Day Guiding Blog July 2026

July is another fantastic month for seeing wildlife in Speyside and some great days out have been had. Although most the breeding season is now finished, there are plenty of birds and mammals still around, including many juveniles that are now learning how to be independent and looking for their own territories. Various species of raptors including Golden and White Tailed Eagles have a decent chance of being seen because of new juveniles being around, with this trend likely to last through August and into the autumn. Hopefully as summer progresses the excellent rate of sightings will continue.

One day I took a group of people out for the day and we first went to a loch where we saw Black Throated Divers, Red Grouse, Lapwings, Common Sandpipers and Greylag Geese. We later had a malfunction with the minibus which took hours to get fixed, but as we were waiting we had a Red Kite and some Ravens. Once the minibus was fixed we went after Slavonian Grebes which we managed to get and later went to a forest area where Crested Tit was seen. Despite the setback in the day we managed to get a decent variety of species.

Black Throated Diver (Photo Credit: Andrew Hoyne)

Slavonian Grebe (Photo Credit: Olly Slessor)

Crested Tit (Photo Credit: Jane Hope)

One day I took a family out for the day and we went to a moorland area with a loch and managed to find 2 Black Throated Divers, Mountain Hares and Golden Plovers, with Lapwings, Greylag Geese, Common Sandpipers, Sand Martins, Black Headed Gulls and Lesser Black Backed Gulls seen also. We later drove to a woodland area where Crested Tits, Coal Tits, Great Tits, Blue Tits, Chaffinches and a Red Squirrel were seen. We also visited a loch where Slavonian Grebes, Little Grebes, Mallards, Goldeneyes and Tufted Ducks were seen. The time of year was getting on for Slavonian Grebes so we were fortunate to have one that day. We later drove to a valley where Buzzards, a young Golden Eagle, 3 White Tailed Eagles, Red Kites, Kestrels and Red Deer were seen which ended the day very nicely and the guests were very happy.

Golden Eagle (Photo Credit: Roy Atkins)

White Tailed Eagle (Photo Credit: Christine Maughan)

On another it began in a similar way but with more to see. We found 2 Black Throated Divers which to my surprise decided to take flight and were only seen briefly. As we drove on we saw a few female Red Grouse with chicks, then two young Mountain Hares were seen and one was observed for almost as long as we wanted from the minibus before it hopped away. No adult Mountain Hares were seen that day, to my surprise, but at least seeing young ones was a sign that breeding had happened.

Red Grouse (Photo Credit: Craig Round)

Mountain Hare (Photo Credit: Craig Round)

Then we were off to a woodland area where Crested Tit, Chaffinches, Coal Tits, Blue Tits, Great Tits and a Red Squirrel were seen and then later to a loch where Little Grebes, Mallards, Goldeneyes, Tufted Ducks, Sand Martins and Swallows were seen next to large rafts of White Water Lilly and Least Water Lily - which is a rare Highland plant with yellow flowers. We later went to a valley where we had Pheasants, Brown Hares, Rabbits, Buzzards, Red Kites, an Osprey, 2 Kestrels and 3 White Tailed Eagles, of which 2 were juveniles. A big herd of Red Deer and at least 15 Feral Goats were seen on a hillside, one of the largest groups of Feral Goats I’d ever seen. It was very good day out overall and the guests left very happy.

Red Deer (Photo Credit Steve Batt)

Feral Goat (Photo Credit: Olly Slessor)

If you would like to go on a day out with us go to: http://bit.ly/sw_DG and book your place