April 2017 was a very strange month weather-wise in this area! With Aviemore being both the hottest (20c), and coldest (-6c) place in Britain at some point in the month, and with all 4 seasons being experienced seemingly almost daily, I would recommend anyone considering a future April visit to bring a good selection of varied clothing for all conditions!!
The days are lengthening nicely now, with around 14 hours of usable daylight, and although most of the winter visiting birds had departed by mid-month, the influx of migrant birds north into this area throughout the month helped bird species day-lists creep ever higher, with 50+ species not uncommon on a full day local safari, whilst full day mammal species day-lists regularly crept up towards double figures, with early starts providing best results.
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| Dawn at a Cairngorms moorland |
To give you an idea of what you may realistically hope to see if you are planning a future April visit, I hope the following more detailed information, illustrated with photos taken in and around the Cairngorms National park by myself, my friends or my safari clients, will help....clicking on the picture enlarges it to full-screen.
Local speciality and upland bird species seen regularly throughout the month included:
Black Grouse (pre-dawn start required), Red Grouse, Osprey, Ring Ouzel, Slavonian Grebe, Red-Throated Diver, Black-Throated Diver, Goldeneye, and Golden Eagle, with just a couple of brief glimpses of Crossbills. Capercaillie, despite several visits to the RSPB Loch Garten Caper-watch, sadly, proved to be very elusive, and It should also be noted that, due to their very secretive nature at this time , Crested Tit becomes extremely difficult to see during breeding season (April-May), and we struggled to see them throughout the month...
Mammals seen regularly by my safari parties during the month included:
Rabbit, Red Squirrel, Roe Deer, Red Deer, Mountain Goat, Mountain Hare (now a mottled white/ blue-grey) Brown Hare, Bank Vole and Wood Mouse....whilst a couple of excursions 'out of area' also gave us Dolphins and an Otter.....
Wildlife highlights included:
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| Ospreys at their nest by Nigel Wedge |
One of my favourite wildlife moments every year, is the return of our local Ospreys to their nesting sites. These impressive birds of prey always provide great entertainment, with their dashing good looks, aerial acrobatics and plunge diving to catch fish. My favourite local pair were reunited early in the month after a winter apart in West Africa, and were soon seen building up the nest, chasing off intruders and mating frequently and by the end of the month the hen bird appeared to be incubating eggs as the cock bird began to perform all of the fishing duties, whilst she stoically brooded the eggs despite the often wintry weather.
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| Lekking Black Grouse by Steve Nicklin (taken from a hide) |
Dawn ( now around 5am ) visits to local Black Grouse leks continued to delight and amaze my safari clients with as many as 10 blue-black cock birds seen 'performing' in very aggressive fashion, their incredible bubbling and whooshing sounds drifting across the moor, and on a couple of occasions we were very lucky to witness up to 3 hen birds watching the action, and some were even seen mating with their chosen partner - a truly fantastic wildlife spectacle and a great way to start the day!
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| Cock Red Grouse |
Our local moorlands continue to echo with the unusual cackling calls of the cock Red Grouse, many of whom were seen still actively displaying, with red 'eyebrows' aglow, from prominent positions, and from mid-month we saw very few hen birds, suggesting that many may already be incubating eggs.....
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| Ring Ouzel by Nigel Wedge |
Ring Ouzels always prove to be popular with my safari clients, presumably because not many will have seen them, as they tend to breed only in remote upland areas well away from human disturbance, and can be quite tricky to find. We are fortunate in having plenty of suitable habitat for them in this area though, and we were able to get decent views and photographs of both male and female birds on a number of occasions.
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| Slavonian Grebe by Nigel Wedge |
Slavonian ( or horned ) Grebe is not only one of the UK's rarest breeding birds, nesting only in the very North of Scotland, but in summer plumage surely one of our most beautiful, with its chestnut, black and copper toned body, scarlet eyes and amazing golden ear tufts it usually puts a smile on even the most hardcore birders face! .... and we are very fortunate to have a few pairs on local lochs...lucky us!
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| Black-Throated Divers |
Also on our local lochs we were able to obtain a number of decent views of two other very rare and beautifully marked birds in the rather dapper forms of Red Throated Diver and Black Throated Diver. Decent photos of these two species are generally quite difficult to achieve without a hide though, as they usually seem to like to keep a fair distance from humans, but we got lucky on a couple of occasions.....
