July 2024
July 2024, weather-wise, started in a similar vein to last month, with the first half of the month frequently seeing us endure weather more akin to autumn or early winter than midsummer, with lots of grey drizzly days, sunshine at a premium, and temperatures well below average for the time of year. However, thankfully the second half of the month was much more like July should be, with more sunny days, temperatures approaching normal levels, and just the odd cooler showery day.
Full-day (8 hours) safari bird species day lists dropped a little, down into the 40's or 30's, as some of our wader species moved away from their upland breeding territories to the coasts, and bird-wise things have definitely quietened down , with much less singing noted, as just about every species seems to have successfully raised and fledged youngsters now, and some have already, or soon will be, preparing to leave the area ....
Mammal day lists varied between 3 and 8, depending on the length of day, and variety of habitats visited...with early starts generally producing more and closer sightings, with again, many species seen with youngsters..
With a mixture of warm sunshine and regular showers giving the area a very lush, green appearance, more heather starting to turn a beautiful vivid purple, and the wild flowers and butterflies at their most abundant, the Cairngorms National Park really was a beautiful and unspoilt place to be this month, and my safari clients certainly seemed to enjoy being here....
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| July in the Cairngorms National Park |
To give you an idea of what you may realistically hope to see if you are considering a future July visit, I hope the following more detailed information, illustrated with photos taken at sites in and around the Cairngorms National Park, and sometimes further afield, by myself, my friends or my safari clients this month and in previous July's will help....clicking on the picture enlarges it to full-screen.
All photographs of wildlife, especially Schedule 1 and other protected or vulnerable bird species shown on this website 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...
Local speciality/upland bird species seen regularly during the month included:
Osprey, Red Grouse, Goldeneye and Dipper. and Slavonian Grebe, Red-Throated Diver and Black-Throated Diver (all with young) were seen occasionally, a few brief, if somewhat unreliable views of Crested Tit and Crossbill were managed, and we enjoyed a couple of distant Golden Eagle and White-Tailed Eagle sightings ...Sadly, but typically at this time of year, we failed to see Capercaillie or Black Grouse at all this month, and our local Ring Ouzels appear to have already headed south.....
Mammal species seen regularly included:
Red Squirrel, Rabbit, Brown Hare, Roe Deer, Red Deer, Reindeer and feral Mountain Goat, with just a couple of early morning sighting of a Mountain Hare , one view of a Sika Deer, and a couple of brief glimpses of Bank Voles scuttling across tracks.....
July 2024 bird sightings in more detail:
On the lochs..
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| A small local loch |
Our local Ospreys stole the show again this month, and these attractive and impressive raptors were often voted as 'Bird of the day' by my safari clients, with the adult birds seen fishing, delivering fish and feeding and encouraging the fast growing 'scaly' looking , orange-eyed youngsters to take their 'maiden flights', and after much furious flapping of wings and practice lift-offs', by late-month they had indeed fledged and could be seen perched in adjacent trees and flying for the first time.. I can therefore highly recommend July as THE month for Osprey watching and photography in this area...
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| Young Ospreys |
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| Young Osprey by Kevin Gravener |
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| Adult Osprey |
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| Osprey |
Slavonian Grebes, undoubtedly one of the UK's rarest and most beautiful breeding birds, have nested and fledged young on a few quiet local lochs, and although they were often difficult to spot in the middle of large beds of sedges or lily pads, the youngsters appear to be almost fully grown now, so hopefully they will be ok.....
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| Adult Slavonian Grebe |
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| Adult Slavonian Grebe |
Divers (Loons), being very rare in summer south of here, and looking resplendent in their dapper summer plumage are always popular with my safari clients, and we were fortunate enough to get some good views of both Red-Throated and Black-Throated occasionally throughout the month, both species with their rapidly growing youngsters on their favoured local lochs. It should be noted however, that they are rarely seen close to the shore, can be difficult to find in 'choppy' conditions, and are easily disturbed by non wildlife-friendly tourists dog-walking, swimming and boating etc, so the less windy days and early morning starts in search of them usually gave us our closest sightings, and sightings became noticeably less frequent as the month progressed, as some presumably moved out to the coast where they will spend the autumn and winter...
