RAPTORS & GROUSE

SAT 2 SEPTEMBER – SAT 9 SEPTEMBER, SAT 9 SEPTEMBER – SAT 16 SEPTEMBER 2023

SAT 31 AUGUST – SAT 7 SEPTEMBER, SAT 7 SEPTEMBER – SAT 14 SEPTEMBER 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.

This is a superb time to come to Scotland – autumn migration is in full swing; the tree and heather colours are turning, and our target birds are at their highest numbers with all youngsters fledged. On this itinerary we seek an ambitious list of raptors heading to the best sites to look for them. The list is mouth-watering: White-tailed Eagle, Golden Eagle, Buzzard, Osprey, Red Kite, Hen Harrier, Peregrine, Sparrowhawk and Kestrel with chances of Merlin, Goshawk and Short-eared Owl. To maximise our chances, we include an overnight stay on Magical Mull, a superb place to gain close views of many raptors in stunning Hebridean scenery! Our grouse targets are Capercaillie, Ptarmigan, Black Grouse and Red Grouse, the four naturally occurring species in the British Isles. The Highlands of Scotland is the only place to see them all!

We visit our exclusive private estate woodlands where we have incidental chances of Capercaillie, though these birds are now very rare. Ptarmigan will be in high corries of the Cairngorms and this is the time of peak numbers so we stand a good chance. Red Grouse are found commonly on the moors around our Hotel in Nethy Bridge, while rarer Black Grouse are active locally. Other specialities inland include Crested Tit and Scottish Crossbill while other birds likely on our Mull adventure include Black Grouse, Black Guillemot, Hooded Crow, Red-throated Diver, Slavonian Grebe, Goosander, Redpoll, Stonechat, Twite and more.

September birding along the Moray Coast and on the Black Isle is particularly enjoyable, as newly arriving winter migrants complement remaining summer visitors. Birds may include Osprey fishing, rafts of Common Eider, Goosander, Red-breasted Merganser, Stonechat, returning Common and Velvet Scoter, Black and Red-throated Diver, autumn waders including Turnstone, Bar-tailed Godwit, Knot, Dunlin and Ringed Plover. We search for any rarities within reach and have seen Pectoral Sandpiper, White-rumped Sandpiper and Little Gull at this time. In farmland habitats there are building numbers of Yellowhammer, Reed Bunting, Linnet and Tree Sparrow, and Merlin visit, perching on bales and fenceposts waiting for flocks of Meadow Pipits and other passerines.

Total species c. 120. Mammals may include Red Squirrel, Red Deer, Roe Deer, Grey Seal, Common Seal. Otter, Mountain Hare, Bottle-nosed Dolphin and Harbour Porpoise are possible. Six nights at Mountview Hotel. One night on Mull.