Our trip to the Scottish Highlands was based in two locations the first week at the Aigas Field Centre, west of Inverness, and second week was based at the Grant Arms Hotel in Grantown-on-Spey.
On our first night at Aigas we went looking for Beavers on the Loch within the estate grounds and were rewarded with a sighting of two at dusk. One swam across the Loch and up onto the bank and disappeared, the second swam across up onto the bank and stayed feeding until the tight gave out. Initially I thought it was too dark for photography but decided to push the ISO to max and see what I could get.
The next morning, out of the bedroom window, our second ever sighting of a Red Squirrel.
On a walk round the estate, a low flying Buzzard
A Treecreeper set off beautifully by the Lichen.
The next day in Strath Conon we saw four Golden Eagles, these two were the lowest flying of them, although still very high up.
An ancient breed of feral goat.
Many Red Deer.
Slavonian Grebe at Loch Ruthven.
Within the estate grounds there is a hide where we could see Badgers and Pine Martens, lit for night time photography.
Pink Footed Goose on the Moray Firth.
Later out on a boat from Cromarty Firth, a juvenile Guillemot.
A pair of Shags.
A diving Sandwich Tern
A fly past of Long-tailed Ducks, unfortunately shooting into the sun.
Pair of Razorbills.
Kittiwake.
Cormorants, Shags and GBB Gull.
And straight over the top of us, a Gannet.
These are a greatly reduced set of highlights from part of the first week at Aigas, there will be more to follow. Even deleting as I went I still had a few thousand pictures to look through and after being back a month I still haven't gone through all of them.
Best Wishes,
Trevor
Photographs cannot convey Scottish nature and its beauty. I was in Scotland two years ago, and every time I see the photos I took on that trip, I am impressed! A month ago, I visited Germany and the world-famous Schloss Neuschwanstein. It brought back memories of Scotland. How powerful nature is and how insignificant we are before it. The castle stole my heart! I still can't believe that what I saw was true. What a pity that the hands that created the masterpiece have already merged with the earth. Only the immortalized creation remains.