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Highlights from our Guided Day’s Out

  • Writer: Ailie Brown
    Ailie Brown
  • Jun 23
  • 4 min read

Updated: Jun 24

This past spring has been full of lovely moments during our Guided Day’s Out. We have had gorgeous warm weather with lots of sunshine, providing a warm welcome to our spring migrants. There has been many magical moments and many great wildlife sightings. Here is just a few of our highlights from this past spring.

Guests enjoying the sun at the River Spey, birdwatching.
Guests looking for wildlife along the River Spey (Ailie Brown)

We are quite often asked about seeing Eagles, on our Guided Day's Out. Sometimes they are distantly over a hill, sometimes we are very lucky and we get a great view of one flying over, or on occasion, even perched. On this morning, myself and the guests had stopped first thing at a viewpoint for a scan, we weren't looking for anything specific, but it's a nice spot and you get all sorts of lovely wildlife here. It feel's a little bit quiet though, we have a few Willow Warblers singing, a Wren, a Redpoll flies over and trills. There is a distant Red Kite. So we decide to bundle back into the minibus and move on. As we are all strapped in, I check my wingmirrors, and see a massive bird fly behind us, I usher everyone out as quickly as we can, and we see a White-tailed Eagle circling just above us, over the next 5 minutes, it flies over towards the hills and then as if it changes it's mind, turn's around and flies straight back over us, coming closer to check us out. Just wow, it was one of those great sightings that make's your day!

Blue skies over the heathland looking for Eagles (Ailie Brown)
Blue skies over the heathland looking for Eagles (Ailie Brown)

May and June can be a very good time of year to head into the hills. At the end of May, a guest had hoped to see Dotterel and Ptarmigan, so we planned a day. After assessing the weather carefully, as it had been a very wet and windy week, we decided it was safe to head into the mountains. As we walked all the way up to the summit, we were chasing the mis. The higher we climbed, the mist rose from above us, giving us the most spectacular view, when we reached the top. Enroute up we spotted a pair of Ptarmigan just a few feet in front of us, stopping us in our tracks, we watched them as they pottered away quietly. It was a great sighting. Having lunch at the top, we noticed a distant bird on the ground. The bird was scuttling around, so we headed back down the track and sure enough, it was a female Dotterel, then after a couple minutes, we noticed a male. The birds took no notice of us and even took a bath in a nearby puddle. The anticipation and hard work of walking all day, made this moment a real highlight.

Views from the summit where Dotterel and Ptarmigan can be found (Ailie Brown)
Views from the summit where Dotterel and Ptarmigan can be found (Ailie Brown)

On an early morning at the end of May, I took guests for a woodland walk first thing to hear some lovely birdsong and hopefully see some activity. It was a a nice warm day, with the sun coming though the tree's. It had been raining the night before, so the ground was damp and there were a lot of insects about. Perfect!


We took our time walking though and were fortunate enough to hear Wood Warbler, before spotting it and watching it flit through the tree's. A bit further on we hear a singing Pied Flycatcher and after a bit of scanning, found it sitting on a branch next to a nest box. Popping in and out of the nest box and singing, we had a great view! It was a beautiful sight.


On our way back down the path, we paused by a little loch and chatted to another bird watcher, admiring many Dragonflies over the loch, we noticed a little grey bird catching flies, a Spotted Flycatcher. While watching this agile bird, a familiar call came from behind, a family of 8 Long-tailed Tits flew through. It was just one of those day's where everything showed well, and the weather and conditions were just right. The woodland felt magical and the whole walk was a great highlight for all of us.

Pied Flycatcher (Craig Round)
Pied Flycatcher (Craig Round)

On this particular day guide, the guest was looking to see mammals as well as birds. We had a lovely morning listening to birdsong and spotted Roe Deer grazing in a field, as well as three Red Squirrels chasing each other through the Pine tree's. About ready for a comfort break and a local village, we took the scenic route, driving down a single track road amongst the heather. While scanning either side of the road, a Mountain Hare ran straight in front of us, only a few feet from the minibus, followed closely by a second one. What a treat! We paused and watched the two Mountain Hares courting (boxing) for some time. It was the closest and best views of Mountain Hares I have seen and the guests were delighted.

Mountain Hare in it's summer coat, blending into the heather (Ailie Brown)
Mountain Hare in it's summer coat, blending into the heather (Ailie Brown)

One morning, bright and early, we headed up to a moorland to look for Red Grouse and there's a small area of Pine's at the end of this moorland, where we stopped to listen for birdsong. After a few minutes, we could hear that loud cheep of calling Crossbills. As we looked through the tops of the trees, we saw a bit of movement. After repositioning ourselves, we had an uninterrupted view of a family of Crossbills washing themselves in the morning dew that had collected on the Pine needles. Balancing themselves, fanning out their feather's and making use of every drop of water. I have never witnessed this before and always assumed birds would find a puddle or pond to bathe. It may be that there had not been a lot of rain and water sources had dried up. It was such a unique behaviour and not one I will forget.

Looking for Crossbills at the tops of the Pines (Ailie Brown)
Looking for Crossbills at the tops of the Pines (Ailie Brown)

Moving into our Summer months, our Guided Day's Out are being booked up and we are looking forward to what a new season has to bring.

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