A Spring Guided Day Out in Speyside

Last week, I took two guests out for an Extended Guided Day Out to see as much wildlife as possible in and around the Cairngorms National Park. After discussing our plans and logistics for the day, earlier on in the week, I came up with a plan to include their target species and explore a variation of habitats. The guests had chosen an extended day which is 10 hours, giving us ample opportunity to search for their target species of Grouse, birds of prey, Divers, Crested Tit and Crossbill.

The local guides have all been out and about and had exchanged sightings of what had arrived. So, with this, I was hopeful we would see some newly arrived migrants.

Starting at 7.30am, I collected the guests from their accommodation in Aviemore to start our day. The weather was great, beautiful sunny day, hardly any wind and a temperature of around 17 degrees was expected. Wonderful. After our introductions, we headed off north to a heathland.

Chatting along the way about what to expect of the day, we turn off onto a quiet road and pause at a little pond. A small piece of water that often attracts a variety of birds. Teal, Greylag Geese, Lapwing, Oystercatcher and Curlew are all surrounding this tiny bit of water. Nice start. We continue up the single-track road and chat about the Cairngorms Connect project and the deer fence we can see, surrounding newly planted trees. We stop in a layby, and I ask the guests to keep quiet as they exit the vehicle. As we get out and move round to a viewpoint, we see five Black Grouse dancing. After a minute or two, we realise we can hear them coo’ing and bubbling away.

Scoping the heathland for Black Grouse (Ailie Brown)

Around us are Curlews calling, Wren singing and Redpolls flying overhead. After enjoying the Black Grouse lekking for a good thirty minutes, we move on. Heading north again, we come to a heather moorland. Turning again onto an even smaller single track, we roll down the windows and drive slow. Meadow Pipits are displaying, and we can hear Skylarks singing. I point out the shapes we are looking for here and what we might see. A loch comes into sight, and we pull up into a parking spot. As soon as we get out the car, the guests point to a single male Red Grouse, feet from the minibus, he doesn’t seem to be bothered about us at all. Moving to the back of the minibus, we set our scopes on him, not that we need to, but at this distance, we can really see every feather.

Curlews again calling and there are a couple of Goldeneye on the loch, we move further on round to the other side. Redshank are feeding along the shore and Lapwings are in the field on the other side of us. Stopping a couple times for the farmer who is rounding up his sheep, we pull in and park, to admire the view. We climb on top of a small mound for a higher view of the loch and a scan of the hills. One of the guests picks up a bird of prey. I get my scope on it and to our delight, it’s a Golden Eagle. We watch it as it climbs higher and out of sight. Fantastic!

Back in the minibus, we take our time, retracing our route back and pause at a fenced in Pine woodland. We spot a Red Squirrel and then another, and then another. Three of them are chasing each other through the trees, getting out of the minibus, we walk up a track in order to see the tops of the Pine’s. Sure enough, we find a singular Crossbill feeding. We can hear a few more but there are no others in sight. Onwards again, passing where we saw the Red Grouse, I see a familiar shape in the water, it’s my first spring sighting of Black Throated Divers. Excellent! We watch them float on the water for ten minutes, enjoying the sunshine, before they decide to take a nap, and that’s our cue to go. Time to head back down to the nearest village for a comfort break.

Next, we head west into a large glen. This is usually what I pick for our Highland Glen itinerary, but it’s only 11am and we have most of the day. It takes us about 20 minutes to get to the start of the glen. We cross over a bridge and admire the viaduct for the trainline to our right. Turning onto a narrow single track, we slowly make our way into the glen, enjoying the view as we go. A single Red Deer stag grabs our attention, it’s hoovering up seed underneath a bird feeder.

A river runs along on our left and we scan for Dippers as we drive slowly. Pulling into a large parking area, we get out and scan the hills on all sides. We pick up Buzzard, Red Kite and a possible distant Golden Eagle. Across from us, there are a several waders, mixed into the sheep field. We scan through them and find beautiful Golden Plover in their breeding plumage. Lapwings, Curlew, Redshank and Black headed Gulls are also noted in the field. Onto our lunch spot which is next to the river, we are greeted by a Grey Wagtail and a Pied Wagtail. Both calling and flitting across the stones. I scan the hillside and pick up another Golden Eagle. Wow, this is just unreal. You can really notice it's golden colour in the sunshine.

After a nice break, we bundle back into the minibus for our final stop at the end of the glen. It’s getting very warm and there is nothing to be seen in the skies. We decide to head back but as we prepare to leave, a Buzzard calls over the hill and as I see it in my bino’s, I notice it’s being mobbed. A pair of Peregrine on the cliffside manoeuvre back and forth and chase off the Buzzard.

Onto our next stop, we come out of the glen and head back south. I pull off the road and park up. We get out of the minibus and walk along a track to a secluded loch. As we are quietly walking towards the loch, one of the guests spots the species we are here to see. Slavonian Grebe. In their breeding plumage, they are just spectacular. We see two pairs over the next 20 minutes. We don’t move closer to the loch and just scan, Goldeneye, Little Grebe, Greylag Geese. It’s a busy little place.

Only a quick stop as I have a very special place to end the day. Back to the minibus, we drive further south, and pull into a little village and park up. We head into a sheep field and a Roe Deer spot’s us. We watch him feed for a moment and head towards the River Spey.

Once at a viewpoint, we all scan the river. There are a few large tree’s across from us, and I have seen what I was hoping for. The guests look through the scope and are delighted with the first Osprey of the season. The Osprey’s often fish on this part of the river and we are lucky to see two! One flies off and show’s us it’s wingspan as it leaves. I manage to just make out a couple of distant Red Throated Divers further upstream. We enjoy the last of the afternoon here, and spot a little hive of activity on the sandy soil. I think they must be Ashy Mining Bee's. deciding we have enough time for one more quick stop, we move on.

We drive back towards Aviemore, enjoying a winding, scenic back road. Our last stop is a forest. Pulling into a layby, we get out and stretch our legs. We spend a good 30 minutes wandering along and then back on a wide forest track. There is birdsong but unfortunately not the elusive Crested tit, we were hoping for. Before leaving, a Sparrowhawk come’s up over the Pine’s, giving us a nice view.

Guests looking for Crested Tit (Ailie Brown)

We couldn’t have asked for a better day. As a guide, I feel the wildlife did most of the work and showed extremely well. It always helps when you have great guests too! We saw a total of 54 species, including 7 species the guests had never seen before.