November 2023
November 2023 was yet another very changeable month weather-wise, in this area, with daytime temperatures ranging from -6c to +12c, just about every type of weather experienced, and wind speeds varying from flat calm to gales, though the overall feel was definitely more wintery than last month, especially at the very end of the month, when we had some good amounts of snow down to low levels.
The more frequent show showers and dropping temperatures late in the month meant that the snow level on the Cairngorm Mountains is gradually creeping lower, as autumn most definitely turns to winter.
Many trees have retained some of their colourful autumn leaves, though the local berry stocks are now looking severely depleted after a couple of months of attention from the Blackbirds, thrushes and Waxwings.
Though the days are shortening noticeably now, with only around 8-9 hours of usable daylight (7am-4pm approx), a further influx of winter-visiting birds from further north, helped to boost local full-day bird day-lists into the 30's , or more if you include a trip to the nearby Moray coast, whilst mammal day-lists varied between 3 and 6 species, depending on the time of our start, and variety of habitats visited, with early starts usually proving to be more productive.
The raised water levels in the rivers caused by the autumn rains meant that the Atlantic Salmon were able to reach their traditional spawning grounds and they provided great entertainment for most of the month.
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| Late autumn near the source of the River Spey |
To give you an idea of what you may realistically hope to see if you are considering a future November 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 November's will help....clicking on the picture enlarges it to full-screen.
Local speciality/upland bird species seen regularly during the month included:
Crested Tit, Red Grouse, Dipper, Golden Eagle, and White-Tailed Eagle.
Black Grouse were occasionally seen at or soon after dawn at traditional lek sites, though they were a little unreliable, but sadly, Crossbills were generally frustratingly elusive again, and (not unusually) we failed to see any Capercaillie...
Mammal species seen regularly included:
Red Squirrel, Red Deer, Roe Deer, Mountain Goat, and Rabbit , with just a couple of sightings of (now mostly white) Mountain Hare..... a few early morning sightings of Brown Hare, a couple of brief glimpses of Bank Vole, and we also enjoyed great close-up views of Atlantic Salmon spawning in the upper reaches of our local rivers...
All photographs of wildlife, especially Schedule 1 and other protected bird species were taken legally 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....
November 2023 bird sightings in more detail:
Up in the glens...
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| A local upland glen - Photo from Nov 2021 by Jan Shields |
As I have mentioned in previous years, and with no apologies for repeating myself... given favourable weather conditions, November is in my opinion, THE month for raptor sightings in this area, and so it proved again this year, with my favourite local upland glens (and moors) providing my safari clients and I with pleasingly regular sightings, and even the odd (very rare) photo opportunity, of the iconic and much coveted Golden Eagle and White-Tailed Eagle, with these huge, awesome and majestic 'Kings of the skies' providing great entertainment, numerous memorable 'life-ticks' for my safari clients, and putting big smiles on many faces....
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| Golden Eagle |
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| Golden Eagle |
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| Golden Eagle - Photo from Nov 2018 by James Ball |
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| White-Tailed Eagle - Photo from November 2017 |
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| White-Tailed Eagle |
Should the Eagles fail to show, the regular 'raptor back-up cast' of Kestrel, Sparrowhawk, Peregrine, Buzzard , Red Kite, and the chance of even the occasional Merlin, Hen Harrier and Goshawk often provide good entertainment by way of consolation though....
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| Peregrine Falcon |
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| Red Kite |
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| Common Buzzard |
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| Merlin - Photo from Nov 2017 by James Ball |
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| Female Goshawk- Photo from Nov 2022 by Jon Worthington |
Up on the moors....
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| Early morning on a local upland heather moorland |
Red Grouse, being birds of very specific upland heather moorland habitat, are absent from much of the UK these days . Thankfully though, we have no shortage of them in this area, and though not guaranteed, sightings were pretty reliable. It was interesting to note that a few of the cock birds (identifiable by their darker plumage and red 'eyebrows') are already starting to get a bit more 'showy' and aggressive, with a few seen seemingly staking their claim to prime territory, often while uttering their characteristic cackling "go-bak, go-bak" calls..
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| Female Red Grouse |
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| Male Red Grouse - Photo from Nov 2015 by Ron Mitchell |
On the more remote upland moors, Black Grouse are always popular with my safari clients, probably because of their relative rarity, and sadly, declining numbers over much of the UK.
However, we are fortunate to still have decent numbers in Highland Scotland, and our dawn (7:30am approx) visits to their traditional local moorland 'lek' sites produced some good sightings of up to 8 cock birds displaying, though it should be noted that we also had a few mornings when the birds failed to show, and that the period between January and late May is far more reliable...
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| Displaying Black Grouse |
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| Displaying Black Grouse |
In the Caledonian forests...
