Scotland Cairngorms

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Scotland - Cairngorms 2015

Jay

Red Deer [Hind]

Scotland - Nethybridge and the Cairngorms

Robin

Red - legged Partridge

Goosander [Female]

Osprey [Female] with chicks

Yellowhammer [Male]

Great Spotted Woodpecker [Male]

Great Spotted Woodpecker [Juvenile]

Siskin [Juvenile]

Common Toad

Goldeneye [Female]

Common Tern [Summer]

Red Deer [Stags]

Redstart [Male]

Redstart [Female]

Dipper [Juvenile]

Oystercatcher [Family]

Leighton Moss 12th June

We got to Leighton Moss RSPB later in the day after we stopped in one of the services on the M6. We started looking on the feeders but annoyingly missed the Great Spotted Woodpecker. We saw a Male Bullfinch feeding on the seeds. We started to walk down to the Grizedale Hide and on the way we saw Great, Blue, Coal & Marsh Tits feeding on the log with Chaffinches & Blackbirds. At the Grizedale Hide parts of the lake had dried up. There was a family of Greylag Geese walking past in front of the hide and a Red Deer was grazing at the edge of the reed bed. After a while the hind walked out into the open and had a scratch on the tree. A second Hind emerged from the reed bed and walked up alongside.

We briefly looked in the Tim Jackson Hide but not much from there. On the way back to Lillian’s Hide we stopped by the log and saw Great Tits, Blackbirds, Chaffinches & Blue Tits. After Mum & Dad continued to Lillian’s Hide, I was watching a Jay feeding on the log and on the ground. A Great Spotted Woodpecker was seen briefly on top of the log. At Lillian’s Hide we saw a Female Marsh Harrier quartering the marsh. We also had an unexpected bonus of seeing a couple of Otters diving along the edge of the reeds. One of the Otters was being mobbed by some Black - headed Gulls. The Marsh Harriers were also performing well with a couple of food passes. There was a camera on the nest and you could see the chicks eating their food. The adults tended to just drop the food in the nest and the chicks just grabbed it. After leaving the hide we saw a Moth roosting on the handrail, but not sure on the species. After we had our tea we continued to our overnight stop. At the B&B, I saw a Red-legged Partridge perched on a nearby roof before it flew down into the field.

Loch Leven & Loch of the Lowes 13th June

The next leg of our journey was into Scotland over the Forth Road bridge. We made a brief stop at RSPB Loch Leven which was formerly called Vane Farm for a cup of tea. On the feeders were Starlings, Robins, Greenfinch, Goldfinch & the unexpected appearance of Tree Sparrows. We then continued to the Scottish Wildlife Reserve at Loch of the Lowes near Dunkeld. The new Female was called Lassie who spent most of her time on the nest with 3 chicks. Lady, the old Osprey who had been there for about 20 years, didn’t come back this year. We saw the Male bring a fish back to the nest & some nesting material. He accepted the new female eventually & at least the nest was successful this year. I’ll always remember ‘Lady of the Loch’ though. Other wildlife around the loch were Swallows, Great Crested Grebes, Reed Bunting & a Female Goosander. The feeders were not so busy with birds, perhaps some of them were still breeding. However we did see Siskin, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Yellowhammer, Chaffinch, Greenfinch & Robins. Sadly no Red Squirrels on this occasion but hopefully we’ll see some at Nethybridge. At the chalet, while looking out for Pine Marten, Mum was surprised to see a Hedgehog snuffling around under the feeders. First time we had seen one there.

Strathdearn 14th June 2015

At our chalet in Nethybridge, we saw a few birds feeding on the feeders including Blackbirds, Robins, Siskins, Greenfinch, Dunnock, Blue, Great & Coal Tits, Chaffinches and a Great Spotted Woodpecker. We also had a brief first view of the delightful Red Squirrel. Our first port of call was to Abernethy Forest to search for Crossbills, but they just flew over. We saw our first Crested Tit of the year flitting around the top of a Scots Pine. We went to Loch Garten RSPB to have a look at the Ospreys, EJ & Odin, as we were passing through. Sadly the eggs were kicked out of the nest in early May by another Male Osprey and so there were no Chicks this year. However by the entrance we saw a Common Toad and another Crested Tit feeding on the feeders. As there wasn’t any Chicks on the nest, the Ospreys weren’t in view, until just as we were about to leave when Odin returned to the camera tree. Mum bought some Hedgehog food and a bowl in the RSPB shop so she could feed the Hedgehog at the chalet. Meanwhile Dad went down to the loch and was watching a family of Goldeneye. I also saw a Bank Vole briefly below the feeders.

