Cairngorms 2019

RSPB Loch Garten

Returning to the highlands of Scotland with its beautiful mountains and lichen clad trees is always a breath of fresh air, quite literally. Not long after we passed the sign welcoming us to Scotland, a red squirrel dashed across the A-road we were driving on, a little ginger harbinger of the days to come.

A bold little red squirrel also welcomed us to RSPB Loch Garten, a literal manifestation of the term ‘bright eyed and bushy tailed’. Much more agile than the chunkier grey squirrels that preside back home, this lithe individual seemed perfectly at home feasting on the peanuts provided at the Osprey Centre before taking up the spiral tree trunk chase with another. The best view I’ve ever had of this species, it gave me time to study his features and expressions in more detail; the luscious ear tufts, the flecks of ginger, red, grey, blond, white in his coat, the unspoilt creamy white of his underside, the slender but strong ‘fingers’ and toes’ for grasping and the long strands of fur making up a magnificent tail.

Other visitors here included an endless stream of chaffinches alongside a few siskins and great tits. We followed the ‘Two lochs trail’ in the hope of seeing crossbills and cresties, but neither decided to show themselves. A male goldeneye out on Loch Garten showed off its markings above and below by rolling in the still water to clean.

CairnGorm

The base station at CairGorm has been a brilliant location for spotting wildlife in the past, and, although we saw fewer species here this time, the ring ouzels did not disappoint. The male in particular was very showy, sporting his white bib against ebony feathers, each outlined in white, giving a scalloped appearance to his plumage.

As we ascended higher, our attention was caught by the motor-sounding call of a red grouse that landed amongst the heather lower down. The higher we walked, the more snow appeared under foot. Another ring ouzel appeared, and, as we were looking at him, we heard tiny footsteps on the snow behind us. As we turned, we were met with a pair of ptarmigan scurrying across the snow on their fluffy feet, softly calling to each other. Another pair, slightly closer this time, were outside the ‘Ptarmigan café’. These two really let us appreciate their markings. The male, having lost most of his winter plumage, was still white below with almost-black tortoiseshell feathers above, dappled black and white head and neck and large red ‘eyebrow’. The female still retained some of her winter plumage with a few tortoiseshell feathers coming through and a generally daintier build, especially around the head and beak. This is the first time we have seen these birds properly, rather than just a far off flying bird.

As the day drew on, and the mountain got busier, the wildlife got less, but the constant sounds to the walk were the calls of meadow pipits at all levels, alighting on the heather or wires of the ski lifts. 

A trip to the Cairngorms: Day 1 Rothiemurchus

This is our second trip to the Cairngorms, we enjoyed it so much last year, we decided to come back in search of more wildlife, fresh air and great walks.

The most amazing thing about walking in this general area is the sheer abundance of lichen dripping from almost every tree – spiky, filamentous, hairy; the diversity and volume of this green fuzz is phenomenal. That, and being surrounded by almost constant bird song shows what an incredible place this is. Great, blue and coal tits, the latter a less shy and retiring and seemingly much more abundant bird than in Norfolk. Chaffinches pairing up, fighting and chasing each other; white flashes of wings and tails as they zip between trees in hot pursuit of each other. Unseen goldcrests trilled from somewhere and great spotted woodpeckers drummed, their percussions resounding from another unknown location, successfully remaining unseen.

Following one of the footpaths to Loch Eilein, we took a sidepath to Lochan Mor. This little loch was writhing with common toads by the bridge on which we stood, some just coming to the surface to sunbathe. Tearing our eyes away from the toads, drawn by a number of loud little grebes, and up to the stunning view (there were a lot of those!), it was evident there were other residents to this loch. Piebald ducks with a shocking yellow iris, a few male goldeneyes skimmed the surface and dived. A sleepy pair of goosander drifted with the slight current, occasional awoken by the grebes.

Back tracking to the main path, we had to watch our feet. Common frogs, toads and even a newt were sitting on the path. A few of which we tried to move to prevent their early demise from unwary walkers and cyclists.

