The first half of June 2023 saw us continue where May left-off weather-wise, with generally warm, dry, sunny and calm weather, and even an official 'heatwave' being recorded! The second half, however, was a little more 'changeable' though still decent, with even some (very welcome) rain showers helping us to keep a potential drought, and the risk of wildfires at bay.
It should be noted though, that it can be pretty cool early in the mornings after a clear night, and we even had a slight ground frost on one occasion early in the month, so bringing layers of clothing is still recommended.
With nearly 20 hours of usable daylight and all of our summer visiting bird species on territory, bird day-lists are usually just below the highest in the year now, with full-day (8-10 hours with starts no earlier than 6am needed) multi-habitat safaris regularly producing over 50 species - many with youngsters - and June is definitely 'fledgling month' up here - so if you enjoy seeing baby birds, this is definitely the month to visit!
The combination of plenty of sun and , later on, occasional rain this month gave the spectacular highland scenery a lush, green, almost spring-like appearance, and helped stop the rivers from drying up, whilst the wild flowers are really starting to bloom now, and a few patches of pink and purple heather began to appear on south-facing banks towards the end of the month.
A few more butterfly and day-flying moth species were noted on the sunnier days, and the Wood Ants nests are now very active...
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| Early Summer in the Cairngorms |
To give you an idea of what you may realistically hope to see if you are considering a future June visit, I hope the following more detailed information, illustrated with photos taken at sites in and around the Cairngorms National Park by myself, my friends or my safari clients this month and in previous June's will help....clicking on the picture enlarges it to full-screen.
Local speciality/upland bird species seen regularly during the month included:
Osprey, Red Grouse, Slavonian Grebe, Red-Throated Diver, Black-Throated Diver, Goldeneye and Dipper, with a few hard-earned sightings of Ring Ouzel, Pied Flycatcher, Wood Warbler, and Crossbills, just a couple of glimpses of Crested Tits and sadly, but not unusually now, Capercaillie was not seen at all, and , as is normal for this time of year, we only managed a couple of brief distant views of Golden Eagle and one of a White-Tailed Eagle....
Mammal species seen regularly included:
Rabbit, Red Squirrel, Red Deer, Roe Deer, Reindeer, and feral Mountain Goat, and we also had a few early-morning sightings of Brown Hare and just one of Mountain Hare
All photographs of wildlife, especially Schedule 1 and other protected bird species were taken at long range with powerful zoom lenses, or from my vehicle on public roads, well away from nest sites, and no disturbance was caused to any wildlife....
June 2023 bird sightings in more detail:
On the lochs...
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| Early summer at a local loch |
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| Osprey |
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| Osprey fish delivery |
Osprey is usually the 'star bird' of the mid-summer months in this area, and that proved to be the case this month, with my safari parties often fortunate enough to see them sat in, on or around their nest, occasionally plunge-diving spectacularly to catch a fish, or delivering a fish on several occasions, and from mid month we started to see the rapidly growing 'downy' youngsters heads popping up in the nests whilst being fed by their parents, for the first time this year....a marvelous and heart-warming sight!
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| Slavonian Grebe with youngster |
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| Adult Slavonian Grebe by Steve Plant |
Slavonian Grebes, in their beautiful summer plumage, were seen and enjoyed from a safe, legal and respectable distance, on their favoured quiet lochans, the males frequently observed delivering food to the female birds on their nests hidden deep in the sedge beds , and we were delighted to confirm much-needed breeding success for this (UK-wise) rare and threatened species, when we got to see the incredibly cute humbug-striped youngsters early in the month...though as we know from last year, they are not totally safe from predation yet.....
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| Black-Throated Diver by Stephen Plant |
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| Black-Throated Diver |
Black-Throated Divers in their strikingly beautiful summer plumage, were seen reasonably regularly on suitable secluded local lochs, though they were not totally reliable, and it should be noted that generally we had our best views on calmer days, with little or no ripple on the water, and usually had the closest encounters early in the day, when human disturbance was it it's lowest...and thankfully we were able to confirm local breeding success when one pair were spotted with 2 cute grey chicks early in the month...
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| Red-Throated Diver |
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| Red-Throated Diver by Stephen Plant |
Red-Throated Divers, however, proved to be a bit elusive this month, with just a couple of fairly distant views achieved, and no evidence of any local breeding success confirmed yet...
