Merry Christmas!! I would like to wish all my readers a happy and wildlife-filled new year ..
And a big "thank you" to everyone who used , supported and recommended my safari guiding services during 2018......
December 2018 was really changeable weather-wise in this area, with seemingly no two consecutive days the same. Temperatures varied wildly from minus 8c to plus 13c and we experienced warm sun, fog, rain, sleet, hail, ice and snow at some stage during the month, whilst storm Deirdre brought winds in excess of 60mph!
Despite the days being at their shortest now, with only around 7-8 hours of daylight, by 'cherry-picking' the best ones, we still enjoyed some memorable adventures, with plenty of exciting wildlife sightings, and often against dramatic snowy Highland backdrops.
With all our winter-visiting birds now here, full-day local safari bird lists topped-out in the 40's, or more if you include a trip to the nearby Moray Coast, whilst mammal day lists varied between 4 and 7 depending on the time of our start and number of habitats visited, with earlier starts , as usual proving to be best....
I was away down in England visiting relatives and friends for the final third of the month, so my report is a little shorter than usual, and may include some photos from previous Decembers that are representative of 'typical' midwinter sightings.
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| A favourite local upland glen - surprisingly snow-free! |
To give you an idea of what you may realistically hope to see if you are considering a future December visit, I hope the following more detailed information, illustrated with photos taken at sites in and around the Cairngorms National Park and nearby Moray coast by myself, my friends or my safari clients, will help....clicking on the picture enlarges it to full-screen.
Wildlife highlights:
Local speciality/upland bird species seen regularly during the month included:
Black Grouse (at dawn only), Red Grouse, Crested Tit, Dipper, Goldeneye and Golden Eagle, and we also had a few decent sightings of White-Tailed Eagle and Snow Bunting and just a few brief glimpses of Crossbills.
A good variety of seabirds, waders and wildfowl were seen at the Moray Coast, and winter visiting birds were represented by family groups of Whooper Swans and several species of 'grey' Geese, and a few Waxwings, Bramblings and Redpolls were also seen...
Mammals seen regularly during the month included:
Red Deer,
Roe Deer,
Reindeer,
Red Squirrel,
Rabbit,
Mountain Hare (white) and
Mountain Goat, with a few dawn sightings of
Brown Hare and one brief glimpse of a (white)
Stoat.
Whilst a couple of trips to the moray Coast gave good views of both
Common and
Grey Seal...
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| Lekking Black Grouse |
Pre-dawn starts - a relatively user friendly 7am at this time of year - gave us decent views of up to 4 displaying male
Black Grouse on local moorland 'lek' sites, though they did not seem to be quite so 'up for it' or failed to show at all on the milder, wetter or windier mornings, with more birds and more 'action' being seen on the colder dryer days....
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Red Grouse
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By way of contrast, by using my vehicle as a 'mobile hide', our local
Red Grouse were actually surprisingly easy to see and photograph on their favoured upland heather moorlands this month, as many of the cock birds seem to be getting a bit aggressive and territorial, with some seen perching prominently on the few higher points and occasionally even being heard uttering their guttural 'go-back, go back' calls, with their red 'eyebrows' aglow....
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| Crested Tit |
Our local Crested Tits continued to show well at my favourite forest feeding stations, especially soon after dawn, and on the colder days, when they are presumably at their most desperate for food. There are probably only around 1,200 - 1,500 of these charismatic little birds in the whole of the UK, and they are all to be found in the Caledonian forests of Highland Scotland, so you can imagine that many of my safari clients are delighted to see them.
Still in the Caledonian pine forests, I'm afraid Crossbills were once again a bit of a 'bogey-bird', with sightings mainly restricted to snatched glimpses of calling birds flying around the tree tops...though the new year should see a few male birds beginning to sing to attract a mate... so we may stand more of a chance...
Continuing the forest theme, after reasonable success with Capercaillie in October and November, normal service was resumed , and sadly, we did not get lucky with any sightings at all this month...
On the rivers, our local Dippers appear to already be planning ahead for the spring breeding season, with much aggression, singing and displaying being witnessed , especially soon after dawn, and usually near to favoured nesting (and viewing) spots such as bridges....which is very useful , as it gives us much more chance to see and photograph them....
