February 2012 started cold with a little light snow & some sharp frosts , but soon became milder & less wintry, and actually ended with near -record high temperatures for February!All this almost spring-like weather made life much easier for me as a safari guide than the previous two winters, with us able to access all the best wild, remote areas in search of wildlife. The days are growing longer now, with almost 12 hours of daylight, winter is nearly over.....Bird day-lists increased into the mid-upper 30's , while mammal day-lists were steady at 5-9.

Wildlife highlights included:

Most of our 'local speciality' species continued to show frequently - with Dippers, Crested Tits, Crossbills, Black Grouse, Red Grouse, Capercaillie, Goldeneye, Whooper Swan, Golden Eagle, Red Squirrel, Red Deer, Mountain Goat, Mountain Hare etc all being enjoyed by my safari guests, along with many other more common species.

Our winter visitor bird species remained in the area, with Whooper Swans, several species of 'grey' Geese & wildfowl all frequenting local lochs & rivers...


Otters! We were fortunate enough to have several sightings at dawn of not just the more usual lone Otter, but on 2 occasions a family group of 1 adult & 2 youngsters. A magic start to the day!!

Our local 'rogue' male Capercaillie continued to entertain, with with him still occasionally putting on an occasional lekking display! - still several weeks ahead of their more usual breeding season - surely one of British nature's 'must-see' events?

Our local Dippers continued to sing & display at dawn on the rivers, with much male-female interaction and we witnessed possible nest-building occurring under bridges.

Male Black Grouse were noted at or near to traditional 'lek' sites, though not yet in the numbers of previous years at this time....

Male Red Grouse however, seem to be doing very well on the moors, with good numbers seen posturing aggressively at rivals.

Crested Tits continued to delight my customers at forest feeding stations, especially photographers, who took the rare opportunity to get good close-up shots of this rare & 'flitty' species....

Several species of raptor were seen displaying & heard calling in upland glens, with Buzzards, Peregrines & Golden Eagle all noted, along with the accompanying Ravens!

With the weather being reasonably kind, mountain-top species such as Ptarmigan & Mountain Hare (see pic) were easier to see than normal at this time of year, though it should be noted that a fair amount of physical effort & stealth is still required......

The last week of the month saw waders returning to our area from their coastal wintering grounds, with lapwings & a few Oystercatchers being the earliest arrivals....

To summarise, it really does feel like winter is almost over (early for this area!!) & that spring may be just around the corner....

January 2012 was generally unseasonably mild with just a few frosts, and only the odd, light dusting of snow. This was great news for me, as a wildlife guide, allowing me to take my guests to most of the wild, remote areas that had been inaccessible for most of the last two winters! The days are growing noticeably longer now too, and dawn birdsong seems to be increasing, and though winter is most definitely not over yet, maybe the end of it is in sight......
Bird day-lists remained in the low 30's, and mammal lists were between 5 and 8 depending on our luck.

Wildlife highlights included:

Most of our resident 'local specialities' such as Dipper, Crested Tit, Red Grouse, Black Grouse, Golden Eagle, Red Deer, Red Squirrel, Mountain Hare, Mountain Goat etc continued to be seen regularly, putting big smiles on my safari clients faces, as most of them are from areas where these species are not found. Crossbills, however, proved very elusive for some reason, with just a few heard flying....

Unusually for January, we were lucky to enjoy great views of a male Capercaillie in a secluded forest location, who actually began to display - fully 2 months ahead of their 'usual' lekking time!! An amazing sight!(see pic)

Crested Tits were regular visitors to a baited site in a local forest, giving great close-range views and providing good photo opportunities for this charismatic and usually very elusive little bird...

The same site also gave us super views of Red Squirrels, with up to 4 being present at once on occasions, their constant squabbling, fighting & chasing around proving very entertaining.

Record numbers of Whooper Swans & winter Geese were reported at the nearby Insh Marshes RSPB reserve, along with many other winter wildlfowl and regular Hen Harrier sightings.

Male Red Grouse were seen to be getting noticeably more showy & aggressive (& noisy!) on the heather moorland, making them easier to spot - though the local Black Grouse do not seem to have started 'revving up' for Spring quite so much yet, with just a few brief views.

