Short Stay Story in Scotland!

Short Stay Story in Scotland!

We set off from home at around 12:30am and arrived in the Scottish Highlands at around 10:00am. As soon as we got out of the car, we were struck by the freezing cold weather. We started scanning the open moors in hopes of finding either White-tailed or Golden Eagle (either would be a lifer), along with other raptors. After stopping in various passing places along the narrow road and scanning the crags, ridgelines and moors, we were unsuccessful in finding any raptors. We did however see around eighty Greylag Geese (presumably Icelandic birds overwintering) along with around ten Goldeneye. We then decided to try for the eagles at another location.

We arrived at our next site at around 1:00pm and straight away got to scanning. We were joined by a few other birders who were also looking for eagles. Suddenly, I noticed a commotion, and one of the birders that was there seemed to be getting his scope onto something. I asked him if he had seen anything, and he replied by saying that there was a White-tailed Eagle! I asked him for directions and he quickly got me on the White-tailed Eagle! It was soaring very distantly in the sky, but heading towards our direction. Although the views weren't the best, I felt a sense of relief that one of our targets has been hit. The birder explained to me that the diamond-shaped tail on this bird is what makes it a White-tailed Eagle. The tail was also dark, which he explained meant it was a juvenile. We continued going around the site for a bit, spotting a Dipper flying up a nearby river, along with a few Buzzards & Ravens gliding in the skies, yet no more White-tailed Eagles, nor any Golden Eagles. As it was turning dark, we gave up with the eagles and turned our attention to a mammal we dipped last year, Pine Marten. We tried to lure one out using peanut butter. We sat staking out the pine martin in a remote location. After waiting for around two hours, we decided to call it a day and went to go stay overnight at a 3-star hotel.

Image from last year in Wales

The next morning we woke up early to try and catch a Black Grouse lek. After waiting for around twenty minutes, we could faintly hear their bubbling call, and eventually it became light enough for me to see the Black Grouse. Although they were distant, we could see them displaying well. Unfortunately it was too dark for my camera to take any pictures of them, and once it had turned light enough, they had all gone behind the hillside. We waited for them to re-appear for a bit longer, before giving up and heading to the next location. 

We arrived at our next site at around 8:30am in hopes of seeing a bird which we saw quite a few of, when we last did an overnight trip to Scotland, but didn't get any decent views or photos of. We walked over to the feeders where we had been told our target bird would be, and after waiting around ten minutes, our target bird flew into view and laned on the feeders. It was a stunning Crested Tit!

We saw at least two of them on the feeders and in the trees nearby. We also saw quite a few Coal Tits using the feeders and chasing each other around. Away from the feeders, we heard many Great Spotted Woodpeckers drumming, and managed to catch a glimpse of one briefly. Underneath the feeders, we noticed a few Chaffinches too, along with a vocal Robin.

As we were watching the various tits and finches, we noticed a commotion in the trees. It was a Red Squirrel! It slowly made its way down from the treetops and over to the feeders, before doing an acrobatic stunt to reach the peanuts! At one point, we had the Red Squirrel and a Crested Tit in the same view! More than satisfied with the day so far, we decided to try to find a very rare insect.

 We arrived at a site along the River Spey at around 10:30am, and were greeted by a flock of  (presumably Iceland) Greylag Geese feeding in a field as soon as we got out of the car.

We then went down to the river and started checking the fenceposts in hopes of finding a rare and endemic insect, the Northern February Red Stonefly. While checking the fourth/fifth fencepost, I noticed a dark, long fly on it. It was our target species, the Northern February Red Stonefly. I could clearly see the antennae which looked like a string of beads, allowing me to clinch the ID. After checking the fenceposts again, I noticed a few more which I had missed. In total, I saw 14 individual Northern February Reds, all being males. I was ecstatic to find these as it was only the fourth species I had seen that was endemic to the UK.

We then tried a site for Parrot Crossbills. We walked over three miles listening out for their call and looking for large flocks of them on the tops of trees. Unfortunately we were unable to locate any, but we did hear a few Bullfinches and also saw five Greylag Geese flyover calling. 

Still hopeful, we went to try and find one more lifer, the Golden Eagles. We searched for around three hours, spotting two Ravens, a Kestrel and a brief Red Deer stag. In the last hour of daylight, my mum said she had a raptor distantly perched on a rock, before flying alongside the hillside, but unfortunately I was unable to get on it. Since the light was almost gone, I had to accept that I wasn't going to see a Golden Eagle today, and headed home.

Overall, an amazing trip with one avian lifer (White-tailed Eagle) and multiple non-avian lifers (including Northern February Red Stonefly)!