The last part of our Scottish trip involved another hunt for Golden Eagles and other raptors at Dalnahaitnach, the only luck was this very very distant view of a Goss Hawk high way above us.
On the ground a Mistle Thrush.
Siskin
On another day out, Yellowhammers.
Red Squirrel.
Another thing we don't see at home, Tree Sparrows.
A little way outside Grantown, a very distant view of another Black Grouse Lek.
Singing to us while we watched the Lek, a Willow Warbler
Near the Cairngorms Mountain Centre car park, a Red Pole, there was was a lot of discussion on the trip about varieties of Red Pole and are Lesser, Mealy and Common all the different types of the same species. We were looking for Ring Ouzels but only glimpsed one flying away from us.
A walk from the hotel along the River Spey.
Blackcap.
Male Goosander.
Which then took off and instead of the usual flight straight away from us came straight towards us.
Across the river, a Common Sandpiper.
A dipper going back and forth to a nest on the side of a nearby stone bridge.
An afternoon at Loch an Eilein, lots of Coal Tits, far more than in Suffolk.
Building a nest at ground level in an old tree stump.
Long-tailed Tit.
Back at Loch Garten, the Ospreys photographed through the mesh viewing portals. It needed a lot of post production editing to bring them up this clear.
Picture taken of the Osprey from the visitor centre monitor.
White-tailed Eagle with young, this monitor wasn't as high a resolution as the Osprey one.
Goss Hawk sitting on an old nest, even lower resolution monitor.
An afternoon at Lochindorb.
Male Red Grouse.
Female Red Grouse.
Common Sandpiper.
Red Poll posing beautifully.
This Black-throated Diver popped up back where we had left the car and drifted a bit further out into the Loch by the time we got back to it, plus we were looking into the sun.
On the moors by the Loch was a colony of Common Gulls.
While watching the Common Gulls somebody turned round and noticed this Mountain Hare quite close behind us, sadly with a couple of ticks on it's head.
Heading back to the hotel this Wheatear popped up.
The next day it was off on the two day 600 mile drive home after a very enjoyable trip to the Scottish Highlands. We'll definitely be back again.
Hope you all enjoyed the pictures.
Best Wishes,
Trevor
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Regards, Hazel
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
A cracking final post Trevor.
I had to Google 'Dalnahaitnach', it was nagging me and I couldn't grasp why, until I found it on Google Maps, I must have seen it on a signpost on the many times I was driving along the nearby stretch of the A9 when I was up there.
The siskins were quite prevalent whilst I was up that way back in May.
That mesh didn't seem to hamper your Loch Garten osprey photos too much, though like you, I had to do a little editing, but not as much as I would have expected. Did you see the very long/tall feeder outside Loch Garten Visitor Centre?
I've still yet to play around with taking photos from the TV TFT screen, I've been too busy of late.
We, that is my wife and myself, are already planning out next trip up that way.
Mike
Flickr: Peak Rambler
Hi Catlady,
Many thanks, we were very luck with the weather and had no problem with the midges, although we did go in April in the hope of avoiding them.
We had weather like this in the Cairngorms most of the time.
TJS said:Thanks Mike,
You're welcome.
Yes, there was definitely an abundance of siskins when I was up that way back in May.
So long as inflation behaves itself, and fuel prices don't become rocket fuel prices, then it should be all systems go for next year.
Hi Everyone,
Many thanks again for your generous comments on my post.
Here's a selection of scenery shots, all taken on my Smart Phone. They are not taken straight from the phone, they have all been processed in DXO Photolab for dramatic effect.
Unfortunately I haven't had time to identify all the locations.
Heading towards Inverness on the A9.
Beauly Firth
River Spey at Grantown-on-Spey.
Loch Garten
Spey Bay
Lossiemouth.
Burghead.
Insh Marshes, looking the other way.
Lochindorb
Thank you for taking the time to look through these, we will definitely return.
Trevor.