We headed down the Findhorn Valley along Strathdearn and saw quite a lot of Mistle Thrushes. A Common Sandpiper and a family of Dippers were feeding on the river. We saw a Common Tern flying up the river which we hadn’t seen in the valley before. We parked in a lay-by for lunch, where there was a herd of Red Deer, Oystercatcher pair with 3 Chicks, Spotted Flycatcher & a pair of Redstarts. Fantastic! There were also lots of Common Gulls flying around the area. We continued to the end of the road where we saw a probable Golden Eagle soaring around the mountain tops but weren’t sure. I saw a Green - veined White perched in the grass beside the track. We went back along the valley where we had stopped and spotted a Tree Pipit singing on the wire. There were also more Red Deer up on the hill above the road and further along were the Feral Goats that are always in the valley.

We then headed to RSPB Loch Ruthven along the Farr Road and saw a few Red Grouse with Chicks on route. I also spotted a Mountain Hare in one of the ditches on the moor and it sat there for a while before running up the hill. At Strath Nairn was a Wheatear, Brown Hare & a Meadow Pipit feeding a Juvenile. We arrived at RSPB Loch Ruthven to see the Slavonian Grebe which were in the middle of the loch. Also there were 2 Reed Buntings, Willow Warbler & 2 Little Grebes. In the nearby field were Red - legged Partridges & a Lapwing with Chicks which were slightly spooked by nothing but a Brown Hare sharing the same field. On our way back to the chalet a Roe Deer crossed the road near Abernethy Forest and at Loch Garten the Goldeneye sadly only had one duckling left.

Mountain Hare [Summer]

Red Grouse [Chick]

Red Grouse [Female]

Meadow Pipit [Juvenile]

Brown Hare

Lapwing [Female]

Lapwing [Chick]

Red - legged Partridge

Goldeneye [Female] with duckling

Ythan Estuary 15th June 2015

Another morning at Nethybridge and we were woken by a brief visit from a local Red Squirrel. We went to Ythan Estuary at Newbourgh in Aberdeenshire to look for the Male King Eider which had been present there a while. There were loads of Seals, Sandwich, Arctic, Common & Little Terns in the area. We scanned through all the Eiders a couple of times and Dad eventually spotted it fast asleep on the bank. It spent all day resting on the bank and I managed to see it once on the water before it went back onto the bank. A few Dunlin & Ringed Plovers were feeding on the beach. Also saw some Eiders with chicks. A pair of Linnets were perched on the gorse bush. Sadly the King Eider didn’t put in much activity on the day we were there. Still, at least we saw it and a new tick for all of us! On the route back to Nethybridge we spotted a Short - eared Owl flying over Baddoch Hill near Tomintoul. There was four Mountain Hares running about on the moorland and didn’t seem to care about the Owl’s presence. Back at Nethybridge, it was just after 10:30pm that we saw a family of Pine Martens feeding in the garden.

Red Squirrel

Common Seal

Sandwich Tern [Summer]

Common Tern [Summer]

Sandwich Tern [Summer]

Arctic Tern [Summer]

Ringed Plover

Dunlin [Summer]

Common Eider [Male]

Common Eider [Female] with ducklings

King & Common Eider [Males]

King Eider [Male]

Common & Grey Seals

Common Eider [Family]

Pine Martens

Lochindorb 16th June 2015

In Nethybridge this morning we were greeted by 2 Crested Tits in the garden and one of them was perched in the hedge briefly. The Juvenile Great Spotted Woodpecker was feeding on peanuts.We spent a bit of time waiting for the Crested Tits which kept coming back and forth. A Young Roe Deer was feeding on a gorse bush behind the garden. Outside the chalet we saw the Crested Tit perched on top the roof. We travelled over to Lochindorb and our first sighting was a flock of Common Gulls. We saw several more Red Grouse on the moor with Chicks. Down by the loch was a Meadow Pipit and pair of Common Sandpipers flew pass. However the best highlight of the day was a sighting of a Black - throated Divers. Not only were they in close to the bay at times but they also had one Chick as well, which made it even more special. We finished at Loch Morlich and the last sighting was of a family of Goosanders.