On reaching Loch Eilein and making a quick visit to the shop for supplies, I almost missed our first red squirrel of our visit. Luckily, my husband was quick on the uptake with my camera for evidence. I just caught the flash of auburn moving through the silver birch and pines, with a flash of blonde gracing the end of tip of its luxurious tail. Despite the number of visitors and dogs, to which it seemed oblivious, it returned and foraged lower to the ground. A good omen for the next few days of wildlife watching. 

#30DaysWild - Days 11&12 - RSPB Minsmere and allotmenting

Well, it's certainly been a wild weekend. The photos I managed to take at Minsmere don't do justice to the phenomenal amount of wildlife we actually saw...

We arrived at RSPB Minsmere in early afternoon, so headed straight to the Discovery Centre for the picnic area. It was far quieter than we imagined for a weekend during #Springwatch, and genuinely debated eating our lunch on the play area, in the mock-up sand martin bank... but as a group of teachers, we decided to be sensible and use the picnic table instead. As we sat next to the swaying oak trees, we were joined by a single robin and a bushy tailed squirrel, and we sweltered in the warm humidity of the surrounding air. A female black cap made her presence known at the top of a small tree.

Walking through the cool woodland, we were surprised to find great tits nesting in a number of the brightly coloured bird boxes directly next to the visitor trails. We could hear them calling to the parent birds for food as we passed, but did not linger to avoid disturbing them. My attention was also caught by the calls of a great spotted woodpecker. We looked up to be greeted by the face of a woodpecker chick poking out of its tree stump home. Soon, the adult visited to feed its young and the chick retreated back in, with only a shadow of its bill visible.


We headed to bittern hide. It was packed and we had to stand, but that did not spoil the beautiful landscape sprawling in front of us. A huge marsh harrier made a close pass to the hide, a beautiful and majestic bird, it's dark 'fingers' clearly visible at the end of its wings. Bursts of the babble of Cetti's warbler surrounded us, but there seemed little to see in the afternoon heat. A water rail made a run for it across a small open inlet, its long legs carrying it quickly across. A hobby graced the sky, flying directly towards the hide, before scything off to one side and disappearing over the trees. Then, a bird which I always try and fail to see at Minsmere appeared. A bittern flew out from almost directly underneath the hide and landed in the reeds a few metres away. The sun caught its wings beautifully, each feather showing in exquisite detail. Almost as suddenly as it appeared, it vanished again, leaving me wondering if we'd all just imagined this other-worldly encounter. However, it began booming and eventually showed movement, reeds flattening in its wake and an almost imperceptible bill and head, with those dark bars near the eyes, moved up and remained vertical for some time, before it slunk further into the reeds and disappeared.

On our way to the next hide, we noticed cameras set up on a number of stickleback nests. Maybe this will be another 'Spineless Si' on Springwatch?

Looking over the side of the boardwalk, which was flanked with early marsh orchids, we noticed a small, long-tailed, auburn coloured bird flitting back and forth - there were bearded tits!!! None were close or still enough to photograph, but watching them through binoculars was treat enough for me today, with their blue heads and ridiculous moustaches, they were impressively agile flyers and disappearing artists. As soon as they landed, they were gone from sight.

In the hide, we watched a pair of reed warblers either squabbling or courting, it was hard to tell, right next to the windows. An otter made an appearance, bobbing along at the very back of the water body. Marsh harriers graced the sky here too, gliding across the fenland.

Walking back, we tried the adder trail, but rather than adders, it was full of rabbits and dragonflies (mainly four-spotted chasers), as well as a young scurry of squirrels. I have to love the common British wildlife as much as the rare!

Wildlife at the allotment is my focus of today. I have to admit that I haven't visited in a while, but I was pleased by the wildlife we saw in the brief spell we had whilst the sun was still shining. Digging over a patch of soil, I came across ladybird larvae, which I tried my best to save. Poppies which had self seeded over some of ours and the surrounding patches were humming with bees and the larkspur I diligently tried to raise indoors last year were thriving in the great outdoors. A robin joined us to hoover up grubs we were unearthing and a blackbird was chinking from nearby trees. Swifts screamed overhead and gradually got lower and lower with the changing air pressure, until the heavens opened and we got a proper basking (drenched in a heavy rain shower).