and separated into two groups.

The larger one caught up with goldeneye, tufted duck and goosander on nearby Loch Morlich - plus siskins, redpolls and crossbills overhead. The smaller party had a lower species count, with coal tits, chaffinches, goldcrests, a single treecreeper and a narrow miss with a crested tit which was heard close-up but, alas, not seen.

 Rewind the day to just before daybreak when one or two of our more determined party members were rewarded with pre-breakfast records of tawny and barn owl. 

 Day 2

At 8am, just as dawn was breaking, a dipper was singing lustily on Gynack Burn which runs past the hotel. We had several close-up sightings of this jaunty species during the morning.

Weather was remarkably mild all day with plenty of sunshine. 

By noon, hen harrier, stonechat, redpoll, siskin, shoveler, whooper swan ( 16), wigeon, heron, shelduck, grey lag goose, great white egret, raven, great spotted woodpecker and, very distantly , two w-t eagles plus more species had been recorded - mostly on our three-mile sortie (on foot) to the RSPB’s Insh Marshes wetland reserve where a viewing platform provides an excellent vantage point. 

Apart from blackbirds, thrush species seem thin on the ground and chaffinches have been far fewer than on our May visits. 

This afternoon, parties of long-tailed tits were conspicuous in birch woodland behind the hotel and in trees alongside burn. Bullfinches were also seen.

 There were also four r-l partridge showing well in a horse field 250 metres from hotel. 

Shortly before sunset, a sighting of crossbills (10) provided a further boost to our Highlands list. 

Buzzards are the most common raptor while jackdaw and carrion crow are the most common corvids. Wood pigeons are also common, and collared doves are not infrequently to be seen. 

Plenty of rabbits on the grassland and a red squirrel has been scuttling between house gardens behind the park which sits next to the totem. 
 

Day 1 


Reached hotel at just after 6pm so very long journey.

  A few fields had lapwings and golden plover, but corvids, wood pigeons, starlings and gulls were the commonest bird.

 Buzzards were occasionally seen, and there were at least two sightings of red kite. 

The lunchtime break at Moffatt added nuthatch (calling), dipper, chaffinch, blue tit, great tit and a few more to the list, but the highlights were two overhead skeins of p-f geese and a feeding great white egret. 

Weather was mild with plenty of sunny intervals, though it became misty as we passed Glasgow.

Hello Jim
Sorry I couldn't reply and say thank you about sorting my double posting before I went away as forum wasn't there when I logged in - all fine now so I can only think someone may have been working on website.
Hope the trip goes well. Norfolk was fairly good _ I missed several birds I usually get there but still great light most of the time and friendly birders.
Jacquie

From today's Press