March 2018 in this area started and ended in wintry fashion with snow and icy temperatures, whilst the middle two weeks were mild enough to suggest that spring, if not quite here yet, was certainly not too far away, but anyone considering visiting this area in March should remember to bring the appropriate warm and snowproof clothing, just in case!
The days are lengthening nicely now though, with nearly 12 hours of usable daylight, and dawn (for the Black Grouse lek) is a still not too unsociable 6am.
With most of the winter visiting birds still here, and a few wader and water bird species returning to their inland breeding sites in the second half of the month, full-day safari bird species day-lists crept up over the 40 mark, though a trip to the nearby Moray Coast can boost this total considerably,  whilst mammal species day-lists varied between 4 and 9 depending on our luck, time of start, and the variety of habitats visited, with early starts usually proving most fruitful.

I was away down in southern England for my Dad's funeral, and to visit family and friends for the middle part of the month, so my local sightings report will be a little shorter than usual and may include a few photos from previous March safaris that are representative of the month.

Late winter at a local loch

To give you an idea of what you may realistically hope to see if you are planning a future March visit yourself, I hope the following more detailed information, illustrated with photos taken by myself, my friends or my safari clients in this area will help - clicking on the picture enlarges it to full screen.

Wildlife highlights included:

Local speciality/upland bird species seen regularly included  Black Grouse (dawn only),Red Grouse, Crested Tit (early in the month only), Snow Bunting, Goldeneye and Dipper, we had  a couple of distant views, and one quite close sighting of soaring Golden Eagle, and towards the very end of the month, our first local reports this year of Osprey, Ring Ouzel, Slavonian Grebe, Red-Throated Diver, Black-Throated Diver and Golden Plover - all coming into their splendid summer breeding plumage, and joining the ever-increasing numbers of other Summer visiting birds , such as Lapwing, Oystercatcher and Curlew.

Although I personally did not go on any mountain top adventures for Ptarmigan this month, I understand that they could sometimes be seen well on the few days mid-month when the weather was suitable....
Winter visiting birds were represented by a few remaining family groups of Whooper Swans, flocks of Greylag Geese, wildfowl such as Tufted Duck, Wigeon and Teal,  a few (again annoyingly mobile) Waxwings continued to feast on our now almost totally depleted berries throughout the month..and a few Redwings , Fieldfares, Redpolls and Bramblings lingered....

Mammals seen regularly by my safari parties during the month included:
Rabbit, Red Squirrel, Roe Deer,  Red Deer, Sika Deer, Reindeer, Mountain Goat (with youngsters), Brown Hare and Mountain Hare (still mostly white), with just a solitary sighting of a Stoat with a rabbit in it's jaws, and the unusual but very welcome treat of an Otter seen fishing in daylight on a local loch...

Black Grouse lek

Black Grouse are not an easy species to see in most of the UK now, being mainly birds of remote upland moors, preferably with forests and fields nearby, a combination of habitats that is not so common nowadays. Fortunately, the Scottish highlands still has a decent number of active  'lek' sites, where the cock birds gather to 'strut their stuff', and dawn on my safaris in the first five months of the year is usually spent enjoying this memorable experience. 'Performances' were noticeably better on still, frosty mornings.... but please be aware that the birds can fail to show in wet and windy weather, or if disturbed by a predator...

Male Red Grouse

On the upland heather moorlands, our local Red Grouse have most definitely already paired-up, and the cock birds, with red 'eyebrows' aglow, seem to be concentrating more on defending their territory from rival birds, whilst the 'disappearance' of some of the hen birds suggests that many may already be on nests...

With no 'rogue' birds in this area to go for these days, and numbers seemingly declining to dangerously low levels,  Capercaillie sightings are now much more difficult to come by, and sadly, we did not see a single bird this month, despite several dawn walks in suitable habitat, where we had seen them before...

Crested Tit by Bob Smith

Crested Tits were seen at and around forest feeding stations early in the month, giving several of my (often very excited) safari clients a much wanted 'life-tick', but after my return from down south, they often failed to show during the latter part of the month, and when they did they didn't stay for long and rarely called, suggesting perhaps, that they are now concentrating on breeding rather than feeding.....

