Full-day bird lists averaged 25-35 species, whilst mammal species day-lists varied between 5 and 9 depending on the time we started and number of venues visited.
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| Panoramic shot of a local loch and the Cairngorm Mountains |
To give you an idea of what you may realistically hope to see if you are planning a future January visit, I hope the following more detailed information will help....
Local/upland speciality bird species seen regularly on my safaris this month included:
Dipper, Crested Tit, Black Grouse (dawn only), Red Grouse, Snow Bunting and Golden Eagle, with just a few welcome sightings of Hen Harrier and Crossbills ...
Mammals seen regularly by my safari parties during the month included:
Rabbit, Red Squirrel, Roe Deer, Red Deer, Reindeer, Mountain Goat, and Mountain Hare (now fully white) with just a couple of sightings of Brown Hare and Stoat and one solitary glimpse of a Weasel! Whilst a day-trip to the sunny Moray coast to escape poor weather on Speyside on the 23rd gave me good views of Seals...
Rabbit, Red Squirrel, Roe Deer, Red Deer, Reindeer, Mountain Goat, and Mountain Hare (now fully white) with just a couple of sightings of Brown Hare and Stoat and one solitary glimpse of a Weasel! Whilst a day-trip to the sunny Moray coast to escape poor weather on Speyside on the 23rd gave me good views of Seals...
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| Dipper |
Our Dippers continued to entertain on local rivers, with their rarely-heard rippling warble of a song being projected proudly from a prominent rock soon after dawn as they proclaim their ownership of the territory and attempt to attract a mate.....we also saw them walk underwater and emerge a few seconds later with food.. seeing them immerse themselves like that at this coldest time of year still impresses me!!
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| Crested Tit by safari client Sandra Morrish |
Forest feeding stations perform two important roles when the weather turns really wintry - feeding the hungry and desperate forest birds, and giving us the chance to see them really close, and even hand-feed some of them! As well as the more common species, we are also lucky enough to regularly see Crested Tits too - these very localised and sought-after Caledonian forest specialities giving many of my safari clients a 'life-tick' , and putting a smile on many a face....
The same forest sites also gave us our few brief views of Crossbills, though once again, they proved frustratingly mobile.....
Cold weather also drives other scarcer species such as Reed Bunting Brambling, Yellowhammer, Bullfinch and Redpolls to visit feeding stations, and it is not uncommon for me to record all these species in and around this area in midwinter ......
Our local Blackcock continued to provide our dawn entertainment, with as many as 9 of these increasingly rare birds seen displaying in spectacular style at traditional 'lek' sites on remote moorlands, often on snow - a splendid reward for an early start, and a great way to start the day!
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| Red Grouse (female) |
Our local Red Grouse seemed to react to the colder weather, their lack of camouflage on the snow, and the increased threat from predators on the heather moorlands by grouping up into 'mega-flocks' of up to 60 birds - so although we could go a while without seeing any as we crept slowly along remote tracks using my vehicle as a mobile 'hide', when we did find them , we often found lots!! Though on the milder days, the groups disbanded, and we saw the first real 'territorial' behaviour from the cock birds..
Though Snow Buntings can often be seen in coastal areas at this time of year, I think it is even nicer to see them against a snowy upland backdrop more befitting their name.... and we were fortunate to see them several times this month.. including one flock of over 30 birds on the 16th....
Golden Eagle is another rare, iconic, localised and much sought-after bird in the UK, and as I have mentioned before, the short days of the winter months give us our best chance of seeing them. January 2016 continued this trend, and we were lucky enough to enjoy a number of good sightings of these majestic birds hunting in upland glens... with the Ravens and Buzzards that often harassed them, looking really quite small alongside these 'kings of the skies' !
Whilst on the subject of Eagles, I am aware of a number of recent sightings of White-Tailed Eagle on my local patch, though rather frustratingly, I was not lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time to connect with them this month.....
Still on raptors... we had a couple of nice sightings of Hen Harrier (both ring-tailed females) hunting low over heather moorlands this month, along with numerous sightings of Common Buzzard, Kestrel and Red Kite, and just a few glimpses of Barn Owl, Goshawk, Peregrine and Sparrowhawk ....
Although I am not a massive fan myself... gull enthusiasts may be interested to know that we have had two northern specialities, namely Glaucous and Iceland Gulls showing well on flooded fields locally this month....
With many of our local lochs frozen over, these same flooded riverside fields also gave us good views of family groups of winter visiting Whooper Swans and large flocks of Greylag Geese....
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| Male and female Eider |
As I mentioned briefly in my mammal summary earlier, a day-trip exploring the quaint fishing villages along the nearby Moray coast on the 23rd also gave me my first views this year of coastal/seabirds such as Turnstone, Redshank, Long-Tailed Duck, and one of my favourites, The Eider....though a hoped-for sighting of a Little Auk escaped me......
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| Colourful fishing boats in Burghead harbour |
Onto mammals now.....
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| Mountain Hare sheltering in it's 'form' |
Mountain Hares, being absent from most of the UK are always popular with my safari clients, and we did particularly well with them this month, with some super close-up views and photo opportunities ... though it should be noted that you do sometimes have to trek a little way up steep mountainsides in wintry conditions to achieve this.....
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| Red Deer stag |
It can be the same story with Red Deer, who are most frequently seen on the high ridges of upland glens...though when the weather turns really wild, they can sometimes be found sheltering in the forests at the foot of the hills...
The same upland sites also gave us regular good sightings of feral Mountain Goats .. with many of the females looking to be heavily pregnant.... expect some aaaahh! pics of their cute youngsters soon...
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| Red Squirrel |
In the forests, especially in winter, our Red Squirrels can usually be relied upon to take advantage of well stocked feeding stations, especially soon after dawn, often competing with the 'Cresties' for our attention and camera viewfinders!!
Roe Deer are seen frequently soon after first light on my safaris, but are generally very elusive during the remaining daylight hours....I guess their timid nature means that they feel safer under the cover of darkness....
Our local Reindeer however, are far from timid, and although they are free to roam far and wide, they can often be seen on and around the lower slopes of Cairngorm Mountain...occasionally even being found licking the salt from the heavily treated 'ski road'.....
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| Seals on the Moray coast |
Seals do not often feature on my sightings blog, but the aforementioned Moray coast adventure on the 23rd gave me great close-up views of them, that is until an inconsiderate dog-walker let her dog scare them off of their haul-out spot..... grrrrrrr!!!
So, despite the very changeable and occasionally extreme winter weather conditions this month, we seem to have got 2016 off to a good start, with some enjoyable and exhilarating days out and plenty of memorable wildlife sightings, and all in some amazing 'winter wonderland' scenery.......so as the recent Land Rover TV advert suggests... hibernate? ...no... hibernot!!
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| Another snowy mountain adventure..... |
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