White Mountain Hare proved to be a popular addition to our mammal day-lists, with them scoring high points for cuteness as well as relative rarity.

Another winter-white mammal in these parts is the Stoat, and we were lucky enough to get several brief glimpses of them feeding on road-kill rabbits.

Our local Dippers continued to entertain, with their dawn courtship songs & displays adding even more enjoyment to watching the sun rise over the mountains and illuminate their river home - magic!

Golden Eagle was seen on several occasions in upland glens, with windier days proving better than still days.

Evening Pine Marten watches proved popular at my local baited site, with us having a 75% sightings success rate, though with the days getting longer now, their visits are getting later.

A Merry Christmas & a wildlife-tastic New Year to all our readers!
December 2011 started unseasonably mild, only to rapidly turn very wintry, with gales first, then floods, followed by snow & sub-zero temperatures. The days are very short now, with less than 8 hours daylight, but there is still plenty to see. Bird day-lists remained in the 30's or 40's, with mammal day-lists steady at 5-9 species depending on our luck.

Wildlife highlights included:

Winter-white specialities: Our local Ptarmigan & Mountain Hares are now resplendent in their thick pure white coats, though opportunities to see them are restricted to days with reasonable weather due to their upland & mountainside home territory.

Local speciality species such as Dipper, Goldeneye, Red Grouse, Black Grouse, Crested Tit, Crossbill, Red Squirrel, Red Deer, Mountain Goat, Mountain Hare etc all continued to show regularly.

Our local Dippers continued to display & sing loudly at dawn, with the need to establish a territory & find a mate well underway.

Black Grouse numbers at or near traditional 'lek' sites continued to increase, with the cock birds becoming noticeably more vocal & aggressive as the countdown to breeding season begins.

The cock Red Grouse on the moors too are starting to become more obvious, with much calling & displaying going on.

Crested Tits are still best seen at forest feeding stations, as natural food becomes more elusive, giving us the opportunity to see & photograph them at close range..

Golden Eagles continued to show in secluded upland glens, with the shorter days giving less time to feed , winter is definitely the best time for raptor-watching in this area.


The colder, snowier weather usually brings a few rarer birds into well stocked garden feeding stations, and I was lucky enough to tempt a Brambling into mine, with locals also reporting Yellowhammers & Redpolls.

Mixed flocks of Finches & Buntings on farmland continued to grow, with some flocks having upwards of 300 birds of many different species.

Coastal birding is often a good substitute if our upland areas are inaccessible due to bad weather, with attractions such as King Eider , Iceland Gull & Glaucous Gull along with the more common species.

A few Waxwings were reported , but not in anything like the numbers of last year's 'invasion'.

November 2011 was mainly unusually mild & pleasantly autumnal, but turned more wintry as the month went on, with high winds, heavy rain & floods, and then snow on the hills at the end - but still very acceptable , in comparison with the last two winters.........though the days are very short now, with less hours of daylight then there is darkness.
Incoming winter visiting birds kept our day-lists up into the 40's , whilst mammal day-list varied between 4-8 species.

Wildlife highlights included:

The Red Deer 'rut' continued well into November this year, probably due to the mild weather, though it was pretty much over by mid-month,with territories & mating rights established, and the hillsides are now a much quieter, safer, place!

The numbers of (distracted?) Red Deer on the hillsides proved irresistible to one particular Golden Eagle - which I managed to film actually attacking a good sized hind, chasing it at speed down a steep slope, presumably in an attempt to harry it into falling to it's death or serious injury - amazing stuff!

In fact, raptors in general are much easier to see in winter, with the days growing shorter, they have very limited hunting time, so a visit to suitable habitats usually brings results with a bit of patience...with Buzzards, Kestrels, Sparrowhawks & Peregrine Falcons all seen regularly.....even White-Tailed Sea Eagles were seen in one beautiful upland glen, well away from their more usual coastal haunts...

Spawning Salmon - as seen on the BBC's Autumnwatch programme, were very evident in the shallow, wild upper reaches of our local rivers - with much leaping, splashing and fighting for position viewed from incredibly close range - a super wildlife spectacle!