Still in the forests, sadly, most of our Crossbill sightings were of the rather annoying fly-over variety again this month, though those of us quick enough with our binoculars, saw enough to suggest that we were now seeing family groups of recently-fledged youngsters with their parents....

Dipper by Steve Nicklin

Dippers were seen frequently this month, and they too seem to have procreation on their minds, as we are now (presumably) only seeing male birds, and they appear to be defending territory near their favourite nest sites of old bridges,

Snow Bunting

March is often our last chance to see Snow Buntings at lower levels in this area, as the snow line tends to recede higher with each month now, and the birds tend to follow it, but we enjoyed some nice close-up sightings early in the month....

Red Kite by Steve Nicklin

Golden Eagle (juvenile)

As I have mentioned before, the shorter days of the winter months give us our best chance of seeing Golden Eagles, and although as the days lengthen, the frequency of sightings definitely reduces and despite the adult females presumably nesting by now,  we were still fortunate enough to enjoy a few decent sightings , and one really good view of these majestic birds hunting in upland glens,
Raptors in general were pretty well represented this month, with Kestrel, Sparrowhawk, Common Buzzard, Peregrine, Goshawk , Merlin , Red Kite and Barn Owl all being seen at least once...and the first returning Ospreys have been reported in the last few days...including our local 'celebrity' - EJ at Loch Garten RSPB reserve.

Whooper Swans

The Moray coast is only about 40 miles North East of Aviemore, and although I did not have time for a trip myself this month, it would appear that the areas reserves, salt marshes, lochs, bays and harbours gave good views of  Eiders, Greylag Geese, Pink-Footed Geese, Whooper Swan, Wigeon, Teal, Pintail,  Bar-Tailed Godwit, Knot, Golden Plover , Grey Plover , Ringed Plover , Guillemot, Black Guillemot, and Long-Tailed Duck .....this is an area worth considering visiting when the weather is rough on Speyside..

Black-Throated Divers

Male Bullfinch (and Siskin)

Goldcrest

Other good birds reported locally this month included: Great Grey Shrike, Black Redstart, Bullfinch,  Iceland Gull and Glaucous Gull....


Onto mammals now...

Mountain Hare

March is the last month to see our local Mountain Hares in their beautiful all-white winter coats, and they were undoubtedly 'mammal of the month', with many of my safari clients delighted to see them, often for the first time, and with their upland habitats being relatively snow-free, they were not too difficult for me to find, and could actually be quite confiding, often allowing a reasonably close approach for photography....

Having been a bit elusive recently, Brown Hares suddenly seemed to be more numerous and certainly more active, and we were fortunate to get a good number of sightings this month, though a decent photo eluded me....

Red Squirrel

Red Squirrels are pretty reliable visitors to the quieter forest feeding stations, especially during the colder weather, and we managed to see at least one on every safari this month, we also often had random sightings n more natural settings too...

Red Deer stags

Red Deer were seen regularly in their favourite upland glens this month, often in very large same-sex herds, though a few of the stags appeared to have already shed their antlers, leaving them looking somewhat less impressive than usual......

Roe Deer are actually much more common and widespread than most people realise, but their generally secretive and largely crepuscular nature , and distrust of humans, makes it much more likely that you will see them at dawn and dusk....

Sika Deer

Mid-way in size between the above two species, Sika Deer were again encountered regularly this month, with many of my safari clients seeing them for the first time...

Reindeer

Reindeer were once native to Scotland, but were hunted to extinction many hundreds of years ago, however, a reintroduction in the 1950's has proved successful, and it is always a treat to see them on the snowy slopes of our local mountains...

Feral Mountain Goats by Steve Nicklin

Our Feral Mountain Goats were much more obliging this month, and we finally got to see this year's cute youngsters....

Although not strictly 'wildlife', our local celebrity Polar Bear cub is causing quite a stir...for those of you unaware of the story, just click on this link, and prepare to go "aaaahhhh"!...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-43473477

Looking back through my reports and pictures for this month, I reckon we actually did better than I at first thought, despite the often wild and wintry weather, we had plenty of lingering winter birds, a few newly-arrived summer birds and a good selection of indigenous local specialities to entertain us, and after a couple of weeks off, I now feel that I have 'fully charged batteries' ready for my favourite part of the wildlife calendar.... Spring... bring it on!


