HIGHLANDS and SKYE in AUTUMN

SAT 30 SEPTEMBER – SAT 7

SAT 28 SEPTEMBER –

PRICES: 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.

Autumn on Skye is magical from mountain top to sea, and perhaps the best time for eagles as young birds make the most of autumnal winds. Waders move through in good numbers and moorland birds have formed flocks, ranging on the coast. Back home in Strathspey specialities and newly arriving thrushes, geese and waders provide superb birding during a classic week.

An early morning visit to the Black Grouse lek will get us off to a great start, and later we visit exclusive private estate woodlands for Capercaillie where staying inside our minibus we have incidental chances to see the 'horse of the forest' responsibly. A walk in the nearby Abernethy Forest may produce Crested Tit and Scottish Crossbill, and moorland specialities include Peregrine, Red Grouse, Merlin and Hen Harrier, with Goosander and Dipper on the rivers. Heading towards Skye we work slowly west via mountainous Torridon with its long sealochs and quaint villages, favoured coastlines for Otters, waders and wildfowl. In autumn on Skye, magical low light and changing weather give us picture-postcard views around every turn, with concentrations of Golden and White-tailed Eagles and good chances of Hen Harrier and Merlin. Divers will be returning to the coastline with good numbers of Great Northern in particular and a wide range of birdlife including Black Guillemot and Twite.

In the hills we concentrate on Ptarmigan and rarely fail to find the birds. Local birding gives excellent chances of Siskin, Lesser Redpoll, Bullfinch and woodland species, already in winter flocks. Nearby fields often hold freshly arrived Redwing and Fieldfare and flocks of finches and buntings may contain Brambling. Autumn along the Moray Coast can be stunning. Rafts of seaduck include Velvet and Common Scoter, Long-tailed Duck, Eider and Red-breasted Merganser. We search for rarities, which in recent years have included Surf Scoter, King Eider and (just once), Steller’s Eider. Geese will be in good number, and waders should include Purple Sandpiper, Turnstone, Bar-tailed Godwit, Knot, Dunlin and Ringed Plover. With luck farmland will be busy, with chances of Grey Partridge, Corn Bunting and perhaps Whooper Swans. A marvellous feast of autumn birding!

Five nights at Mountview Hotel. Two nights at a comfortable hotel on Skye.

Combine with:

SCOTTISH HIGHLANDS

The Outer Limits Adventure (p27), Highland Autumn Birding (p28).

SCOTTISH ISLANDS

Shetland in Autumn for birders (p43), Unexplored Orkney (p44), Outer Hebrides in Autumn for birders (p44).

SAT 14 OCTOBER – SAT 21 OCTOBER, SAT 21 OCTOBER – SAT 28 OCTOBER 2023

SAT 12 OCTOBER – SAT 19 OCTOBER, SAT 19 OCTOBER – SAT 26 OCTOBER 2024

PRICES: from £1595pp

Early Birder Prices from £1445pp (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.

Exciting ‘local’ birding plus a three day adventure to remotest Aberdeenshire, one of the best yet most under watched birding counties in the UK! We cover all habitats from mountain to sea, giving a full flavour of how good birding can be in the Highlands in Autumn. Particular focus is given to the key spectacle of large numbers of wildfowl recently arrived from breeding grounds. We enjoy the numbers and look closely for rarities hidden amongst the commoner species! With big rafts of seaduck, fields full of geese and a good range of migrant and resident birds, this is an unforgettable week.

An early morning visit to the Black Grouse lek will get us off to a great start, and later we visit exclusive private estate woodlands for Capercaillie where staying inside our minibus we have incidental chances to see the 'horse of the forest' responsibly. A walk in the nearby Abernethy Forest for Crested Tit and Scottish Crossbill is followed by a search for moorland specialities including Peregrine, Red Grouse, Merlin, Hen Harrier and Golden Eagle. Mountain Hare, Raven, and White-tailed Eagle are frequently seen.

We head east to the Ythan estuary, where goose flocks can be in the thousands, perhaps containing rarities such as Snow or Red-breasted Goose. Vast rafts of Common and Velvet Scoter are possible, with good chances of rarer Surf, Black or White-winged Scoter and King Eider. More usual are Great Northern and Red-throated Diver and seabirds, sometimes being chased by a late Pomarine or Great Skua. Waders include Purple Sandpiper, Turnstone, Bar-tailed Godwit, Knot, Dunlin and Ringed Plover and just about anything can turn up. Passerines originating in Scandinavia can arrive en masse in east winds and in favourable conditions we spend time in coastal scrub searching for them.

We work the under-watched Loch of Strathbeg carefully. Often there is a bigger autumn birdlist here than at Titchwell or Minsmere! Scarce wildfowl are regular, and we spend time looking through ducks in particular. In arable farmland we hope to find Grey Partridge, Corn Bunting and Tree Sparrow, and in busy harbours Iceland and Glaucous Gull. Royal Deeside, famous for Balmoral Castle, is good for crossbills, Goshawk and Golden Eagle and moors hold Red Grouse and a few Mountain Hare. On high hills we search for Ptarmigan and rarely fail to find them. Snow Bunting are possible too, especially when the tops are snow covered. Five nights at Mountview Hotel. Two nights at a comfortable hotel on the east coast.

Combine with:

SCOTTISH HIGHLANDS

Highlands and Skye in Autumn (p28), Short Breaks – Scottish Birding in Autumn (p12).

SCOTTISH ISLANDS

Outer Hebrides in Autumn for birders (p44), Islay and Jura (p45).