Our local Otters were not going to pass up the food bonanza provided by the (distracted!) spawning Salmon, and on two occasions at dawn, we were able to witness
Otters successfully taking pretty large Salmon from the spawning grounds - a great start to a safari!

Pine Marten were regular visitors to my baited site after dark - allowing me to show a number of very happy customers this very rare & elusive species for the first time - often at very close range - with their visiting times getting progressively earlier as the days grow shorter.

Geese were a big attraction this month, with us seeing some of the rarer species for this area, such as Bean & White-Fronted, alongside the more regularly seen Barnacle & Greylag.

Large flocks of Redwings & Fieldfares were seen , particularly after Northerly winds, so these were presumably visitors from colder climes....

Crested Tits were seen regularly at forest feeding stations, giving good close range photo opportunities (see pic), along with dozens of Coal Tits, that are now so used to me, I can hand feed them with up to 3 on each hand at a time - a lovely interaction with nature!

Dippers continued to sing & perform well at dawn - some of my safari customers had seen Dippers before , & heard their distinctive 'zit' 'zit' calls, but none had ever heard their quite attractive, squeaky, scratchy song - often accompanied by a magnificent orange-pink sun rising over the River Spey - nice!

Mountainside species such as Ptarmigan & Mountain Hare were seen more frequently at lower levels as the tops became more snowy, and both were noted to be rapidly gaining their thicker, white winter coats.

Black Grouse numbers were seen to be increasing at or near traditional 'lek' sites, with up to 6 males being noted on some colder mornings.

The cock Red Grouse were also getting notably more showy & aggressive on the moors, as they start to try & establish territories ready for the breeding season.

The mixed Finch & Bunting flocks were seen to grow even larger on local farmland, with Bramblings now included in their ranks

Waxwings were also reported to be trickling into our area from the North & East, though not in the huge numbers of last year.

October 2011 was a kind of 'back to front' month weather-wise - it started cold with snow on the higher tops, was windy throughout, but ended surprisingly mildly with temperatures into double-figures - very unseasonal! The days are shortening noticeably now though, with almost as much darkness as daylight. Inward bird migration continued apace, with many winter Thrushes joining the early Geese & Wildfowl. Bird day-lists increased slightly into the 40's, whilst mammal day-list remained steady at 6-9 depending on our luck.

Wildlife highlights included:

The Red Deer 'rut' is always one of the highlights of any Autumn, and it is surely one of British nature's 'must-see' spectacles, with the magnificent fully antlered stags (see pic) corralling their 'harems' of hinds, defending them from other 'challengers' with much roaring, posturing & even actually fighting, & repeatedly mating with as many of their 'ladies' as possible - it's wonderfully entertaining , if a little brutal at times, and looks exhausting!.

The winter Thrushes poured in from the North, first the Redwings - usually heard before being seen - their thin 'seep seep' calls alerting us to the presence of the flocks flying overhead, followed a few days later by the Fieldfares. I think the berries on our trees & bushes may disappear very soon.....

Whooper Swans appeared on one of our large local lochs on the 5th, their dawn arrival preceded by their amazing 'trumpeting' calls while the flock of around 20 circled - I think I was the first 'local' to see them this winter, as I happened to be quietly fishing... a magic moment.

A trip into the Caledonian Pine forests at the foot of the Cairngorms gave us an amazing close-up view of 2 young Capercaillie - one male , one female - both just gaining their adult plumage - a rare treat to get a good sighting of arguably Britain's most endangered bird species...

A short afternoon visit to Insh Marshes RSPB reserve provided splendid views of a ring-tail (female)Hen Harrier hunting low over the marshland, and actually having a grab for a Mallard from one of the many shallow pools.

Mid-month, I witnessed some Dipper behaviour that I had never seen before - although I was aware that they start to compete for territory in Autumn - I actually saw 2 Dippers, fighting very aggressively - seemingly trying to drown each other!, on the surface in the middle of a good-sized loch - amazing stuff!

The Pine Marten - one of Britain's rarest & hardest to see mammals - was again a regular after-dark visitor to my baited site, putting smiles on many faces, with his arrival time getting progressively earlier as the days grew shorter.

