Wildlife highlights included:
Local speciality bird species seen regularly included: Osprey, Black Grouse, Red Grouse, Ring Ouzel, Crested Tit, Slavonian Grebe, Red-Throated Diver, Black-Throated Diver, Dipper, Goldeneye and Goosander, with just a few sightings of Capercaillie, Crossbill, Merlin and Golden Eagle....
Mammals seen regularly included: Red Squirrel, Red Deer, Roe Deer, Reindeer, Brown Hare, Mountain Hare, Mountain Goat and Rabbit, with a few sightings of Stoat and Bank Vole, and just one dawn encounter with an Otter....
Our local Black Grouse continued to 'lek' throughout the month, though with dawn at around 4:30am, it should be noted that a very early start is needed if you want to see them....though we did have one rather lucky encounter with an unusually confiding bird at around 7am on May 10 on the roadside barrier fairly near to a known lek site... (see pic above)
On our local heather moorlands, the cock Red Grouse continued to show well, and from mid-month we began to see the hen birds with their newly fledged families of up to 9 very cute fluffy youngsters...
Ring Ouzel features on the 'wish-list' of many of my safari clients, probably because they tend to breed in remote, upland areas away from human disturbance and can be quite tricky to find. We are lucky in having plenty of suitable habitat for them in this area, and we managed to get decent views on many occasions... (see pic above)
Crested Tit can be quite a tricky bird to see during the breeding season (April/May), as they pretty much cease calling, instead concentrating on quietly keeping up a regular food supply to, initially the female on the eggs, and then later on, the youngsters...however, I was lucky enough to find an area where we could get some great sightings without disturbing the birds... (see pic above)
Slavonian (or Horned) Grebe is not only one of the UK's rarest breeding birds, but, in summer plumage, surely one of the most beautiful - with its chestnut, black and copper toned body, scarlet eyes and amazing golden crest tufts it is sure to put a smile on most birders faces...and we are fortunate enough to have a few pairs on one or two suitable local lochs....(see pic above)
Both Red-Throated and Black-Throated Divers too, are only really found breeding, and in their dapper summer plumage, on suitable lochs in northern Scotland. Due to their general shyness, most views we get are at a fair distance, but occasionally we get lucky and obtain a closer look.. (see BTD pic above)
Goldeneye too, only breeds in highland Scotland UK wise, and mid-month saw us get our first views of their very cute youngsters out on the lochs...
Goosander too is a breeding bird of northern and upland waters, and although we get to see them regularly up here, many of my safari clients from further south are pleased to get to see them... (see pic above)
Dippers are always popular with my safari clients, and from early in the month we saw the parent birds flying back to their nest with beaks full of insects (see pic above) and from mid-month we got to see the newly fledged youngsters out on the rivers with their parents for the first time this year....
Capercaillie proved very difficult to see this month, and with lekking over by mid April this year, we only managed a couple of brief and quite distant glimpses at the RSPB early morning Caper-watch...
Crossbills too were a bit 'hit and miss', with plenty of brief fly - over glimpses, but very few 'through the scope' opportunities....though fellow local birder Bob Smith did manage to get one particularly good sighting (see his pic above)
Golden Eagle is another iconic Scottish bird which always seems to be on visiting birders 'wish-lists', and we are fortunate to have a number of suitable upland glens nearby, however, with 18+ hours of daylight in which to hunt, the chances of just happening to be in the right place at the right time to see one are fairly low during the summer months, we did however manage to get a few decent views, particularly earlier in the month...
Merlin is another raptor which you need a bit of luck (or lots of time!) to get to see hunting over it's moorland home, on the 2nd however, we got to see one chasing a Meadow Pipit and then perching on a tree stump (see pic above)
Cuckoo , though not strictly a local speciality, is a bird , that from talking to my safari clients, I get the feeling is becoming much scarcer in much of the southern half of the UK. So if you are struggling to see one, get yourself up here in May, as we still seem to have good numbers....
The mountain top breeding species such as Dotterel, Ptarmigan and Snow Bunting are all probably best looked for in late May, June and July, when the weather is calmer and the paths less icy and snowy, and although I have not been up for them myself yet, a number of my safari clients reported seeing them on local peaks....
Mammals, especially local speciality species always prove popular with my safari clients, so I make no apologies for including a few pics below of some we saw this month....
So to summarise, May was another excellent month for wildlife watching in this area, and is probably THE month to visit if you are wanting to see a good cross-section and maximum number of both Highland and more common bird and mammal species in a large variety of very different habitats, in (usually) good weather conditions. I certainly enjoyed looking through my reports and photos whilst compiling this update, and I hope you enjoyed reading it too....
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