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| Female Goldeneye with young |
Goldeneye too are a 'local speciality' breeding bird, with Highland Scotland their only UK breeding area, and our local nest boxes proving popular, we enjoyed good views of families of these very attractive little ducks throughout the month.
Up on the moors....
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| A local upland heather moorland |
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| Male Red Grouse with youngster |
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| Female Red Grouse |
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| Male Red Grouse by Stephen Plant |
Red Grouse were not too difficult to find in suitable areas of heather moorland, despite their impressive camouflage, and if you could spot the heads of the adults popping up like periscopes above the dense heather, waited patiently, and looked carefully, you then usually got to see their brood of very cute, fast-growing youngsters too...
In the Caledonian forests...
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| Ancient Caledonian Forest |
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| Crested Tit by Byron Taylor - Photo from June 2017 |
Crested Tit (finally!!!) became a little less difficult to see on our Caledonian forest walks, though they could still not be described as 'easy', as the recently-fledged youngsters learned to forage for food with their parents in family groups, but please be aware that they are extremely 'flitty', rarely sitting still for photo opportunities, often only alerting us to their presence in the Caledonian pine forests with their distinctive rippling trills.... and you need to be able to hear and recognise this to have a decent chance....don't worry, I will use the apps on my ipad and mobile phone to train you up!!
As I have mentioned previously, it is well worth noting that the colder winter months (October-Feb), when they regularly visit feeding stations, are actually the best time of year for seeing the 'wee Cresties', as these characterful little birds can be frustratingly secretive, unobtrusive and almost silent during the breeding season, with sightings being much more difficult to obtain between March and September....
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| Male Crossbill - Photo from June 2016 |
The same could definitely be said of Crossbills, usually one of the more tricky species to see well regularly due to their unpredictable 'irruptive' behaviour, but by listening out for their trademark 'jip jip' calls and for falling pine cones....although most of our sighting were still of the frustrating fly-over variety, we actually got lucky and managed decent sightings on a couple of occasions this month, though a decent photo escaped me...
I was all set to write the usual, "sadly, we failed to manage any sightings of Capercaillie this month"... until the 27th, when during a mid-morning forest walk in Caledonian forest in search of Crossbills, an adult female Capercaillie walked slowly across the track about 50m ahead of us... followed by not 1. not 2, not 3, but 4 chicks!!! An amazingly lucky moment for us, and great news for this iconic but threatened Highland species.....
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| Capercaillie chick |
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| Capercaillie pooh |
Please note: In order to help protect them and keep sensitive sites 'off the radar', I no longer take clients on specific Capercaillie-hunting missions, and although we do visit suitable areas of forest, I would only rate our chances of seeing one on my safaris as "very slim" at best, and during 'lekking' and breeding season, I will be 'responsible' by staying out of 'sensitive' areas at dawn between April and July to allow this now very rare and elusive bird to (hopefully) lek and breed in peace....
In the birch woods:
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| A local birch woodland |
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| Singing Wood Warbler |
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| Male Pied Flycatcher |
Although Wood Warbler and Pied Flycatcher are more commonly found in the ancient Atlantic oak woods on the west coast of the UK, we are usually fortunate to get a few in our local birch woods from May-August, and although they are much more difficult to spot now the trees are fully leafed, with a bit of persistence, and by using our ears to follow their distinctive calls and songs, we managed to get a few half-decent views of both species on and off throughout the month, and although I haven't actually seen any fledglings, their behaviour suggested that they are feeding young...
On the rivers...
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| A local river |
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| Dipper |
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| Dipper by Stephen Plant |
Dippers featured reasonably frequently on my safaris this month, although they weren't totally reliable, but our local rivers produced a few decent views of adults with beaks full of food, and the fast-growing families of these characterful and endearing little birds, that always prove to be popular with my clients, many of whom do not have them on or near their local patch, as they are generally restricted to upland areas in the north and west of the UK.
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| Goosander family - Photo from June 2022 |
Up in the glens...
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| A local upland glen |
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| Golden Eagle by Liz Rodgers - Photo from June 2019 |
Golden Eagle and White-Tailed Eagle are iconic 'Scottish' birds which always seems to be on visiting birders 'wish-lists', and we are fortunate to have a number of suitable upland glens nearby, however.... it should be noted that, with most females still with young chicks, and 20+ hours of daylight available for the males and sub-adults to use for hunting, the chances of us just happening to be in the right place at the right time to see them are fairly low during spring and summer (when compared to the autumn/winter months) and generally raptor sightings in this area were pretty hard to come by this month...but we did manage to get a couple of distant views of sub-adult examples of Golden and one of White-Tailed....