Black Grouse numbers continued to grow at traditional 'lek' sites , as the Cock birds began their long build-up to the 'lekking' season with a little gentle posturing at dawn, especially on the colder mornings.

The mixed Finch & Bunting flocks on local farmland grew noticeably larger, with some now containing over a hundred birds of at least 6 different species.

September 2011 started with cool, changeable weather, but, rather surprisingly, ended with a very mild & sunny spell, instead of the expected early autumnal frosts, and the days are growing noticeably shorter now.
With the last of the summer visitor bird species departing the area during the month, and just a few of the winter visitors arriving, bird day-list struggled to top 35 - 40 species, while mammal species remained steady at 6-10 depending on our luck.
As mid-late September is one of the 'quieter' times of the year for my safaris, I took some time off to visit relatives & friends down in the south of England, so this report may be a little shorter than normal.

Wildlife highlights included:

Last sightings for this year of summer visitors such as Osprey, Swallow, Wheatear etc - I found myself wishing them good luck on their migration to warmer climes, many as far south as Africa.

Winter visiting bird species began to increase, with good numbers of Greylag Geese & Mistle Thrushes being seen, and the first few Whooper Swans being reported at the end of the month.

Local speciality species still showing well included Dipper, Goldeneye, Goosander, Red Grouse, Black Grouse, Crested Tit & Crossbill, with occasional sightings of Capercaillie & Golden Eagle.

The Red Deer stags became noticeably more aggressive late in the month, with the first 'roaring' being heard, and the dominant males seemed to be assembling their 'harems' of females ready for the forthcoming 'rut'.

Crested Tits were noted to be coming to woodland feeding stations more frequently, especially on cooler mornings.

The mixed woodland flocks continued to grow in size, with some consisting of 100+ birds of 6-8 different species - but can you pick out the Cresties?....it's harder than you might think, and knowing their chuckling trill is a must!

Pine Marten was seen several times after dusk at a baited site, and we are now entering the best time of year in which to see them regularly as the number of dark hours increases.

Rowan trees are at their colourful, vivid red berry-laden best now, and the Thrush species are not slow to exploit this bumper autumn harvest.

A short trip West across to Mull produced great close-up views of 3 different Otters(see pic) and a super sighting of a soaring Golden Eagle along with all the expected seabirds such as Gannet, Guillemot & Black Guillemot etc - great stuff!

My trip south gave me the chance to see many species not seen this far north, and also gave me a 'life-tick' in the form of a very rare (& very pretty) Sabine's Gull- nice!

August 2011 was yet another changeable month weather-wise, with some reasonably warm days earlier in the month, but a distinctly autumnal feel towards the end, with night-time temperatures dropping down into single figure. With migration of our summer visitors out of the area well underway, bird day-lists dropped a little down into the 40's, but mammal day-list figures remained steady at 6-10. Most of our family members & friends choose August to visit us up here, so my wildlife-watching opportunities were a little more limited than I would like,& consequently, this update may be a little shorter than usual.

Wildlife highlights included:

Seeing our local Osprey youngsters learning to fend for themselves. It often surprises my safari guests when I tell them that their Mother & then their Father desert them in August, leaving them to feed themselves, before they too embark on an unaccompanied journey to Africa at the age of just 3 months! amazing stuff!

Family trips to the Moray coast are actually a pretty decent wildlife-watching opportunity, with sightings including Ospreys fishing, Common & Arctic Terns, large flocks of Mergansers & Goosanders, many seaduck & wader species & good views of Yellowhammer (see pic)

Though several of our sought-after summer bird species such as The Divers & Slavonian Grebe, have now left the area, many of our 'local speciality' bird species such as Dipper, Goldeneye, Red Grouse, Crested Tit, Crossbill etc can all still be seen regularly, with occasional sightings of Golden Eagle, Capercaillie & Black Grouse...

Our local mammals continue to put a smile on my safari clients faces, with Red Squirrel, Roe Deer, Red Deer, Reindeer, Brown Hare, Rabbit, Mountain Hare, Mountain Goat, Bank Vole, Stoat, all being seen.

With the nights drawing in now, Pine Marten is back on the agenda, with us having several good after-dark sightings at our baited local site.