I know a lot of visitors to this area very wisely check out reviews of attractions at tripadvisor before taking the plunge and booking - you can check out my clients comments at the link below....just cut and paste it into your web browser...

https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attraction_Review-g186537-d3335134-Reviews-Highland_Wildlife_Birdwatch_Safaris-Aviemore_Aviemore_and_the_Cairngorms_Scottish.html

On safari in a beautiful upland glen

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....

John Reddick     10th November 1931 - 10th February 2018

I would like to dedicate this report to my late Dad, John Reddick - undoubtedly the man from whom I inherited my love of the great outdoors and an appreciation of the wonderful wildlife to be found there. 
I know he loved his visits to my adopted Highland homeland, and latterly, when he became too infirm to travel here, my videos of our safari and fishing adventures , and I was very proud to be able to show him his first Eagles , Otters and many other previously unseen species... even if I did once get us stuck in a mountain pass snowdrift which took an epic team effort of digging to get us out safely......happy memories that will last my lifetime.....

February 2018 was, thankfully, on the whole, much better for wildlife - watching than the previous month weather-wise, with the several brief snowy cold snaps interspersed with a few milder spells...and with the days lengthening, snowdrops and crocuses blooming, woodpeckers drumming, songbirds singing, and temperatures approaching double figures on a few occasions, it even , dare I say it?....felt a little spring-like at times...though not at the very end of the month when the Arctic storm dubbed the 'Beast from the East' reminded us in no uncertain terms that it was still very much winter!!!....
Full-day local safari bird lists increased a little this month, with the first returning waders pushing the totals up into the high 40's, though a trip to the nearby Moray Coast or Black Isle can increase this number considerably, whilst mammal day lists varied between 5 and 9 species depending on the time of our start and number of habitats visited, with early starts usually proving more successful for the shyer creatures.

A frosty dawn on a local upland moor

To give you an idea of what you may realistically hope to see if you are planning a future February visit yourself, I hope the following more detailed information, illustrated with photos taken by myself, my friends or my safari clients in this area will help - clicking on the picture enlarges it to full screen.

Wildlife highlights included:

Local speciality/upland bird species seen regularly during the month included:
Black Grouse (at dawn only), Red Grouse, Crested Tit, Dipper , Golden Eagle, and we also had a few decent sightings of Snow Bunting, though Capercaillie and Crossbills again proved elusive....

Winter visiting birds were represented by a few remaining family groups of Whooper Swans, a few flocks of several species of 'grey' Geese, lots of wildfowl such as Goldeneye, Tufted Duck, Wigeon and Teal, whilst a handful of annoyingly mobile Waxwings continued to pillage our fast disappearing berries throughout the month...a few Bramblings, Redpolls, Redwings and Fieldfares were also seen......
Local breeding birds , in the form of waders such as Lapwing, Oystercatcher and Curlew began to appear inland for the first time since the autumn...with numbers increasing throughout the month....

Mammals seen regularly locally during the month included:
Red Deer,  Roe Deer, Reindeer, Sika Deer, Red Squirrel,  Rabbit, Mountain Goat, Brown Hare, and Mountain Hare (white), with just a few brief glimpses of Bank Vole...Whilst a couple of trips to the Moray coast gave good views of both Common and Grey Seal...

Dawn at a Black Grouse lek

Dawn  (still a pretty user-friendly 7 am) on my safaris was usually spent at a local Black Grouse lek site, where we braved the usually freezing temperatures and often wintry weather to enjoy the spectacle of up to 6 of these attractive, and increasingly rare, blue-black cock birds displaying, posturing aggressively and flutter-jumping in a bid to out-display and intimidate their opponents in a bid to secure their little patch of the moorland 'arena' for the forthcoming breeding season, all accompanied by their strange bubbling and whooshing calls drifting across the moor... surely one of British wildlife's 'must-see' (and 'must hear') experiences? 'Performances' were noticeably better on cold, still mornings.... but please be aware that the birds can fail to show in wet and windy weather....

Cock Red Grouse

In the heather too, pre-breeding season behaviour seems to be escalating, though in a very different style to their black cousins, with the cock Red Grouse, red eyebrows bulging, staking out a 'territory' and defending it from intruders whilst uttering their guttural, cackling calls .. often accompanied by a doting hen bird.....

