THE ‘OUTER LIMITS’ ADVENTURE

SAT 9 SEPTEMBER – SAT 16 SEPTEMBER, SAT 16 SEPTEMBER –SAT 23 SEPTEMBER, SAT 23 SEPTEMBER – SAT 30 SEPTEMBER 2023

SAT 7 SEPTEMBER – SAT 14 SEPTEMBER, SAT 14 SEPTEMBER –

SAT 21 SEPTEMBER, SAT 21 SEPTEMBER – SAT 28 SEPTEMBER 2024

PRICE: from £1795pp

Early Birder Prices from £1645pp (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.

A real adventure, including two nights in the island wilderness of Lewis, Harris and Skye. With Black Grouse, Ptarmigan, Golden Eagle, White-tailed Eagle, Crested Tit and Scottish Crossbill, seabird flocks, migration all around the coast and the possibility of rarities, this is a unique and very exciting holiday.

In the Caledonian pinewoods there are good numbers of Crested Tit with roaming Scottish Crossbill also in small flocks. Golden Eagle, Peregrine, Buzzard, Sparrowhawk and Kestrel are in the glens and the Red Deer rut reaches its peak.

We make a three-day visit to the northern Outer Hebrides, frequently chosen by guides and guests as one of the highlights of the Heatherlea year. We scan for Manx Shearwater, Great and Arctic Skua, Storm Petrel, Gannet, auks and more from our ferry. Sooty Shearwater, Leach’s Petrel, Pomarine and Long-tailed Skua, Grey Phalarope plus Minke Whale, Bottle-nosed, Risso’s and Common Dolphins, Harbour Porpoise and Grey and Common Seal are all possible too. On Harris we may see eagles and checking sheltered bays for seaduck may reveal rare Surf Scoter, King Eider, three diver species and Slavonian Grebe. On Lewis we visit headlands for seabirds, waders, Twite and migrant passerines, walk the woods for Hebridean races of Wren and Song Thrush and target boggy lochans for American vagrants. We may get falls of southbound migrants with Pink-footed Goose, Snow and Lapland Bunting possible. Golden and White-tailed Eagles, Hen Harrier and Merlin are also frequently seen.

Back in the Strath, Black Grouse are returning to the lek and in our exclusive private estate woodlands we have incidental chances of Capercaillie, though these birds are now very rare. We also visit the Moray Firth to search the concentrations of seabirds that make this coast such a magnet for birders. Common and Velvet Scoter, Long-tailed Duck and Red-throated

Combine with:

SCOTTISH HIGHLANDS

20 Scottish Specials (p26), NEW! Highland Migration by Land and Sea (p25), Autumn Migration in the Highlands (p25), The Outer Limits Adventure (p27).

SCOTTISH ISLANDS

North Ron & Orkney in Autumn for birders (p42), Outer Hebrides in early Autumn for birders (p43), Shetland in Autumn for birders (p44).

Divers are all possible, as are many waders in autumn. Ptarmigan are our target on the mountain day and Snow Bunting may be seen.

Total species approx. 115. Other wildlife should include Red Squirrel, Red Deer, Roe Deer, Mountain Hare and other sea life.

Five nights at Mountview Hotel. Two nights at a comfortable hotel on the Outer Hebrides.

Combine with:

Autumn Migration in the Highlands (p26), Raptors & Grouse (p27), Highlands & Skye in Autumn (p28).

North Ron & Orkney in Autumn for birders (p42), Shetland in Autumn for birders (p43), Unexplored Orkney (p44), Outer Hebrides in Autumn for birders (p44).