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| Crested Tit |
In the forests, with the exception of one presumably 'unattached' bird calling and singing early in the month, Crested Tit sightings became very infrequent indeed as they concentrated on nesting, whilst Crossbill views were sadly, again mainly restricted to the usual snatched glimpses of fly-over birds.......
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| Dipper by Steve Nicklin |
Dippers were seen reasonably frequently on local rivers this month, with most sightings being (presumably) male birds, as they appear to be watching over and defending territory near to their favourite nest sites of old bridges.
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| Soaring White-Tailed Eagle |
Though down on mid-winter levels, local bird of prey sightings were again reasonably frequent this month, with Kestrel, Common Buzzard, Sparrowhawk, Red Kite, Peregrine, Goshawk , Golden Eagle and White-Tailed Eagle all seen, with some of these species observed again displaying or carrying nesting materials....and most of our local Ospreys now on their nests.....whilst a day-trip to the Isle of Mull also added male and female Hen Harrier to our list....
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| Snow Bunting |
Although I did not venture up onto the mountain-tops this month, a few decent sightings of Ptarmigan were reported , and the snow down to lower levels lured Snow Buntings to the Cairngorm Ski Centre car parks for a few days, giving us some very welcome photo opportunities.
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| Wheatear |
Other 'good' birds seen or reported locally this month included Bullfinch, Brambling, Redpoll and Greenshank, our first sightings this year of all 3 Hirundines, Willow Warbler, Redshank, Redstart, Wheatear and Common Sandpiper, and the first Cuckoo was heard calling on the 28th...
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| Brambling |
Onto mammals now....
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| Mountain Hare by Steve Nicklin |
Our local Mountain Hares, though they are now in their mainly blue-grey Spring outfits, with just their legs and bellies still pure white, again proved popular with my safari clients, and were often seen to be chasing each other around in a frisky fashion....Being animals of remote upland habitat, they are not easily seen by most UK wildlife-watchers... and were often voted 'mammal of the day'....
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| Red Squirrel |
Though the voting was often a close call, as Red Squirrels, being largely confined to Highland Scotland are always a treat for visitors to see and although forest feeding stations again proved to be our best bet for sightings, we did also manage a few random views of them in more natural surroundings on our forest walks....
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| Red Deer stag |
It's always nice to see Deer too, and early starts and a variety of habitats on the itinerary can give us the best chance of seeing up to four different species, with that iconic upland 'Monarch of the glen' the Red Deer being the most sought-after...
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| Feral Mountain Goats |
The same uplands in this area also have a few Feral Mountain Goats and we were lucky enough to have regular good views of these wild looking creatures, now with well grown youngsters.
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| Brown Hare |
Brown Hares were witnessed 'boxing' and friskily chasing around this month in suitable habitat, though a decent 'action' photo has escaped me so far, I did manage a few static shots...
Dolphins are always high on most peoples mammal wish list when visiting coastal areas, and we are very lucky to have probably the best land based sight in the UK nearby ( about an hour drive from Aviemore ) at Chanonry Point on the Black Isle just north of Inverness. A visit to the Moray Firth at the right stage of the tide on the 19th gave us excellent close up views of these entertaining, charismatic and surprisingly large animals fishing for Salmon, though rather annoyingly, a decent photo eluded me....
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| Otter on the Isle of Mull |
Even more sought-after is a good view of Otter,especially as they are largely nocturnal, and rarely seen on my local inland waters, and my aforementioned trip to the wild and wonderful Isle of Mull on the 22nd came up trumps with a super close-up sighting of one eating a fish on the edge of a loch...
So, to summarise....It is only when I finally find time to sit down and compile my monthly wildlife sightings blog and look back through the photos that I and my safari clients have taken during the month that I really become aware of what a great time I have had, appreciate how lucky I am to live and work in such a wild and beautiful place, and to spend time out and about sharing it with other like-minded wildlife fans, .... and it would appear that April 2017, despite the strangely changeable weather, turned out to be a really excellent and very enjoyable month for wildlife watching in and around the Cairngorms National Park (and beyond!), With the returning summer visiting birds flooding northwards to join our resident species, the days lengthening, flowers (finally!) blooming, stunning scenery and the weather ( generally! ) improving, I can honestly say that I would not want to be anywhere else in the world than here in the majestic Scottish Highlands at this time of year....
If you think you know someone who may enjoy a taste of what I do, why not treat them to a safari gift certificate. They make a thoughtful and imaginative present and are available for any amount in multiples of £10, and are valid at any time within a year from date of purchase....
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| Dawn at Corran Ferry , en route to the Isle of Mull |
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