Crested Tit by Bob Smith

My favourite forest feeding stations again proved to be very successful in luring Crested Tits for us to see and photograph at close range, with the colder days proving to be best and the milder days less so, but with the 'Wee Cresties' and many of the other forest birds also showing early signs of breeding season behaviour, I suspect that the days of 'easy' sightings may be coming to an end as their reliance on non-natural food decreases, and the urge to breed kicks in....

Capercaillie poo

Sadly, Capercaillie were not seen at all again, despite several dawn walks in suitable habitat, with the only evidence of their presence being a few of their 'cigarettes' of pine needle filled poo seen on quiet forest tracks.....

Still in the Caledonian pine forests, rather frustratingly, Crossbills too were again very much a 'bogey-bird', with sightings restricted to snatched glimpses of  calling birds flying around the tree tops...even though we spent almost a full day walking round local forest sites on the 24th in search of them... are they feeding and breeding elsewhere? or maybe it is just me?!!

Dipper

Dippers featured frequently on my safaris this month, with visits to my favourite local  sites often giving us good views of these upland river specialities, sometimes carrying nest material close to likely nest sites, usually near a bridge, and occasionally singing and displaying to a prospective mate......and with these hardy little birds absent from much of the UK, many of my safari clients were seeing them for the first time.....

Snow Bunting

Although I had one (unsuccessful) trip high up into the peaks in search of the mountain-top species such as Ptarmigan this month, thankfully the snowy cold spells tempted the Snow Buntings down to slightly lower levels, giving us the chance of great close-up views and photo opportunities of up to 30 of these delightful little birds...

Golden Eagle by Steve Nicklin

Female Sparrowhawk clutching freshly caught and drowned Woodpecker!

Golden Eagle is a rare, iconic, localised and much sought-after bird in the UK, and as I have mentioned before, the shorter days of the winter months give us our best chance of seeing them. This month continued the trend, and we were lucky enough to enjoy a number of memorable sightings of these majestic birds hunting in upland glens, including the rare treat of one seen chasing a fully-grown Red Deer hind along a ridge on the 22nd!!
Raptors in general were pretty well represented this month, with Kestrel, Sparrowhawk, Common Buzzard, Peregrine, Goshawk and Red Kite all being seen at least once...

Whooper Swans

Whooper Swans could still be seen on local lochs, though in smaller numbers now, but they were again quite mobile and elusive, seemingly transferring to the rivers and flooded fields when the lochs froze over....

Waxwing

Waxwings were reported locally up to  mid-month, mostly in just ones and twos, with the flock of 8 birds at Aldi car park in Inverness again proving to be the most reliable .....though they were not reported there after the 10th.

Eiders by Bob Smith

The Moray coast is only about 40 miles North East of Aviemore, and several trips to favourite reserves, salt marshes, lochs, bays and harbours gave good views of  Eiders, Greylag Geese, Pink-Footed Geese, Whooper Swan, Wigeon, Teal, Pintail,  Bar-Tailed Godwit, Knot, Golden Plover , Grey Plover , Ringed Plover , Guillemot, Black Guillemot, and Long-Tailed Duck and we also managed to see the American Wigeon...

American Wigeon by Ron Mitchell

Long-Tailed Ducks by Bob Smith

Other good birds reported locally this month included: Green-Winged Teal, Spotted Redshank, Kingfisher,  Iceland Gull and Glaucous Gull....


Onto mammals now.....

Mountain Hare by Bob Smith

Our local Mountain Hares once again 'stole the show' this month, and it is very hard to argue against them being voted as 'mammal of the day' when you take into account their gorgeous looks in their winter white coats, their relative scarcity in the UK, and the often spectacular upland habitat in which they are found.

Red Squirrel

Red Squirrels too proved to be very popular with my safari clients, again scoring highly for cuteness, and rarity, and we were fortunate enough to enjoy watching up to 3 of these characterful and entertaining little animals enjoying an easy peanut meal at my favourite forest feeding stations...

Feral Mountain Goats

Up in the glens, Feral Mountain Goat sightings were a little more frequent this month, though they were mostly of the larger horned males, and still no sign of any youngsters yet....

Red Deer stag

Red Deer could often be seen well in their large same-sex herds, but only if you used a bit of fieldcraft, and concentrated on looking for them on the leeward side of the hills, as although they are pretty hardy, they are clearly not daft......

