Day Guiding Blog June 2026
- Harris Brooker
- 1 day ago
- 4 min read
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 looking for Crested Tit. I told my guests that there was a chance we might not get them. At this time of year Crested Tits are breeding and are less prone to hanging around as they are always on the move looking for food for their young. On previous day guides I’d taken guests to a nest site we’d found recently and because we were nowhere near the nest site, that was why I was sceptical. However, we heard Crested Tit and managed to see an adult feeding two youngsters. I think we had 4 of them that day and it was a lifer for the guests.
We took the first Funicular train up at 10am and went out onto the summit area, with the weather being the best we could ask for. Very few mountain day guides are requested and for those that do, the weather can easily interfere, especially the wind and rain. If the wind is faster than 30mph a summit visit is out of the question as it was the last time I did a mountain day guide. So, naturally I was delighted to get my first ever chance at doing a summit walk. When we got up the Funicular to the top station we immediately saw our first Snow Bunting in its black and white breeding plumage. We went higher and managed to see a Mountain Hare and it stayed still for us and gave us really good views. As we walked higher some Ptarmigan were seen and their croaking was heard. They flew over and didn’t stayed but it was another lifer for the guests. We reached the top and then eventually worked our way down where we heard the two toned whistle of a Dotterel which sadly remained unseen. We managed to see two Ring Ouzels, one of them being very close to the top station and when we went down we saw another Ring Ouzel. A Red Grouse was glimpsed by some on the way down. A female Black Grouse with chicks and a Common Cuckoo were the last birds seen in the day.
On another day guide I took my guests to look for Black Grouse and we managed to get some despite the season for them nearly being over and about 3 of them were seen. We moved on and managed to see Red Grouse, Black Throated Divers and Mountain Hares at a moorland area with Red Kites seen as well. We then went to a valley where three immature White Tailed Eagles were seen, as well as Red Kites, a Kestrel, Buzzards and a Golden Eagle were seen. We ended the day with a visit to a pine forest where we watched a Crested Tit come and go from a nest hole which ended the day brilliantly.
On another day I took my guests out to look for Red Grouse and we managed to see two females with chicks, as well as three Black Throated Divers amongst many other things. We later into a pine forest and looked for Crossbills and some were heard and seen briefly with a Golden Ringed Dragonfly seen as well. We later moved to a valley where we saw several Red Deer, including 2 stags feeding together and a large herd of females further on.
On another day with the same guests we were after plants and managed to see Intermediate Wintergreen, Heath Spotted Orchid and Moonwort in a moorland area and later we moved to a pine forest where we found Twinflower, One Flowered Wintergreen along with a Crossbill at the top of a tree. In a nearby meadow we enjoyed sightings of Northern Brown Argus, Common Blue, an Orangetip (a late one), Dark Green and Small Pearl Bordered Fritillary butterflies alongside lots of Melancholy Thistles. As the day drew to a close we drove to another meadow where Small White Orchid, Heath Fragrant Orchid and Lesser Butterfly Orchid were found. We later went to an area of pine forest where Serrated Wintergreen were seen in large numbers next to the path. A very successful and well rounded two days for these guests.
If you would like to go on one of our Day Guides go to: http://bit.ly/sw_DG
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