BIRDS & MAMMALS featuring PERTHSHIRE

SAT 22 JULY – SAT 29 JULY 2023

SAT 20 JULY – SAT 27 JULY 2024

PRICES: from £1695pp

Early Birder Prices from £1545pp (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.

An exciting summer holiday, targeting Pine Marten, European Beaver and Highland birdlife. We divide our time between Strathspey and under watched Angus and Perthshire, with a daytrip to the spectacular west coast. Dedicated evening visits to a Pine Marten hide and a Beaver viewpoint give us good chances of connecting with these key species, and we also hope to see Otter, Mountain Hare, Red Squirrel, seals, cetaceans and commoner mammals too. Highland birds might include Crested Tit, Scottish Crossbill, White-tailed Eagle, Slavonian Grebe and Blackthroated Diver amid spectacular surroundings.

In Angus and Perthshire, we seek Ptarmigan at close quarters, Black and Red Grouse, Ring Ouzel, Wheatear and raptors perhaps including Golden Eagle and Goshawk. On the coast, Little Gull can be present in high numbers and we search through tern flocks for postbreeding Roseate and Little Tern. Montrose Basin is a famous birding destination, and late summer is a good time to see returning wader flocks on migration (perhaps holding a rarity), with many still in summer plumage. Moulting Common and Velvet Scoter flocks can often contain a Surf Scoter and we also search for Osprey, Dipper, Whinchat and Common Crossbill in the extensive Perthshire forests.

Total species c.120. Mammals may include European Beaver, Pine Marten, Red Squirrel, Red Deer, Roe Deer, Grey Seal, Common Seal, Otter, Mountain Hare, Bottle-nosed Dolphin and Harbour Porpoise are possible.

Five nights at Mountview Hotel. Two nights at a comfortable hotel in Angus or Perthshire.

Combine with:

SCOTTISH HIGHLANDS

Highlands & Wester Ross (p25), Birds & Mammals featuring islands of Eigg & Muck (p27), Highlands & the Outer Hebrides (p27).

SCOTTISH ISLANDS

NEW! Wildlife of the Minch (p42).