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| November in a local ancient Caledonian forest |
Winter is usually by far the best time of year to see Crested Tits, as the weather turns colder and snowier, with the easy pickings on offer at my Caledonian forest feeding stations, especially soon after dawn, seemingly proving to be very enticing. With only around 1200 birds in the UK, and their distribution very localised, it was a great feeling to show off these true 'Speyside specialities' to my safari clients, especially those who were seeing them for the very first time,
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| Crested Tit |
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| Crested Tit - Photo from Nov 2015 by Ron Mitchell |
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| Crested Tit - Photo from Nov 2017 by James Ball |
Still in the Caledonian pine forests, rather frustratingly, Crossbills continued to be a bit of a 'bogey-bird', with (yet again) sightings mainly restricted to snatched glimpses of calling birds flying around the tree tops, us only identifying them by their characteristic "jip-jip" calls...with the exception of one group that perched nicely for just a few seconds on the 10th....
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| Crossbills |
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| Male Crossbill |
A bonus by-product of regular winter feeding is often (especially on colder days) being able to feed the incredibly confiding Coal Tits and (sometimes) Great Tits by hand, an experience much enjoyed by my safari clients of all ages...
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| Hand-feeding Coal Tits |
On the lochs...
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| A picturesque local loch |
With the summer-visiting water birds all gone now, our resident Goldeneyes, are now joined by winter-visiting Whooper Swans and 'grey' Geese, alongside the more common species....
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| Canada Geese |
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| Female Goldeneye |
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| Whooper Swans |
On the marshes...
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| Insh Marshes |
Alongside the ever-present Grey Herons, ducks like Teal and Wigeon were noted, along with Whooper Swans and 'grey' Geese , and raptors such as Kestrel, Buzzard, Red Kite, and Hen Harrier were seen reasonably regularly, with one sighting of Marsh Harrier, and the occasional Merlin, Golden Eagle and White-Tailed Eagle also reported.
On the rivers...
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| The upper reaches of a local river |
Our local Dippers are definitely becoming more aggressive now, with much displaying, dawn singing and chasing each other around being witnessed as they presumably seek to establish winter and breeding territories, and it still makes my safari clients and I shiver every time we see them disappear under the icy water in search of food - they sure are hardy little critters!
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| Dipper |
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| Dipper |
With a similar UK distribution to Dipper, Goosander can be tricky to see in much of Britain, but we often see family groups of them in this area, though they can be very wary of humans, and I don't recall us having a good view or decent photo opportunity this month....
Up in the mountains....
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| Early winter in the Cairngorm Mountains |
I only managed one walk up this month (on the 26th), which sadly, failed to provide sightings of any of the mountain speciality birds, however, from previous experience, I would expect the Ptarmigan to be morphing into their winter-white plumage now, which can make them less difficult to spot amongst the rocks, at least until the snow comes, anyway.
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| Ptarmigan - Photo from Nov 2017 |
The first snow on the tops can sometimes encourage Snow Buntings down to lower levels, and I always carry a bag of mixed seed in the colder months, as they can sometimes be quite confiding once tempted in by a free feed, though sadly, despite them being reported a couple of times, we failed to see them this month.
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| Snow Buntings - Photo from Nov 2019 |
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| Snow Bunting - Photo from Nov 2017 |
On farmland....
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| Typical local farmland |
Although all the waders have gone to the coast now, 'grey' Geese and Whooper Swans can often be seen feeding on crop remains , whilst the seeds on local farmland during the autumn and winter months often attract large flocks of mixed finches and buntings, along with the winter thrushes and more common Pheasants and occasional Red-Legged Partridges...........
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| Whooper Swans |
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| Greylag Geese |
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| Reed Bunting |
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| Fieldfare |
In local gardens;
Berry bushes and garden bird feeding stations are a real magnet for hungry winter visiting birds from further north, and Redwings, Fieldfares Bramblings and Redpolls were all seen locally alongside the more common tits and finches, and it was great to get our first proper 'invasion' of Waxwings for some years .....
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| Bramblings |
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| Fiefdfare |
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| Waxwings |
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| Waxwings |
Other good/scarce birds seen/reported locally this month included:
A Marsh Harrier early in the month at Insh marshes, and a Great Grey Shrike from 7th-10th near Carrbridge....
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| Great Grey Shrike |
A few photos of more common birds seen locally this month:
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| Hooded Crow |
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| Dunnock |
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| Greater Spotted Woodpecker |
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| Male Blackbird |
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| Young Starling |
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| Coal Tit |
Adventures 'out of area':
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| The ruggedly beautiful Moray coast |
The nearby Moray Coast is always worth a visit, especially in autumn and winter, and a couple of visit gave us a good selection of auks, waders, wildfowl, seaducks, geese ,swans and gulls ....
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| Common Scoters |
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| Slavonian Grebe in winter plumage |
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| Black Guillemot in winter plumage |
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| Male Teal and male Wigeon |
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| Female Red-Breasted Merganser |
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| Male Red-Breasted Merganser |
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| Male Eider |
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| Redshank |
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| Turnstone |
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| Curlew |
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| Purple Sandpiper |
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| Male Long-Tailed Duck |
The freshwater lochs and nature reserves just inland from the Moray Coast can be productive too....
