There are currently three species of crossbill recognised in Speyside: the Common Crossbill, the Scottish Crossbill and the Parrot Crossbill, with around six species recognised in the world. Members of the finch family, they have bills which their mandibles crossover. This is an adaptation for extracting the seeds from pinecones. Their genus name is Loxia, the Ancient Greek, meaning ‘Crosswise’. The crossbills use their bills to prize apart the cones segments and they have ba

Autumn in the Cairngorms is a good time to view the mammals from the hide, they now have their thick winter coats and come in to feed and...

The air in the Cairngorms is noticeably colder, the days are becoming shorter and nature is slowing down. In the past few weeks, I have...

Here is our monthly update from our hide near Aviemore in the Cairngorms. Our Local Badger Clan - There are at least eight Badgers in our...

It’s a great past time of mine, walking and looking for wildlife at the same time. In the past couple years, gaining more experience as a...

In this blog post we’ll talk about the four most regular owl species found in Speyside and in most of Britain. Because most of these are nocturnal, owls are something of an enigma. So let’s broaden our understand of these charismatic, elusive birds. Tawny Owl ( Strix Aluco ) Tawny Owl (Photo Credit: Speyside Wildlife) This is the owl that makes the classic ‘twit-ti-woo’ noise. What you might not know is that only Tawny Owls make this sound and even then, only the males. The f

Here is our monthly update from our Evening Mammal Hide in the Cairngorms, near Aviemore. Badgers - They’ve been coming in every day...

Here in Strathspey, it has been noticeable quieter the last couple weeks. Warblers and Swallows left us to head for warmer climates for...

Red Deer ( Cervus elaphus ) are the largest species of deer in the UK and its largest land animal. They can stand up to one metre thirty-seven centimetres at the shoulder and for males the nose to tail length is just over two metres. They live in the forests, moorlands and mountains of Scotland and other parts of the UK. In the summertime they are more social and feed on grasses, sedges and rushes. They will also browse young trees, especially Rowan ( Sorbus aucuparia ). In t

Here is our monthly update from our Evening Mammal Hide in the Cairngorms, near Aviemore. Badgers - The Badgers have continued to amuse...

Common Buzzard (Buteo Buteo) - One of our commonest raptors and often mistaken for the Golden Eagle, it has been dubbed the ‘Tourist’s...

Our Local Badger Clan - There are at least nine Badgers in our group, one of which is a cub from this year which took almost a month to...

Hello everyone, it’s Harris here and we are back with part two of ‘Botany in Speyside’. Last time we looked at some of the rarest plants...

At our Evening Mammal Hide near Aviemore, the Badgers are still coming regularly to feed and delight our visitors at every turn. There’s...

Hi Everyone. For this post I’m going to talk about botany. The Cairngorms is well known for its birds and mammals. But equally as rare...

As any good guide knows, when planning a day out, you don’t only think of the species you hope to see and where you think they might be....

The action has kept going at our Evening Wildlife Watching Hide and the Badgers have been coming every night. No sign of the cubs yet but...

In this post I’ll be sharing with you our star attractions that appear seasonally in Speyside and the surrounding areas. Some you might...

Watching wildlife up close in the Cairngorms without disturbing it, whilst we sit inside our large hide, protected from midges and the weath

When we are out and about on our Guided Day’s Out, we are always on the look out for evidence of where wildlife has been. It’s always...