NEW YEAR BIRDLIST BOOSTER

SAT 6 JAN – SAT 13 JAN, SAT 13 JAN – SAT 20 JAN 2024

PRICE: from £1495pp

Early Birder Prices from £1295pp (subject to availability). Contact us before booking!

Full details and a Trip Report are on our website. Please read FIELD NOTES on page 9.

This holiday is great birding fun, so get your yearlist off to a cracking start! We aim to see as many birds as possible, and this exciting holiday is suitable for birders who want to see Scotland’s birds in winter, as well as those who keep lists.

Top priorities will be resident special birds, so we spend time inland looking for Ptarmigan, Black Grouse, Golden and White-tailed Eagle, Scottish Crossbill and Crested Tit - our key species. We also have outside chances of seeing Capercaillie, increasingly rare, and any sightings will be incidental. Next we seek a host of northern winter visitors, and finally round-up rarities and anything we might have missed. By the end, you should have seen around 120 species including many 'difficult' birds you might miss without a Guide, or struggle to locate further south in the UK.

Holidays are based here at Mountview Hotel, with all transport and expert guidance from our resident team. We anticipate that the whole Hotel will be given over to our holiday, meaning a great birding atmosphere as the entire week is run BY birders FOR birders, a very enjoyable prospect!

During the holiday we spend time inland in the adjacent Caledonian pinewoods of Abernethy Forest for speciality birds, visit the Cairngorm Mountains to see Ptarmigan, and explore remote glens for eagles and other raptors. Northern coastal habitats provide great birding in winter, and with the Moray Firth, Aberdeenshire, the West Coast and secluded bays north of Inverness all within reach, our prospects are excellent. We will spend a lot of time at the coast, particularly targeting rarities. King Eider and Surf Scoter are regular, others more than possible (read below about 'our' Brunnich's Guillemot!). Your Guides will closely monitor weather, tides and local bird news to make sure we maximise our birding as we use all the available daylight (around eight hours per day).

Seven nights at Mountview Hotel.

Price: see below. No single supp. ‘Early Birder’ discounts may apply, contact us before booking! Full details are on our website. Please read FIELD NOTES on page 9. Please see our website for Nov 2024 departures.

Ideal for your first wildlife holiday, or for busy birders who don't have a full week to spare, these holidays are an exciting ‘dip’ into the birdlife of the Highlands, which should find many of the key specialties and a host of northern birds difficult to see elsewhere in Britain. Our extensive local knowledge will take us to the best places to maximise our birding time.

All include four nights DBB (Dinner, Bed and Breakfast), plus three full days birding with an experienced Heatherlea Guide. Great fun and superb birding!

SHORT BREAKS are easy-paced and target the birds which make Scotland such a special destination for so many birdwatchers. Great for beginners.

BIRDERS’ BLASTS are perfect for all levels of birding ability, but run at a slightly faster pace, packing in a lot of birds and lots of sites.

Sat 20 January – Wed 24 January, Wed 24 January – Sun 28 January, Sun 28 January – Thu 1 February, Thu 1 February – Mon 5 February, Mon 5 February – Fri 9 February, Fri 9 February – Tues 13 February, Tues 13 February – Sat 17 February 2024

PRICES: from £795pp

Early Birder Prices from £695pp (subject to availability). Contact us before booking! See Golden Eagle, Crested Tit, Scottish Crossbill, Black Grouse, Capercaillie, Ptarmigan and more. Add waders, seaduck, divers, gulls and farmland birds and you have an absorbing and rewarding few days of winter birding.

Sat 28 October – Wed 1 November, Sun 5 November – Thurs 9 November 2023 Sat 26 October – Wed 30 October, Sun 3 November – Thurs 7 November 2024

PRICES: from £795pp

Early Birder Prices from £695pp (subject to availability). Contact us before booking!

Wed 1 November – Sun 5 November, Thurs 9 November – Mon 13 November, Mon 13 November – Fri 17 November, Fri 17 November – Tue 21 November 2023

PRICES: from £795pp

Please see our website for 2024 departures and Early Birder Prices!

See Golden Eagle, Crested Tit, Scottish Crossbill, Black Grouse, Capercaillie and much more. Add rare geese, seaduck, divers, waders, gulls and farmland birds, and you have an absorbing and rewarding few days birding during November.

Outline Itinerary:

DAY 1:

Arrival, welcome, dinner and briefing. Don’t forget our courtesy collect and return service to Aviemore.

