A Holiday Trip

As an early wedding anniversary treat for ourselves, we booked a long weekend in a a wildlife-orientated hotel, the Grant Arms in Grantown on Spey. If you fancy a treat, give this place a try; the location is breath-taking, the welcome warm, and the food excellent.This was the view from our bedroom window.

On the way up (beware, it IS a long way!) we stopped at Leighton Moss, scene of this years Springwatch programme. The only regret was that we could only stop a couple of hours; you really need a full day to explore here. We missed out on the Bearded Tits, but instead we came across this Marsh Tit trying out a new home for size. These little birds, along with the visually very similar Willow Tits, are under threat as their habitat is being destroyed, so always pleasing to see.

As we were in the area, it seemed rude not to go and visit Loch Flemington, and see the American Coot that has taken up residence there. This is a rare visitor to this country, and yet this individual seems right at home, having been here for several months now.

Having featured a cute Grey Squirrel in a previous blog, it's time to show the even cuter native Red Squirrel. This little chap howed great interest in the food that had been put out to attract the birds at Loch Garten.

The real attractions at Loch Garten were the Crested Tits. These elegant birds are pine tree specialists. so limited in this country to the Highlands, and were the number one reason for the trip. Worth it? Oh, Yes!!

We spent a number of hours at Lochindob, a small loch on a quiet road. The moorland around was so peaceful, yet so full of life. No drone of traffic; instead the accelerating call of Meadow Pipits as they first soared, and then glided in their characteristic display flight, the cheerful burble of Red Grouse, and the 'gronk' of Ravens overhead.

Here is one of the comical Red Grouse. When alarmed they would explode into flight, but to land it seemed they had forgotten how, and would just fold their wings and almost tumble into the heather, and then stick their heads up as if to say, 'I meant to do that'!

Lochindob was also home to this recently returned Black-throated Diver, smart in it's breeding plummage, and hungry for a fish supper.

This view is along the Findhorn valley. While we only saw distant views of the birds of prey that this valley is famous for, the setting more than made up for lack of raptors. The valley was full of curlew, oystercatchers and lapwing, alond with the usual meadow pipits, and a dipper working energetically along the river.

We would loved to have stayed longer, and it was far too soon that we found ourselves travelling back along the A9, heading sadly south.

Having arrived home, we had one more day before returning to work, so what better way use it than to head into the North Wales hills before dawn, windows open so that we could listen for the odd bubbling sound that marked a Lek site, and then to park up and wait for first light to reveal the sight of male Black Grouse displaying in a series of twirls and rushes at one another. The purpose of this strange 'dance' is to establish the relative rankings, like teenage lads at the dance floor showing off for the girls.