Birding Braunie

Oh my days! Is it Friday already? This was our last full day with Heatherlea and it was destined to be a big one. Correction: The big one. Do these birding tour operators plan this? Do they always save the best for last? I don’t know. Some would say the Capercaillie caper would have done it and it did in many ways but this day would match it or in some eyes surpass it. You be the judge. Another full fat breakfast! My only thoughts during this now routine ceremony was whether I would still fit in the minibus. To be honest, I thought we would be doing a bit more walking on this trip but apart from the odd amble up a hill, we were never far from the transport. The birding day began with an excursion to Roseisle and initially around some of the farmland minor roads where we picked up a couple of corn buntings just sitting on fence wires. Looking out from a viewpointon the Moray Firth at Burghead Bay there were velvet and common scoters, eider and a few red-breasted merganser. Telescope out...

Although the scenery and wildlife of Skye was amazing, to wake up back in Nethy Bridge and to the amazing breakfasts the Mountview Hotel serves up was so good. A few of us were up early for an early morning walk down to the bridge to see if we could see the dipper but alas not. We took a little walk into the forest and I tried my best to find a lesser redpoll for Phil who had missed them up to now. We saw plenty of siskin and goldcrest but no redpolls. We happened across a few creepy installations left by well, witches would be my guess. The others suggested it was just kids but I don’t know. Not a dipper in sight. Not a lesser redpoll in sight Not an evil witch in sight Not a window in sight After our fruitless walk which we did at least come back to our hotel without being bewitched which was nice, we had 'that' breakfast and prepared for another amazing day. It began with a quick trip to Craigellachie, a nice trail through a rocky woodland. Our hope had been for early ...

Today was more about the wide shots; the atmospheric vistas deserving a bit of Hans Zimmer music if I’m perfectly honest. Okay so most of the birds were too far away to really a) appreciate and b) get a decent pic of. We started out exploring the south of Skye – the Sleat Peninsula and Ord Loop. Around the Kilbeg area we made a brief stop in an area of scrub and woodland. We heard now of course the willow warbler and some of the group caught the song of a chiffchaff as we slowly drove along a track/road. Chris our guide then caught the reeling song of a grasshopper warbler so we all disembarked the vehicles (some quicker than others). Eventually, we all got to hear the reeling although Phil could not due to his hearing impairment. However, it was Phil who was the first to see this secretive warbler and helped other get onto it which wasn’t easy. We also had a distant white-tailed eagle and a cuckoo fly past as well as views of a tree pipit but it didn’t hang around. Once every...

How beautiful is Skye? I have such happy memories of this isle from 2008, a family holiday that was spent on the coral beaches and in some of the finest restaurants the Isle had to offer. And speaking of fine food, after another, yes another full Scottish breakfast, we went a short distance to Broadford Bay for an unscheduled stop. One of our party needed some travel medication and the this was the nearest place for a pharmacy. While we waited, we used the time to check the bay for birds. Our group at Cabost So this feels like a good time to tell you about the dynamic of the group on this trip and the personalities that made it such a great tour. There were 13 of us on the trip plus our two Heatherlea guides. We needed two small mini buses and travelled in convoy. In the front bus, the seating arrangements were pretty straight forward. Kev and Viv, two of Phil’s friends, Mo, a lady from Somerset and Wendy, a seasoned Heatherlea customer (0ver 150 trips with them to Scotland...I know, m...