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| Black Throated Diver |
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| Adult Black Throated Diver feeding youngster |
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| Red Throated Diver |
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| Red Throated Diver |
Goldeneyes only breed in the UK in northern Scotland, and their numbers have increased greatly in recent years, mainly due to the RSPB providing nest boxes on trees around most local lochs - yes, they really are a duck that nests up a tree! - and we got to see several families of these very attractive little ducks this month...
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| Goldeneye family |
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| Goldeneye ducklings |
Up on the moors....
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| A local upland heather moorland |
Red Grouse are always popular with my safari parties, as being a bird of largely uninhabited upland heather moorlands, most of my clients do not have them close to home. We, however, are fortunate to have lots of suitable habitat in this area, and although they were sometimes elusive, we often enjoyed good close up views of families of up to 5 of these very characterful and beautifully marked birds, though with the 'Glorious 12th' rapidly approaching... I suspect they may not be quite so obliging next month...
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| Female and young Red Grouse |
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| Red Grouse family |
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| Male and female Red Grouse |
In the Caledonian pine forests...
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| A local Caledonian pine forest |
Crested Tits were seen occasionally on our walks through Caledonian pine forests, usually in family parties, though there didn't appear to be any 'pattern' to our sightings, and I must stress again, that they can be very elusive in the spring and summer months, and knowing their distinctive rippling trills is a huge advantage in helping you to see these very 'flitty' little local specialities....
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| Crested Tit by Rob Ellett - Photo from July 2020 |
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| Crested Tit by Rob Ellett - Photo from July 2020 |
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....
It was a similar story with Crossbills too, with most of our sightings being of the rather frustrating 'fly-over' variety, with them only being identified by their characteristic 'jip' 'jip' calls as they flew between different parts of the forests, and despite my best efforts, we only managed a couple of brief views of perched birds this month...
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| Male and female Crossbill |
As is usual, sadly, we failed to manage any sightings of Capercaillie this month......
Please note that Capercaillie numbers would still appear to be alarmingly low, they are now very rare and elusive, possibly on the brink of extinction, and I would only rate our chances of seeing one on my safaris as "very slim" at best, and we are now requested not to go in search of them, for fear of disturbing them.....and please be aware that Police Scotland and the Cairngorms National Park Authority Rangers patrol 'known' Capercaillie areas for the first few hours of light throughout the spring/summer in an attempt to dissuade anyone from entering the forest and potentially disturbing the birds during lekking/breeding season.....with prosecution an option if you fail to heed their 'advice'....you have been warned....
https://cairngormscapercaillie.scot/lek-it-be/
In the birch woods:
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| A local birch woodland |
Although there were a few reports of sightings of Wood Warbler and Pied Flycatcher in our local birch woods early in the month, they were extremely difficult to find now they have stopped singing, have fledged their young, and with a full canopy of leaves, and they rarely seem to stick around into August....so we had to make do with the odd sighting of Willow Warbler, Redstart and Spotted Flycatcher....
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| Spotted Flycatcher |
On the rivers...
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| A small local river |
Dipper sightings were a bit 'random' this month, with the youngsters now independent, and the adult birds seemingly quite mobile up and down the rivers. On some days, despite our best efforts, we saw none, and on other days we saw one or more on each river we visited! Which just goes to show that although local knowledge and experience are important, nothing is ever guaranteed, and sometimes you need a bit of luck too......
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| Dipper |
Large families of Goosanders were also seen on local rivers on a few occasions...
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| Goosander family |
Up in the glens...
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| A picturesque local upland glen |
Eagles are probably hardest to see in mid-summer (in this area at least), as the birds are still concentrating on fledging their young, and have so many hours of daylight in which to hunt, meaning that the likelihood of us just happening to be in the right place at the right time only happens rarely, and sadly, but true to form, we only managed a couple of distant Golden Eagle and White -Tailed Eagle sightings this month, ......but if previous years are anything to go by, things should improve in the coming weeks as the youngsters take to the wing for the first time....
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| Golden Eagle |
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| White-Tailed Eagle |
Other birds of prey seen reasonably regularly on my safaris this month included Osprey, Common Buzzard, Kestrel, Peregrine, Sparrowhawk and Red Kite.........
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| Kestrel |
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| Red Kite |
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| Common Buzzard |
Up in the mountains....
