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Birding holidays in Scotland   
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Travel Options Speyside in Summer Speyside in Winter Argyll and the Isles in Winter Links
  Speyside in Winter
Featuring Speyside, the Moray coast and the Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park.

This is a five day tour to Speyside, the Spey estuary and Loch Lomond aiming to see Golden Eagle, Capercaillie,
Scottish Crossbill, Crested Tit , Ptarmigan and a fantastic range of wintering divers, wildfowl and waders.

Below: Trees in winter at Loch Mallachie, Cairngorms National Park

Possible bird list of 110 species. Maximum of 8 persons and two leaders.

2009 Dates: 6th - 11th November 2009

Hotel: The Coach House, Cardross and The Grant Arms Hotel incorporating the Birdwatching and Wildlife Club, Speyside on a Dinner, packed lunch, Bed and Breakfast basis. 

Cost: £699.00 per person.

After a Friday early afternoon arrival in Glasgow, you will be picked up and transferred free of charge to your holiday base, the Birdwatching and wildlife watching club within the Grant Arms Hotel, in Speyside. Once settled in you will be given a short presentation on your chosen birding break before enjoying your evening meal and hospitality in the hotel.

In the morning, we will go for a short walk to look for Crested Tit and other Caledonian pinewood specialities. The Caledonian pine forest is a truly remarkable place and has a rich diversity of both animal and plantlife. Dawn within the forest is a beautiful experience and wandering amongst the ancient Caledonian Pines is wonderfully atmospheric. With Red Deer and Red Squirrel moving quietly through the ancient pines, it promises to be a memory you will never forget. At this time we hope to see Capercaillie and Scottish Crossbill. The forest is home to all three crossbill species, Common, Scottish and Parrot and we will dedicate as much time as we can to try to see such special species.

Above: Loch Morlich and the Cairngorms

During your holiday we will head to the Cairngorms aiming to see Snow Bunting, Red Grouse and Ptarmigan. Having undergone their moult into their white winter plumage, Ptarmigan are quite different in appearance and combined with their croaking call they are a real must-see species in Speyside. In summer these birds live at sub-arctic altitudes but in winter they often come down the slopes of the mountains. Should you wish to take a walk in this amazing environment, our expert birder and hillwalker will take you on to the hill to see these special birds.

Alternatively, we can let the train take the strain, and board the Cairngorm Mountain Railway to the aptly named Ptarmigan Restaurant which is near the top of the mountain. Sitting on the terrace at nearly 4000 feet amongst the most incredible mountain backdrop, with a tea or a coffee and a slice of cake, we should still see Ptarmigan and Snow Bunting. All that, with tea and Ptarmigan, the star of mountain birding!

Above left: Snow Bunting

Left: Ptarmigan in winter plumage

Right: Cairngorm Mountain Railway

We will be visiting areas within the Rothiemurchus estate in the foothills of the Cairngorms and will be right up on the tree line and dedicate time to enhance our chance of encountering our most enigmatic mammals, Scottish Wildcat and Pine Marten.

Right:

Pine Marten

Left: Red Deer stags in the Cairngorms

 

Below right: Pink-Footed Geese

We will follow the river Findhorn from its source high in the mountains encountering Red Deer herds at incredibly close range, a real photo opportunity and at all times, a great chance of seeing Golden Eagles.

We will then head down river to the estuary to pick up Velvet, Common and possibly Surf Scoter as well as Long-tailed Duck, Scaup, Great northern, Black and Red throated Diver as well as Great, Slavonian and possibly Red necked Grebe. The Moray coastline always produces species of interest and the sight of thousands of winter wildfowl and waders in truly impressive.

With our time in Speyside coming to a close we will head south to the Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park. Here, we will explore Rob Roy Country. The National Park has a wonderful wildfowl population with Greenland White fronted, Pink and Greylag Geese. The scenery is absolutely stunning and makes the most atmospheric of backdrops for these wintering visitors.

Below: The Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park with a snowcapped Ben Lomond and the Endrick Mouth National Nature Reserve in the foreground.

We will then make the short journey to the Slammannan Plateau to see the only population of Bean Geese in Scotland and for most of the winter the only Bean Goose flock in Britain. These are a truly remarkable population of a species that was once thought to be extinct in Scotland and we will spend time understanding the ecology of these special birds.

During our time in central Scotland we will take the chance another of the countries special birds, Black Grouse. The region has a healthy population of this species of conservation concern and every responsible effort will be made to see these extraordinary birds. As the day draws to a close, we will then join Duncan Cameron for a Red Kite radio tracking demonstration during which he will invite you to have a go tracking the local kite population which is a real highlight to the holiday and the most memorable of experiences.

The Wild Caledonia team believes that these are unquestionably the best value birding holidays available in Scotland. The holidays are unique and draw on the experience and active input from many of Scotland's birding experts.

 

What's included in your holiday:

  • Dinner, bed and breakfast
  • Lunch
  • Teas and coffees during your days birding
  • All transport costs
  • All guiding services
  • Evening talks
  • Entry to all estates and activities
  • All transfers to and from your holiday hotel

What's not included in your holiday:

  • Drinks at dinner or at the bar
  • Items of a personal nature

Gallery of images taken by and of previous Wild Caledonia clients

 

Home and Contact Page About Our Holidays Argyll and the Isles in Summer The Team Booking Form
Travel Options Speyside in Summer Speyside in Winter Argyll and the Isles in Winter Links

 

 
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