Sika Deer

Sika Deer were encountered surprisingly frequently on my safaris this month, with many of my clients seeing them for the first time. For those not familiar with this species, they originate from Asia and were introduced into the UK in the late 19th century...

Roe Deer

Roe Deer however, can be a little trickier to see, being more wary of human disturbance, and most of our sightings were at dawn or in very remote areas, and were usually of the 'brief' variety, as they ran away on becoming aware of us...

So to sum up, despite the often inclement weather, we appear to have continued our decent start to the safari year, with plenty of local specialities and  winter visitors seen, the first 'summer' visitors arriving, and even a few unexpected bonuses seen.....and with winter finally coming towards it's end (I hope!),  and spring on the horizon...we are fast approaching my favourite time of the wildlife-watching 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 and are valid at any time within a year from date of purchase....

Lossiemouth East Beach

January 2018 was our snowiest and coldest month for several years in the Cairngorms National Park, with temperatures regularly falling well below zero, and some nights seeing minus 13c, and with regular heavy snowfall and occasional blizzards, good wildlife watching days were few and far between! So my report may be a little shorter than usual, and may include some photos taken on January safaris from previous years...However, by being flexible, and cherry-picking the best days weather-wise, we did still manage some pretty enjoyable adventures out 'in the field', with the excellent off-road and winter weather abilities of my Land Rover Discovery often proving to be a necessity rather than a luxury!
On a more positive note, the days are noticeably lengthening now, with over 9 hours of usable daylight, and dawn (for the Black Grouse) is still a relatively sociable 7:30am.

Full-day local safari bird lists usually topped-out in the 40's, though a trip to the nearby Moray Coast can boost this total considerably, whilst mammal day lists varied between 4 and 8 depending on the time of our start and number of habitats visited, with early starts proving to be best.

An atmospheric River Spey

To give you an idea of what you may realistically hope to see if you are planning a future January visit yourself,  I hope the following more detailed information, illustrated with photos taken by myself , my friends or my safari clients will help - clicking on the picture will enlarge it to full screen.

Wildlife highlights included:

Local speciality/upland bird species seen regularly during the month included:
Black Grouse (at dawn only), Red Grouse, Crested Tit, Dipper , White-Tailed Eagle and Golden Eagle, and we also had a few decent sightings of Snow Bunting, and just a few brief glimpses of Crossbills. Winter visiting birds were represented by family groups of Whooper Swans and several species of 'grey' Geese, ..and a few Bramblings and Redpolls were seen......

Mammals seen regularly locally during the month included:
Red Deer,  Roe Deer, Reindeer, Red Squirrel,  Rabbit, Brown Hare, Mountain Goat and Mountain Hare (white), with  just a couple of sightings of Sika Deer and Bank Vole...
Whilst a couple of trips to the moray Coast gave good views of both Common and Grey Seal...

Black Grouse

The middle of the month saw our local Blackcocks become noticeably more numerous, and considerably more aggressive at their dawn (around 07:30 am) leks, as they prepare to ramp things up for the forthcoming breeding season, with up to 9 blue-black male birds being seen attempting to stake their claim for mating rights with the hen birds in the spring with much posturing and squaring up to rivals, and the frostier mornings providing the best performances.....though it should be noted that they can fail to show at all on wet and windy mornings.....

Red Grouse

Similarly, on our local upland moorlands, the cock Red Grouse also seem to be upping the aggression levels, as they too seem to be seeking to establish a territory, attract females and repel their rivals, their guttural 'go-bak, go-bak' calls echoing across the otherwise empty moor, and alerting us to their presence in the heather.....and by using my safari vehicle as a kind of mobile hide, we managed some great close-up views...

Crested Tit

Our local Crested Tits continued to show well at my favourite forest feeding stations, especially soon after dawn, and particularly on the colder days, when they are presumably at their most desperate for food, with up to 4 of these true 'local specialities' showing at once...
It is worth noting that the winter months (October-March) are actually the best time of year for seeing the 'wee Cresties', as these characterful little birds can be frustratingly secretive and unobtrusive during the breeding season....

