Highland Wildlife & Birdwatch Safaris

August 2015 was, yet again, another very 'changeable' month  weather-wise in this area! With seemingly no two consecutive days the same, we did at least have a few proper 'summer' days, though we had lots of autumnal ones, and even an early taste of winter with a few dawn frosts! The days are noticeably shortening now, but we still have 14-15 hours of usable daylight this far north.
With many of our summer visiting bird species departing this area for their wintering areas throughout the month, it was inevitable that bird day-lists would reduce down into the 30's, whilst mammal day lists varied between 5 and 8 species, with earlier starts generally proving more successful. By way of consolation though, August is usually our best month for Butterflies and day-flying moths, and this month followed the trend, with a good variety being seen.
The Highland scenery is extremely picturesque now, with the heather at it's beautiful purple best, the ferns turning coppery gold, a few leaves beginning to 'turn', and the Rowan trees fully laden with brightly coloured berries.

Picturesque lochside view

Wildlife highlights included:

Local speciality bird species seen regularly included:
Dipper, Red Grouse, Crested Tit, Goldeneye and Goosander, whilst Osprey, Slavonian Grebe, Red-Throated Diver, and Black-Throated Diver were all seen regularly early in the month but sightings became noticeably less frequent after mid-month, and we also had a few brief views of Crossbills and just one of Golden Eagle...sadly, Black Grouse and Capercaillie were not seen at all, though that is not unusual at this time of year....

Mammal species seen regularly included:
Red Squirrel, Roe Deer, Red Deer, Reindeer and Rabbit with just a few sightings of Brown Hare, Mountain Hare, Mountain Goat, Stoat and Bank Vole..

Juvenile Osprey

Osprey was again probably  the 'star' bird of the month, at least in the first half anyway, with my safari clients enjoying seeing them roosting around their nest tree, and even plunge-fishing on several occasions, though the adult birds had largely departed on their southerly migration by late month, with mainly juvenile birds remaining in this area....

Adult and juvenile Slavonian Grebe (by Bob Smith)

Slavonian Grebe is, sadly, a very rare and declining species in the UK, with just a few pairs to be found on suitable secluded northern Highland lochs, so it was good to see that one of our local pairs had bred successfully this year.... Though they had largely left the area by the end of the month...

Black-Throated Diver

It was the same story with our local Red-Throated Divers  and Black-Throated Divers, both species of which, I am pleased to say,  were seen to have bred successfully locally, but they too appeared to have largely vacated this area by the end of the month....

Red Grouse

Our local Red Grouse showed well in large family groups on suitable heather moorland early in the month , though not surprisingly, those on 'managed' shooting moors became noticeably more wary of humans after the 'glorious' 12th......

Crested Tit (by Bob Smith)

Crested Tits, as I explained last month, are now in their 'mixed winter flocks' of  6 or more different bird species 'working' through our local Caledonian pine forests... so to see the 'Cresties' you have to first find a flock, then listen out for their distinctive chuckling trill , then try and pick them out as they move annoyingly flittily through the branches - not an easy feat! , but, satisfyingly for me as a guide, we managed it on a good number of occasions, with many of my safari clients obtaining a difficult and  much sought after 'life-tick'... on some of the cooler mornings though, our mission was made much easier when the odd bird visited a local forest feeding station.... 

Although Golden Eagle sightings were frustratingly brief and hard to come by this month, views of White-Tailed Eagles were actually up on previous years'.......and rumours of a successful breeding pair on Speyside have reached my ears.....I will reveal more in future reports...... 

Although I did not venture up myself this month, I understand that Ptarmigan, Dotterel (up until mid-month) and Snow Bunting could all be found on or around Cairngorm summit, though it should be noted that you really do need suitably friendly weather to have a chance of seeing them, and keeping safe.....

Pair of Bullfinches (by Bob Smith)

Other birds of note seen locally included a very nice pair of Bullfinches  at a forest feeding station, several Red Kites over farmland, and a Goshawk hunting over over a remote moorland.....

Onto mammals now....

Red Squirrel (by Bob Smith)

With many of the summer visiting local speciality birds departing this area, mammals became more of a focus on my safaris, and we were fortunate to see a good variety throughout the month. The winner of my guests 'mammal of the day' award was invariably the Red Squirrel - with many of my safari clients getting their first ever sighting of these very endearing and attractive 'Highland speciality' animals.

Roe Deer were seen regularly, especially early in the morning, and often heard 'barking' as they 'rutted' in suitable lowland areas.

Young Red Deer stags

Red Deer showed well in upland glens in large same-sex herds, the stags still all getting on well, with little hint of what is to happen in a few weeks......

Brown Hare (by Bob Smith)

Though Mountain Hares proved pretty elusive, Brown Hares were a little easier to see in suitable habitat...

Onto micro-critters now.....

Dark Green Fritillary (by Bob Smith)

Butterflies , Moths and Dragonflies of many different species showed well on the warmer, less windy days....

Brown-Line Bright-Eye (by Bob Smith)

Black Darter (by Bob Smith)

So August 2015 turned out to be a pretty good month for wildlife-watching in the Cairngorms National Park, with lots of good sightings, many memorable experiences, and the great scenery putting smiles on the faces of my safari clients who were visiting Scotland from all around the world......

Highland heather moorland and loch