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| Nice autumn colours at Loch Oire |
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| Greylag Geese |
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| Mute Swans |
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| Cormorants |
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| Coot |
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| Grey Heron |
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| Little Grebe eating a perch |
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| Male Tree Sparrow |
November 2023 mammal sightings in more detail:
Up in the glens, although the annual autumn 'rut' is now over and apparently already forgotten by the participants!, it was still a treat to see the magnificent fully antlered Red Deer stags, seemingly now all friends again and concentrating on feeding and chilling out after the demands of October....
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| Red Deer Stags |
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| Red Deer Stag |
Still in the uplands, Mountain Hares , being very rare in the UK, and now they are turning 'winter white' are often voted as 'mammal of the day' by my safari clients at this time of year, and although they were pretty elusive this month, we were fortunate enough to see them on a couple of occasions, ...please be aware though, that most of our views are at long distance through a scope, and a fair bit of rough uphill walking may be required for photography purposes
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| Mountain Hare |
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| Mountain Hare |
Feral Mountain Goats always prove to be popular with my safari clients, and they were seen on a few of our visits to their upland habitat, though they generally kept their distance, so photo opportunities were a bit limited..
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| Feral Mountain Goat - Photo from Nov 2020 |
In the Caledonian forests, Red Squirrels always prove to be popular with my safari clients , and who am I to disagree? Being rare in the UK outside of Highland Scotland, attractive, charismatic and cute, they certainly tick a lot of boxes, and thankfully, with a bit of patience, they can usually be relied upon to put in an appearance at feeding stations in the winter months (they love peanuts!)....though we also get the odd random sighting whilst on forest walks too...
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| Red Squirrel |
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| Red Squirrel |
Roe Deer, although much more common UK-wide than Red Deer , can often be overlooked due to their crepuscular nature and nervous disposition... but several were seen, usually at dawn or dusk, but also during the day in less-disturbed places...
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| Roe Deer |
Brown Hares, similarly to the Roe Deer, can also be very nervous and 'crepuscular' in nature, and most of our best sightings happen in the first hour of daylight, though sightings were very few and far between this month...
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....
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| Hairy Highland Coo |
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| Carrot time for Murdo |
Marine mammals:
The Moray coast is pretty reliable for sightings of Seals,, with a decent chance of Harbour Porpoise and Dolphins, and, even a slim chance of Whales.....
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:
Mid October-early December is usually the time of year to see our Atlantic Salmon spawning. These remarkable and often very large fish spawn in the shallow waters in the upper reaches of our rivers, at the very spot where they themselves were hatched several years before, having originally spent 2-3 years in the river, then another 2-3 years feeding, growing and maturing out in the mid Atlantic, before undertaking a perilous journey many miles upriver, often involving avoiding poachers, anglers and predators and negotiating high falls and rapids on the way , an amazing migration story! However, sightings are very reliant on the rivers water levels - too little water and the Salmon cannot access the upper reaches - too much water, and they can get there... but we can't see them....fortunately, for most of the month, it all fell into place and we enjoyed some decent views.......
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| Spawning Atlantic Salmon |
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| Spawning Atlantic Salmon - Photo from Nov 2019 by Rob Ellett |
News:
I am very pleased to announce that Highland Wildlife & Birdwatch Safaris has recently been awarded - for the second consecutive year - a Travelers Choice accreditation from Trip Advisor, for being ranked in the top 10% of visitor attractions worldwide based on customer reviews and feedback.
This achievement would not have been possible without the support of all my family, friends, safari clients, social media followers, regular blog readers , the Visit Scotland 'mystery shoppers', and everyone else who has helped and encouraged me along the way to ‘living my dream’ of being a wildlife safari guide, since 2004, especially over the last few very difficult COVID affected years, so a big THANK YOU to you all :)
All tourism/hospitality/activities in Scotland are open , are free of restrictions and I have now completed two years 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, and already this year, I have enjoyed meeting my first ever clients from Chile, and Singapore....
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
Highland Wildlife Park
Positive prescriptions | The RSPB
www.scotlandbigpicture.com
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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| On safari in a wild and remote location |
Summary:
Well, looking through my notes and photos for this month, despite the shortening days and changeable, and sometimes challenging weather conditions, I reckon it turned out to be very decent for wildlife-watching,
With lots of great wildlife enjoyed, some of our 'local speciality species' at their easiest to see, the chance of a few rarities, spectacularly picturesque and often snowy scenery, and plenty of hot chocolate and shortbrtead, the 'winter blues' were well and truly kept at bay....
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| Nice autumn colours at Strathdearn |
Reviews:
I know a lot of visitors to this area very wisely check out reviews of attractions/experiences at TripAdvisor before 'taking the plunge' and booking - We now have over 300 reviews online, so if you wish, you can check out our clients comments at the link below....
https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attraction_Review-g186537-d3335134-Reviews-
Highland_Wildlife_Birdwatch_Safaris-Aviemore_Aviemore_and_the_Cairngorms_Scottish.html
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| Autumn reflection at Loch Garten |
Gift Certificates:
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Safari gift voucher
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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 for a whole year from date of purchase........
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