25th November 2021: The Cairngorms and the Black Isle

 We started locally this morning at Dell Woods in the village of Nethybridge, where two of the group had seen Crested Tits on the bird feeders when they arrived on Saturday. As some of the party had not yet seen this target speciality, with all the birds so far flitting high in the pines, it was hoped this visit would enable everyone to get good views. Initially Great, Blue and Coal Tits dominated the feeders, but within just a few minutes we were rewarded by the appearance of an obliging 'Crestie' which paused for some time to feed whilst the gathered throng took pictures.

With that star bird under our belts, it was up to the high mountain for another attempt to locate Ptarmigan. With snow forecast overnight, our guides hoped the weather would have brought the birds down the mountain, but in fact there was only a light dusting of snow and this time we were out of luck. A flock of Snow Buntings were just tiny distant dots, and the seed put out for them, failed to entice them any closer. A pair of distant Ravens were the only birds we could muster, although the reindeer provided some compensation.

From here we drove to Udale Bay on the Black Isle where many ducks and waders were gathered on a rising tide. Both godwits were present here and Dunlin was also new for the trip. There were good numbers of Teal and Wigeon and many Redshank, plus a single female Goldeneye swam in a channel close to the shore. A hunting Peregrine provided some additional interest and three Whooper Swans flew overhead. 

Next we continued along the coast to Jemimaville where a large flotilla of Scaup showed well and a few Slavonian Grebe were rather more distant and elusive! 

As we returned home a covey of Grey Partridge were quite close, until someone in the other bus got out of the van and frustratingly prompted them to fly off. Several skeins of Pink-footeds were seen but we struggled to find many on the ground and were unable to find any rarities among them.