Crested Tit

Black - throated Diver [Family]

Siskin [Male]

Common Gull [Summer]

Red Grouse [Male]

Red Grouse [Chick]

Red Grouse [Female]

Black - throated Divers [Summer]

Goosander [Chick]

Goosander [Female] with chick

Meadow Pipit [Adult]

Roe Deer

Strathdearn 18th June 2015

We were woken up this morning at 5.00am by the family of Pine Martens as they chased each other about on the feeders. The weather was rather dull and there were lots of midges so we decided to go to Chanory Point for a chance of Bottle - nosed Dolphins. We first popped along to Strathdearn again and this time we managed to see some more Ring Ouzels. The Male & Female were busy feeding the young with worms on the other side the road. There were also a couple of Red Deer Stags right by the road as well as a Male Wheatear. We got to Chanory Point after the tide was very high and only saw Common Terns & a unknown Diver flying up the Moray Firth. After we were told that the Dolphins were seen at 09:00 in the morning, we headed to look at Udale Bay RSPB. They had recently built new hide overlooking the Moray Firth and I saw Red - breasted Mergansers, Hooded Crow, Black - headed Gull, Herring Gull, Common Gull, Ringed Plover, Curlew, Swallow & Oystercatchers all feeding around the bay as the tide went out. We then headed back to Nethybridge. On the way back we stopped to look for Slavonian Grebe and we managed to see one of the Adults swimming past at close range. It’s always lovely bird to see. One of the Pine Martens turned up again this evening and had a wander around the garden. It even came right up to the front door! Perhaps it wanted to come in away from the midges.

Tomintoul & Glenshee 17th June 2015

The Crested Tit was back on the feeder again this morning. We had a drive to Tomintoul where we saw a few Red Grouse on the way. We were hoping to see some Black Grouse around on the Lecht road but sadly no sign. At Glenshee we decided not to walk up as it was windy. We only saw a Red Grouse from the car park however just the round the corner I spotted a Male Ring Ouzel feeding by the road. We pulled into a lay-by and saw it again very briefly there was also a Wheatear present as well. We headed to Kinniard near Pitclochry & Dunalastair, where in the past we have seen Black Grouse perched in the tree and lekking. But it was a bit late in the year for lekking Black Grouse. Even the rest of Dunalastair was devoid of wildlife exept for a Roe Deer Doe with two newborn kids. When we stayed there a few years ago, we saw lots of wildlife. We even saw a Male Hen Harrier from the cottage. It does make you wonder where they have all gone. Afterwards we to the chipshop at Kingussie and then back to Nethybridge. When we got back, Stewart told us that the Pine Marten family had been back in the daylight, about 19.00pm and he showed us the signs that they had left. About half hour or so later, the Martens came back for a quick drink and feed before disappearing into the forest, followed by the Hedgehog. It was quite funny as it looked like the Hedgehog was chasing them!

Ring Ouzel [Male]

Roe Deer [Doe with 2 calves]

Pine Marten

Red Deer [Stag]

Common Sandpiper

Brown Hare

Lapwing

Common Tern [Summer]

Swallow

Red - breasted Merganser [Male]

Slavonian Grebe [Summer]

Pine Marten

Loch Morlich & Cairngorm 19th June 2015

We stayed local today and saw a pair of Short - eared Owls hunting over the moor. We popped into Loch Morlich for a quick look and unexpectedly a pair of Red - throated Divers were swimming quite close to the shore, even though the beach was full of people and dogs. I quickly got out for a look and a few pictures, but they gradually drifted further out into the middle of the loch. We then went up to Cairngorm to look for more Ring Ouzels and we were not disappointed, as we saw a pair around by the carpark. We never got to go up Cairngorm to look for Ptarmigan and Dotterell as it had either been too windy or too misty. Today it was very cloudy on top and really cold in the carpark, so the temperature on top must have been freezing! We quickly popped back to Loch Morlich for a quick look at the Divers but they were still rather distant. That was it from Speyside this year, hope wildlife on Mull will be even better!

Red - throated Diver [Summer]

Ring Ouzels

Nethybridge 20th June 2015

Our last day in Speyside was a visit from a Male Bullfinch at one feeders in the garden with other regulars. The Red Squirrel also made a few brief appearances. We then headed south to Oban via Loch Insh. We only saw one Osprey perched in the tree. We arrived at Oban in plenty of time to catch the 18:00 ferry to Craignure. On the way to Mull saw Kittiwakes & Gannets on the sea. After arrival on Mull we headed straight to the cottage at Pennyghael.

Red Squirrel

Coal Tit [Juvenile]

Bullfinch [Male]

Loch Morlich with the Cairngorm Mountains in the background

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