Scotland; 5/14-21/2017
All photos are © Marshall Faintich
We had booked a tour of the Scottish highlands several months ago with Natural Habitat Adventures (NatHab), and I spent many hours prior to the trip studying what avian species I might see there. This was not a birding tour per se, but rather a tour that included scenery, culture, and history, and with a focus on wildlife.
I saw many of the following species at multiple locations in Scotland as well as other species than those mentioned, and have posted only some of them in each section to keep this report more readable.
Tour Map
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Inverness; May 14
We were met at the Inverness airport by Warwick Lister-Kaye, the NatHab Scottish tour director, and son of Sir John Lister-Kaye, the director of the Aigas Field Center. Alice and I had talked for many years about the Culloden battlefield, where in 1746, the Jacobite uprising to put Bonnie Prince Charlie on the Scottish throne was met with defeat, and that for the most part, stopped the uprising and mostly ended clan rule in Scotland. Warwick offered to take us there on the way to our first night's lodging. On the battlefield, I saw my life bird #640 - Skylark. Warwick also told us that he and his wife, Becky, were expecting their first child at any time, and I really appreciated his going out of his way for us.
Alice on the Culloden battlefield
Skylark
Warwick then took us to Clava Cairns, where there were ancient standing stones and burial chambers, all aligned with the winter solstice.
Clava Cairns
Chaffinch
Our next stop was at the Coul House, our first tour hotel, located in Contin about 17 miles northwest of Inverness. Along the way we saw Hooded Crows (life bird # 641) and Red Kites flying in the bright sunshine. But Warwick couldn't stop for photos as the highway was busy. I had seen a Red Kite years ago north of London, but only got photos of it flying away from me. We arrived at the Coul House, owned by Stuart and Susannah Macpherson, and when we filled out the hotel registration forms, Susannah said that she knew Crozet, Virginia. She and Stuart had lived in Charlottesville for two years, and she had worked in Ivy and Stuart worked at Keswick - small world! I have stayed at many small/boutique hotels in Europe over the past 40 years, and Coul House was the best one I have ever encountered.
Coul House
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There were House Sparrows; Blue, Coal, and Great Tits; (Barn) Swallows; Song Thrushes; Jackdaws (life bird # 642); and several other avian species around Coul House.
Jackdaw
Song Thrush
(Barn) Swallow
Alice and I had the afternoon free, so we hiked one of the many trail there.
Contin landscape
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Yellowhammer
Female Siskin (life bird # 643)
(Eurasian) Tree Sparrow
Female Chaffinch
That evening we met the rest of our tour group (total of nine in the group including Alice and me), and our tour leader, Jonathan Willet, who is a local wildlife specialist and a board member of the Aigas Field Center.
Click here to continue on the trip to Cromarty Firth