22nd November: Grouse day

 An early start, with breakfast at 6.30, and our first stop at Tomintoul on the Glenlivet estate for a Black Grouse lek. There were twelve birds present, who put on an impressive display as they faced off against each other, like sparring boxers, white tail feathers fanned as they charged forward. This was another new bird for me and they were impressive to see,  certainly well worth the early start.

We drove on from here towards the southern Cairngorms, pausing at various points to scan for raptors. At Lecht mine we had a distant Golden Eagle, then further along above the Ladder Hills we saw another, again quite distant. A number of ravens were also seen, alongside Red Deer and Roe Deer.

We continued on to Glenshee and here we found some Red Grouse perched and feeding amongst the heather, generally well camouflaged, except for a striking red eyebrow above a white rimmed eye which were clearly visible in the scope.

A target bird in this area was Ptarmigan, but alas we were unable to locate any from the roadside, and in the bitterly cold conditions, most of the group were reluctant to walk up the mountain where they may have been found. This was a little disappointing as it would have been another lifer, but at least we had two out of three possible grouse species. However, a mountain hare, still moulting into winter plumage with a brown face and white body offered some compensation.

In the afternoon we had a brief walk at Inver wood, where a flock of tits included some Lesser Redpoll and a pair of Treecreepers,  but the light was already quite poor amongst the trees. So we headed for the moors to make the best of the fading light, and above Crathie our efforts were rewarded with a much closer Golden Eagle which soared over the hilltop towards us revealing its adult plumage. One of our guides impressively also located a White-Tailed Eagle perched on a scree slope high above us, it’s white head and yellow bill showing clearly in the scope.

By now the light was fading, but we were treated to a magnificent sunset to end the day. A case of quality rather than quantity birding today.