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| Common Buzzard |
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| Red Kite |
Similarly to the Eagles, other birds of prey are less easy to see at this time of year, but we did manage to get views of Osprey, Common Buzzard, Kestrel, Sparrowhawk, and Red Kite , with a couple of glimpses of Peregrine, but strangely, and similarly to last year, I have still yet to see a Merlin this year!!
Up in the mountains....
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| Early summer in the Cairngorm Mountains |
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| Male Snow Bunting - Photo from June 2015 |
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| Male Ptarmigan - Photo from June 2016 |
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| Female Dotterel - Photo from June 2016 |
June is probably the best month to have a chance of seeing all 3 of our mountain top bird species in one trip - Ptarmigan, Dotterel and Snow Bunting , and although I didn't venture up myself this month, I have included a few photos from previous June visits, to give you an idea of what is (or was) possible.......
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| Male Ring Ouzel |
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| Male Ring Ouzel |
At slightly lower levels, but generally still above 1,500ft/450m, Ring Ouzels can often be seen in their upland and mountainside habitat, especially early in the day before human disturbance, though when compared to April and May they are now definitely harder to find, as most are no longer be singing or calling, and sightings are mainly restricted to adult birds collecting beakfuls of worms to take to their newly fledged youngsters.
On farmland....
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| Typical local farmland |
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| Lapwing |
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| Oystercatcher |
Plenty of Oystercatcher and Lapwing families were seen, though Curlews seem to be in smaller numbers than in previous years....
Other good/scarce birds seen/reported locally this month included:
A Short-Eared Owl near Newtonmore on the 1st, a singing Quail near Grantown On Spey on the 10th, and a Hoopoe near Aviemore on the 20th......
A few photos of more common birds seen locally this month:
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| Female Mallard with young |
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| Female Bullfinch |
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| Male Bullfinch |
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| Wren |
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| Male Blackcap |
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| Male Reed Bunting |
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| Spotted Flycatcher |
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| Long-Tailed Tit |
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| Willow Warbler |
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| Male Stonechat by Stephen Plant |
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| Common Sandpiper by Stephen Plant |
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| Grey Heron by Stephen Plant |
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| Wheatear by Stephen Plant |
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| Song Thrush by Stephen Plant |
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| Red-Legged Partridge by Stephen Plant |
Adventures 'out of area':
Sadly, I wasn't able to manage any adventures out of area this month......
June 2023 mammal sightings in more detail:
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| Red Squirrel |
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| Red Squirrel |
Red Squirrels often feature on my safari clients 'wish-lists', not surprising I suppose as they are sadly largely absent from most of the UK now, and just happen to be very attractive, entertaining and endearing little animals that can usually (with a little patience) be relied upon to appear at forest feeding stations for a free meal, though we often get more 'natural' random sightings whilst on forest walks and drives too...
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| Red Deer Stags |
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| Red Deer hinds with a youngster - Photo from June 2019 |
My clients always love to see Red Deer too, with the iconic 'Monarch of the glen' stags being a sought-after sighting, and although they are not at their magnificent best as they are still growing new antlers at this time of year, they still proved popular, as did the large groups of hinds gathered in their favourite birthing areas, with the first new-born youngsters....
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| Feral Mountain Goats |
Feral Mountain Goats are rare across much of the UK, being a living remnant from the crofting age, and largely confined to remote upland areas, but we managed to see them on several times this month, with this year's young now almost as big as their parents..
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| Roe Deer - Photo from June 2019 |
Roe Deer are actually reasonably common across much of the UK, but their nervous, wary, crepuscular nature, means that they are rarely seen well, unless you are out and about early or late in the day....
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| Brown Hare |
Brown Hare sightings were a little less frequent this month, probably because we were not out and about quite as early as in April and May, but we still managed a few decent views in quieter locations...
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| Mountain Hare |
Mountain Hare sightings too, were largely restricted to early mornings, and it doesn't help that their mottled blue-grey, brown and white coats provide great camouflage against the lichen-covered rocks in their upland habitat..
