June is one of our busiest months for day guiding in Speyside. The summer visitors are all here and there are lots of breeding birds around and lots of wildflowers. One day guide started off with a request to see Crested Tit and Crossbill before going up Cairngorm and looking for mountain species. We began early and managed to hear Crossbills but not see them. We walked around and managed to briefly see and hear a Common Redstart. We wandered an area with smaller pines lookin

May is one of our busiest months for day guiding in Speyside, and for good reason. It is when the wildlife reaches its peak, alongside June. The summer visitors have all returned and the breeding season is well underway. One of my day guides began in an area of birch woodland, looking for Wood Warblers, Tree Pipits and Pied Flycatchers. We managed to see two Wood Warblers carrying nesting material, confirming they had returned to breed in the area this year. Pied Flycatcher w

It had been quite cold in the Cairngorms this past December. But just because it was cold, didn’t mean there was nothing to see, quite the opposite. Around Inshriach, there were plenty of songbirds such as Great Tits, Coal Tits, Blue Tits, Long Tailed Tits and Greenfinches. On occasion, I spot Buzzards and Sparrowhawk, flashing past, as it swoops after songbirds. I managed to see all of these species in December.

October is here and it’s looking very autumnal here in the Cairngorm’s National Park. The leaves are either turning orange or have fallen off. The Ospreys have gone south to Africa, so have the Swallows, Sand and House Martins. The Black Throated Divers and Slavonian Grebes have returned to the coast for the winter. But there is still plenty happening within the National Park and before long we’re bound to get more autumn visitors.

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...

Oh October! Lovely warm orange colours and crunchy leaves underfoot and in the Cairngorm’s National Park, nature’s natural firework...