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| The view towards Aviemore from the summit of Cairngorm Mountain |
July is 'last chance saloon' for seeing all 3 of our mountain top species ( Ptarmigan, Snow Bunting and Dotterel) in one trip, as the Dotterel often depart in early August , but being pretty busy with safaris, and with no sightings reported to tempt me, I didn't venture up myself...so I have included some photos from July in previous years, to show what is (or maybe was) possible ....
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| Snow Bunting by Brendan Meyerink - Photo from July 2019 |
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| Young Dotterel - Photo from July 2017 |
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| Ptarmigan family - Photo from July 2019 |
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| Female Ptarmigan by Bob Smith - Photo from July 2019 |
On farmland...
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| Typical local farmland |
Although wader numbers on local farmland are definitely reducing post-breeding as they return to the coast, we still managed a few views of families of Lapwing, Curlew and Oystercatcher.....
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| Young Lapwing |
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| Lapwing by Rod Watson - Photo from July 2019 |
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| Oystercatchers |
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| Curlew |
A few summer visiting migrant birds seen locally this month:
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| Spotted Flycatcher |
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| Common Tern |
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| Barn Swallow |
Other good/scarce birds seen/reported locally this month included:
A singing Quail near Nethybridge mid-month, a Kingfisher at Loch Puladdern near Aviemore on the 15th, a juvenile Marsh Harrier at Insh Marshes on the 23rd, a Lesser Whitethroat at Craigellachie birchwood on the 25th, and a few juvenile Cuckoos at various locations throughout the month....
A few photos of more common birds seen locally this month:
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| Greater Spotted Woodpecker |
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| Grey Wagtail |
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| Song Thrush |
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| Redpoll |
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| Siskin |
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| Male Stonechat |
Adventures 'out of area':
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| The ruggedly beautiful Moray coast |
The Moray coast is only about a one hour drive north of Aviemore, and trips to favourite reserves, sea cliffs, lochs, bays and harbours gave good views of birds such as Razorbill, Common Guillemot, Black Guillemot, Fulmar, Kittiwake, Shag, Gannet, Greylag Geese, Black-Tailed Godwit, Bar-Tailed Godwit, Ringed Plover, Redshank, Oystercatcher, Turnstone, Curlew, Eiders, Common Tern , Arctic Tern, Sandwich tern and Red-Throated and Great Northern Divers, with the chance of rare/scarce birds such as White-Billed Diver, Tree Sparrow , Grey Partridge, and rare gulls.....
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| Curlew |
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| Hooded Crow |
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| Redshanks |
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| Common Sandpiper |
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| Grey Heron |
May, June, July and the first half of August are the best months in which to visit a coastal seabird colony, and the 8th saw us take a very scenic drive up to Assynt on the north-west coast, then on a pre-arranged boat excursions to the SWT's wonderfully remote and beautiful Handa Island.
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| Handa Island |
Red Throated Divers and Black-Throated Divers were seen on lochans en route, and Twite, Ringed Plovers, Wheatears, and Common Sandpipers were seen feeding around Tarbet Harbour car park, and even the short ferry crossing gave us super close-up views of Arctic Terns, Seals, and Common Guillemot and once on the island, we went on to see more Red-Throated Divers, and Great Northern Diver around the shoreline, and Snipe, Red Grouse, Wheatears, Skylarks, Arctic Skuas and Great Skuas nesting on the moors.
Once at the impressively high (350ft+) cliffs and coastal stacks, we were treated to the unique sights, sounds (and smells!) of a seabird city, with good numbers of Fulmars, Kittiwakes, Razorbills, Guillemots and yes, plenty of everybody's favourite - Puffins!
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| Great Northern Diver by Steve Nicklin |
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| Razorbills |
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| Fulmars by Steve Nicklin |
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| Puffin by Steve Nicklin |
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| Puffin |
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| Arctic Skua by Steve Nicklin |
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| Great Skua by Steve Nicklin |
July 2024 mammal sightings in more detail:
Red Squirrel was probably voted 'mammal of the day' most frequently by my safari clients this month, with many of them excited to see these charismatic and undeniably cute little animals for the first time, and bringing home to me the fact that, although I am lucky to see them regularly here, they are now very difficult to see in most of the UK, being confined mainly to the northern Scottish Highlands, with just a few small localised populations remaining in other areas...