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| Carrot time for Murdo means smiles all round... |
Hairy Highland Coo's always prove to be popular with my safari clients, especially those who do not have them close to home, so don't be afraid to ask me if you fancy going to see them, and maybe even get to feed and 'pat' them, as I have a couple of great sites....
Rare/nocturnal mammals:
I get a few enquiries about the possibility of seeing Badgers and Pine Marten from my safari clients, many of whom I suspect are unaware that they are actually a largely nocturnal creature, and although we do get the occasional (maybe one or two a year) dawn glimpse of one, you would definitely have a much higher chance of seeing them at a specific dusk Badger/Pine Marten watching hide - Please contact me for more information.
Similarly, our inland Otters too are mainly active during the hours of darkness, and again, although we do get a few early-morning sightings on local lochs and rivers each year, looking for them feeding in a suitably quiet, kelp - filled bay on the coast on a rising tide, but at any time of day, would give you a much better chance.
Whilst we are still on the 'tricky to see stuff', the Scottish Wildcat too, as well as being incredibly rare now, is also generally nocturnal, and the fact that I have had a mere handful of (dawn or dusk) sightings in 17 years of providing wildlife safaris should give you an idea of how difficult they are to see.
Other wildlife:
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| Small Pearl-Bordered Fritillary |
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| Small White |
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| Red Admiral |
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| Thistle |
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| Giant Poppies |
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| Common Spotted Orchid |
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| Wood Ant nest |
Midsummer is peak time for butterflies and wild flowers in this area, and a typical June, given some sunny and calm days, usually sees us enjoying sightings of Red Admiral, Peacock. Pearl-Bordered Fritillary, Small Copper, Common Blue and Orange Tip among others, ...and a splendid range of wild flowers including several types of Orchids....and our local Wood Ants are now very active....
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| Leaping Atlantic Salmon - Photo by Margaret Holland from June 2016 |
Midsummer is also a good time to witness leaping Atlantic Salmon making their way up to the spawning grounds in the upper reaches of Highland rivers. They can usually be seen well at a number of well known sites, though with the rivers well below 'normal' levels this year, they may be stuck in deeper stretches further downstream for a while yet....
News:
All tourism/hospitality/activities in Scotland are open , are free of restrictions and I have now completed well over a year and a half of (thankfully!) increasingly busy and extremely enjoyable safaris with clients with no major issues arising.
With all national travel restrictions lifted too, Scotland is officially 'open for business' for visitors from all over the UK, and from abroad.
For those considering a visit, these wildlife/outdoor tourism websites may prove useful:
June - September is midge season - But thankfully, this area is not usually affected too badly - This link explains why:
Bumper midge hatch alert after warm spell - BBC News
https://www.gov.scot/collections/coronavirus-covid
NatureScot (outdooraccess-scotland.scot)
Can Nature Help Health? | Nature Prescriptions - YouTube
Scotland, Yours to Enjoy. Responsibly. - YouTube
Cairngorms National Park Authority
Positive prescriptions | The RSPB
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| Purple heather on a local moorland |
COVID-19
The Scottish Highlands, being very sparsely populated, has had very few COVID-19 cases in comparison to most of the UK, and on my safaris we tend to visit remote , wild habitats well away from the more popular tourist areas, and usually have very little interaction with other people, and this is something that I intend to continue.
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| Glenmore Forest and Loch Morlich viewed from Cairngorm Mountain |
Summary:
Looking back through my photos whilst compiling this blog report, although it never quite hits the 'highs' of May, I think it is fair to say that June 2023 was definitely another excellent month of wildlife watching, with a splendid variety of wildlife seen, and mostly in good weather. It was certainly great to see the much-needed breeding success of some of our rarer bird species , to utter a few "ahhhs" at the cute fledglings of so many more common birds, and enjoy the feelgood factor of just spending time out and about enjoying the long summer days in the beautiful Cairngorms National Park among all the lovely wild flowers and spectacular scenery.... but... the real highlight for me , as always, was sharing it with other like-minded people from all round the world, seeing their smiles and hearing the occasional sharp intake of breath, or "wow" as they saw something special.....
Reviews:
https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attraction_Review-g186537-d3335134-Reviews-
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| A panoramic shot of typical Highland scenery |
Gift Certificates:
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| Safari gift voucher |
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