Still in the Caledonian pine forests, rather frustratingly, Crossbills continued to be a bit of a 'bogey-bird', with sightings  restricted to snatched glimpses of  calling birds flying around the tree tops...though this may change soon, as the males should start to sing from the treetops, as they are very early breeders....

Dipper

On the rivers, our local Dippers continued to entertain, with their rarely-heard rippling warble of a song being projected proudly from a prominent rock soon after dawn as they presumably attempt to proclaim their ownership of the territory, and attract a female...

Golden Eagle by Steve Nicklin

January is normally a pretty decent month for sightings of birds of prey in this area, but the wild and wintry weather and the consequent lack of safari bookings restricted my visits to the remote local upland glens to a handful of opportunities, though Golden Eagle, White-Tailed Eagle, Common Buzzard , Sparrowhawk and Kestrel were still all seen....which is pretty decent I reckon...

Snow Buntings

The heavy snowfall actually worked to our advantage where Snow Buntings were concerned, as they were driven down from the inhospitable mountain tops to known lower altitude sites, where a sprinkling of wild bird seed , plenty of patience and some warm clothes gave us some decent sightings of flocks of up to 30 birds....

The Arctic style weather (and multitudes of noisy snowsports enthusiasts!) dissuaded me from making any ventures up into the Cairngorms snowy tops this month..... so sadly I have no information about the Ptarmigan to report..

Whooper Swans

Whooper Swans could still be seen on local lochs, though they became more mobile and elusive, seemingly transferring to the rivers and flooded fields when the lochs froze over....

Greylag Geese and Pink-Footed Geese were both noted locally, seen on lochs, rivers or fields, depending on the weather....

Waxwing by Steve Nicklin

The cold weather seemed to bring a few small flocks of Waxwings over the North Sea into our area,  and I managed to get my 'year-list tick', in the somewhat less than scenic setting of Aldi car Park in Inverness!!! Seems like Waxwings can't resist a bargain too........

American Wigeon

The Moray coast is only about an hours drive North East of Aviemore, and a couple of trips to favourite reserves, lochs, bays and harbours gave good views of  winter visitors such as Greylag Geese, Barnacle Geese, Pink-Footed Geese, Brent Geese,Whooper Swan, Wigeon, Teal, Pintail,  Bar-Tailed Godwit, Knot, Golden Plover , and Grey Plover,  and I also managed to see an American Wigeon... whilst a trip a little further north to Loch Fleet rewarded me with my first Shorelarks for many a year...

Bar-Tailed Godwit

Other good birds reported locally this month included:  Kingfisher, Twite, Iceland Gull and Glaucous Gull....


Onto mammals now...

Mountain Hare by Steve Nicklin

Our local Mountain Hares are now at their most splendid, their winter-white coats giving them an amazingly 'cute' appearance, that is actually quite at odds with their true character... in reality, these are incredibly hardy animals that can survive the toughest weather that winter can throw at them...

Red Deer

Up in the glens, the Red Deer, in their large same-sex herds, were seen 'digging' through the often deep snow to get to the grass below...though if it gets too deep, they will temporarily vacate the mountain tops for the forests below....

Red Squirrel

With natural food at it's most difficult to find, our Red Squirrels were not shy in visiting forest feeding stations  for the free feasts on offer, which makes it much easier for my safari clients to see them, as they can be surprisingly elusive in the forests....

Roe Deer by Steve Nicklin

As I suggested last month, Roe Deer are probably much more common and widespread than most people realise, but their nervous disposition and mainly crepuscular nature means that unless you visit fairly quiet sites and are out and about early or late in the day, you can easily miss seeing them...

Feral Mountain Goat

Our feral Mountain Goats were a bit elusive this month, and I suspect that they may have temporarily vacated the mountain tops for the shelter and safety of the forests, as they usually give birth to their cute youngsters early in the new year....

Common Seal

As I mentioned earlier, the sheltered harbours of the Moray Coast gave great views of both Common and Grey Seals, that seem to be relatively unconcerned by us humans, often giving great photo opportunities....


Well, despite the particularly wintry start to the year making it a bit 'quieter' than normal on the safaris front, I reckon we have still got the wildlife year off to a pretty decent start... and the days are lengthening, the birds are definitely sensing that spring is approaching, the bookings diary is filling up, and hopefully the weather will improve soon.....

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....

Dusk at a local upland loch