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| Golden Eagle by Steve Nicklin |
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| Common Buzzard |
As I mentioned last month...the short daylight hours, and no breeding season distractions, mean that early to mid-winter is definitely the best time of year for raptor sightings in this area, and this month again proved very fruitful, with my favourite local upland glens providing my safari clients and I with regular sightings, and even the occasional (and rare) photo opportunity, of the much sought after Golden Eagle and White-Tailed Eagle, with views of these magnificent and iconic birds providing great entertainment, numerous 'year ticks' and 'life-ticks' and putting big smiles on many faces....The regular 'raptor back-up cast' of Kestrel, Sparrowhawk, Peregrine, Buzzard , Red Kite, and even the occasional Merlin, Hen Harrier and Rough-Legged Buzzard should not be forgotten though, as all were seen at least once.....
With the Cairngorm Funicular Railway still out of action for major repairs, and the days so short now, I didn't venture up into the mountain-tops myself this month, but for future reference, a few Ptarmigan , now almost totally white, can often be seen, up around the 'snow-line', usually sheltering on the leeward sides of ridges, out of the cold wind.
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| Snow Buntings |
Snow Buntings became easier to see this month, driven down to lower altitude sites by the winter snow and colder weather, with flocks of over 20 of these very attractive birds proving to be very obliging in coming to wild bird seed and giving us some decent photo opportunities...
With most of our local berries now gone, last month;s Waxwing flocks seem to have moved on to pastures new... with just the odd local sighting of small groups, mostly at urban sites...though I did not get to see them myself....
Other good birds seen or reported locally this month included: Brambling, Hawfinch and Redpoll...
Moray coast highlights:
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| Long-Tailed Duck |
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| Golden Plover and flock of Dunlin |
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| Male Eider |
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| Oystercatchers and Knots |
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| Cormorant |
The Moray coast is only about an hours drive north of Aviemore, and my trips to favourite reserves, lochs, bays and harbours gave good views of wintering birds such as Greylag Geese, Pink-Footed Geese, Whooper Swan, Wigeon, Teal, Scaup, Pintail, Bar-Tailed Godwit, Knot, Golden Plover , Grey Plover , Ringed Plover, Purple Sandpiper, Common Scoter, a few Long-Tailed Ducks, and a bird rarely seen on Speyside, a Kingfisher...
December 2018 mammal sightings:
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| Mountain Hare by Steve Nicklin |
Our local Mountain Hares, now they are at their most attractive in their winter-white outfits, were most frequently voted as 'mammal of the day' by my safari clients - many of whom were seeing them for the first time - please note though, that a little rough uphill walking may be required in order to get close enough for photos...
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| Red Deer stags by Steve Nicklin |
Still up in the glens, Red Deer, now mostly back in their same-sex herds, the rut seemingly long forgotten, were seen frequently, though we struggled on some days as some estates were culling the old, injured or unhealthy animals, and the disturbance made them a little more easily spooked than normal...
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| Feral Mountain Goat |
Feral Mountain Goats also frequent our local upland glens, and we managed to see good sized groups of these attractive but very localised animals, and with some of the females looking to be heavily pregnant, we should get to see some cute youngsters soon....
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| Roe Deer |
Roe Deer are probably much more common and widespread than most people realise, but their nervous disposition and crepuscular nature means that unless you visit fairly quiet sites or are about early or late in the day, you can easily miss seeing them...
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| Red Squirrel |
Red Squirrels, being absent from most of the UK now,
always prove popular with my safari clients, especially with those seeing one for the first time, and it is unusual for us not to see at least one whilst out on safari.....
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| Sundown at a beautiful local loch |
Well, another year has flashed by.... and fortunately for me it was one filled with beautiful highland scenery, lots of amazing and memorable wildlife, and happy times spent with lots of friendly and interesting people from all over the world. I hope you have enjoyed reading my safari updates as much as I have whilst experiencing and writing about them.....And I am already looking forward to even more wildlife-filled adventures in 2019...
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| 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, are available for any amount and are valid at any time within a year from date of purchase.... |
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