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| Red Squirrel by Mark Williams |
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| Red Squirrel by Kevin Gravener |
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| Red Squirrel |
Similarly, another iconic 'Highland speciality',Red Deer were seen regularly in local upland glens, usually in large same-sex herds, the stags happily feeding and seemingly relaxing, and the hinds with their fast-growing young always nearby ....
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| Red Deer hinds with youngsters |
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| Red Deer Stags |
Unusually, we struggled for sightings of another scarce and very localised mammal, the feral Mountain Goat this month....interesting animals, that seem to like remote upland areas, and come in a wide variety of colours, from white, through grey and brown to black, or sometimes a mixture of all of these, with just a couple of long-distance sightings managed....
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| Feral Mountain Goats |
Though Roe Deer are actually quite common and widespread across the UK, their shy, nervous disposition means that they are more frequently found in quieter, less disturbed places, especially at dawn and dusk, meaning that most members of the general public rarely encounter them...but we saw them most days, especially if we made a reasonably early start...
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| Roe Deer |
The same could also be said of Brown Hares, another crepuscular species, with most of our sightings coming early in the day before too much human disturbance, and generally on the more remote and secluded areas of open farmland...
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| Brown Hare |
Mountain Hares too are actually pretty tricky to find, certainly outside of the winter months, especially in their 'summer camouflage' coats of mottled brown and grey, and the one sighting that we did manage this month was a brief 'random' encounter (with no decent photo opportunity) on high mountainside, whilst in search of the special birds of that habitat..
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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| Carrot time for Murdo |
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| Murdo The Magnificent Hairy Highland Coo |
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 over 20 years of providing wildlife safaris should give you an idea of how difficult they are to see.
Marine mammals:
The Moray and Aberdeenshire coasts are pretty reliable for sightings of Seals of both types, with a decent chance of Harbour Porpoise and Dolphins, and even a slim chance of Whales...
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| Seals on the Moray Coast |
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| Bottlenose Dolphin eating a Salmon - photo from July 2017 - by Steve Nicklin |
Other wildlife:
Midsummer is peak time for butterflies and wild flowers in this area, and a typical July given some sunny and calm days, usually sees us enjoying sightings of Comma, Red Admiral, Peacock. Small Pearl-Bordered Fritillary, Small Copper, Small Tortoiseshell, Common Blue and Orange Tip among others, with the local speciality Scotch Argus possible from late July...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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| Wood Ants nest |
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| Creeping Lady's Tresses |
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| Comma |
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| Small Tortoiseshell |
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| Scotch Argus |
Midsummer is the best time to see Atlantic Salmon leaping on Highland rivers, on their way upstream to the spawning grounds, and visits to known 'hot-spots' can be very entertaining....
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| Atlantic Salmon |
News:
I am very pleased to announce that Highland Wildlife & Birdwatch Safaris has recently been awarded - for the third 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 :)
We have also recently (late January) upgraded our safari vehicle to a slightly newer Land Rover Discovery5 HSE LUX 7-seater, and this one has, along with excellent off-road and all-weather ability. 7 heated seats, and all the usual luxuries such as rear-seat entertainment DVD screens, a panoramic sunroof, and height-adjustable air suspension, and it is also more spacious and 'greener' than my previous versions with (ULEZ compliant) ultra-low emissions and improved fuel economy....
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| My new(er) safari vehicle on it's 'debut' outing in February |
All tourism/hospitality/activities in Scotland are open, are free of restrictions and I have now completed well over 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.
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
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| Purple heather on a local upland 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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| On safari in a local Caledonian forest |
Summary:
Although the bird breeding season is almost over and the birds are much 'quieter' than in springtime (April-June), July is still a pretty decent month to see a good selection of birds, animals and butterflies in this area, with no need for a really early start (6am-8am is fine) and it's also good for a mountain-top adventure, or a trip to a seabird colony with (usually) fairly good weather, and all still with plenty of daylight hours....
I must confess though, that I always tend to feel just a little sad at the end of every July , as I know that many of our iconic summer visiting birds like Osprey, Slavonian Grebe, Ring Ouzel and the Divers, are soon to vacate our area and fly south to warmer climes, or out to the coast as summer turns to early autumn next month, so I try to savour every sighting of these species....
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| An atmospheric Highland landscape |
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 well over 330 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
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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