DAY 2: LOCAL SPECIALITY DAY

An early start for Black Grouse will get us off to a great start before breakfast, and you might see Red Grouse too. After breakfast we visit ‘hotspots’ in Caledonian pine forest to see Crested Tit, which can usually be found locally. Scottish Crossbill are found in the forests too and with both Common and Parrot Crossbill also present, separation of these three species can pose a real identification challenge! If weather allows, we also travel to our own private forested estate where any views of Capercaillie will be incidental from our vehicles as we travel. Depending on the level of the snow in the mountains we may look for Snow Bunting and Ptarmigan too - can we achieve the 'gripping' four grouse in a day?

DAY 3: EAGLE DAY

Today is a firm favourite at Heatherlea, as we visit remote Highland glens looking for Golden Eagle, our top target. In suitable weather we spend most of our time in beautiful upland surroundings where we can expect sightings of other species, possibly including Peregrine, Red Grouse, Buzzard and Raven.

White-tailed Eagle may also be seen as their numbers continue to increase locally. Red, Roe and Sika Deer, Mountain Goat and Mountain Hare may also be seen. Many guests tell us this is the day they were hoping for when they chose to holiday in Scotland; top birding amid superb scenery!

DAY 4: COASTAL DAY

A complete contrast as we visit the Moray Coast, where birding is excellent at any time. This day is perhaps the most exciting, as every single minute can hold the unexpected. There are rafts of Common and Velvet Scoter, plus good numbers of Long-tailed Duck, Goldeneye, Goosander and Red-breasted Merganser. Red-throated Diver and Slavonian Grebe may also be offshore, and in recent years we have seen rarities including King Eider, Surf Scoter and White-billed Diver. Iceland and Glaucous Gull are both regular, and many wader species can be expected. In the fields, Whooper Swan herds and geese flocks are worth checking for scarcer species and other farmland birds may include Corn Bunting, Tree Sparrow, Grey Partridge and Yellowhammer. A great day's birding!

DAY 5: FINAL DAY

Breakfast and depart

This outline itinerary is a guide only, actual holiday content may vary according to elements beyond our control (e.g. weather).

SAT 18 FEB – SAT 25 FEB, SAT 25 FEB – SAT 4 MARCH 2023

SAT 17 FEB – SAT 24 FEB, SAT 24 FEB – SAT 2 MARCH 2024

PRICES: from £1595pp

Early Birder Prices from £1395pp (subject to availability). Contact us before booking! No single supplement. Full details and a Trip Report are on our website. Please read FIELD NOTES on page 9.

February is an exciting month for birding in the extreme north of the British mainland, and this holiday is something a little bit different, featuring remote northern hideaways as we locate the very best Scottish birdlife in winter. Our speciality birds include Ptarmigan, Black Grouse, Crested Tit, Scottish Crossbill, Golden and White-tailed Eagle and we look for these during approx. two absorbing days birding the Scottish interior, which may be frozen and/or snow-covered at this time. Flocks of Waxwing, Lesser Redpoll, Twite and Brambling are very possible while northern rarities including Great Grey Shrike, uncommon geese and gulls are often found at this time. We also have incidental chances of Capercaillie, though these birds are very rare.

We visit local glens with Golden Eagle our top target, and Buzzard, Treecreeper, Siskin, Hen Harrier, Red Grouse, Sparrowhawk and White-tailed Eagle are more than possible. Ptarmigan are all white in winter, as are Mountain Hare.

Activity at the coast features concentrations of winter visitors offshore, and rarities and scarce British birds sheltering in harbours. Gulls, waders, geese and ducks, divers, passerines and raptors, just about anything can turn up! We make an exciting expedition over three days to the very far north, staying in Thurso for two nights, and visiting secluded harbours and windswept lochs to find the birds that make this holiday so special. You will probably visit four different coastlines, the very far north in Caithness, the rugged east-facing coast north of Inverness, the long expanse of the Moray Firth, and either Aberdeenshire or the west coast, depending on available birding opportunities and of course the weather.

This is a time of year when tourists are few on the ground, and wild landscapes and solitude (you won’t see many other birders!) are to be combined with exceptional birding.

Total species for the holiday approx 120. Other wildlife should include Red Squirrel, Red Deer, Roe Deer, Grey Seal, Common Seal, Mountain Hare, and possibly Otter.

Five nights at Mountview Hotel. Two nights at a comfortable hotel in Thurso.