Learning to Identify Raptors: Our Raptor Masterclass

by Duncan Macdonald

Raptors. Apex predators of our landscapes that quicken the pulse and leave us with a surge of excitement when we encounter them. Those encounters can be brief and distant which makes identification tricky. Some raptors look awfully similar to others and this only compounds the problem. What to do? Book onto a Speyside Wildlife Raptor Masterclass!

Our most recent Raptor Masterclass took place on 19 & 20 September with a day in the class and a day out in the field putting the learning into practice.  Our classroom day consisted of looking at the dark arts of identification; separating buzzard from golden eagle, sparrowhawks from goshawks, looking at structure of birds in flight and perched as well as much more. We mixed it up with quizzes and lots of audience participation it is tiring, but fun.

The Sunday took us out into a local valley renowned for it's reputation as a raptor hotspot. It did not disappoint! We were very quickly watching red kites, both near and far and comparing with buzzards. We didn't have to wait long for the appearance of an adult golden eagle hunting the far hillside. It landed and so gave us  great views through the scope. As the sun broke through the clouds the golden nape of the bird shone.  A sparrowhawk gave us incredible views as it soared right above us and then was harassed by swallows giving us a great opportunity to directly compare size.

At the end of the valley we had a fabulous encounter with a non-adult White-tailed Eagle. This bird lingered giving us great views of it soaring and gliding.

We finished our day at Insh Marshes RSPB reserve, near Kingussie. From the Lookout we had great views across to the Monadhliath mountains over the valley of the Spey.  We came here hoping for Hen Harrier and it didn't take long. A female appeared distantly and over the 2 hours we were there we watched it hunting low over the marsh and interacting with both a red kite and a buzzard. We concluded our day with sightings of juvenile golden eagle being mobbed by countless buzzards and kites and a juvenile white-tailed eagle that effortlessly crossed the valley at distance and over the 20 minutes or so that we watched it, never flapped it's wings.

Our next masterclass is: Wildfowl & Waterbirds Identification. It's a two-day course in November 2026. Register via our website.