A Happy New Year to all our readers! May you have a wildlife-tastic 2009!
January 2009 started very cold up here with plenty of snow & temperatures down to -11c but got less cold as the month went on, and finished with an unseasonably mild spell, and the days began to grow noticeably longer.
Wildlife highlights included:
Good views of Red Grouse on the moorland - the males already becoming very vocal, their guttural 'go-bak, go-bak' calls livening up the otherwise near-silent moors. (see pic)
Super views of a juvenile Golden Eagle hunting low over heather moorland just before dusk, presumably on the look-out for a Red Grouse or a Mountain Hare, it's white tail-base & wing patches showed up well in the low light as it changed direction.
A dawn encounter with a Stoat in it's beautiful pure white winter coat on the banks of the River Spey. It appeared to be manically searching bankside holes for small mammals.
Good, close up views of Red Deer in a beautiful Highland glen - Winter often gives us our best views of these impressive animals as they get driven down off the hills by bad weather.
Waxwings - several small flocks of these gorgeous winter visitors lingered in our area, with 3 seen just outside my garden on the 24th.
Early signs of Winter's end & Spring's arrival were also evident:
Blackbirds & Thrushes began to join the Robins in a (very weak) dawn chorus.
The first Lapwings were seen alongside the River Spey.
Common Buzzards were seen to be displaying.
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