Grantown on Spey February 2018

A four day break for Kathy and I, giving three whole days birding, and staying at the Grant Arms Hotel in Grantown. This is an amazing establishment, a mecca for birders and birdguides - Iolo Williams was in with a group the day we left. We can't recommend this place highly enough.

We arrived mid afternoon and headed for Poorhouse Wood, part of the Anagach community Forest which borders the town. It is our favourite, we much prefer it to Abernethy even. When I visited one morning 34 years ago I was delighted to be able to watch a female Capercaillie on a branch, at close range. I remembered the sighting and the spot vividly but sad-to-say no luck this time. We visited a few times though  and really loved the place. We saw Roe Deer on every occasion, though they were a little difficult to photograph satisfactorily as they usually showed early morning, also Red Squirrels were nice.

Probably breeding Crossbills sp were present at one spot but difficult - and not nearly calling enough. We didn't note any particularly deep 'Parrot' calls but they weren't terribly vocal when we were there, so we had a go at structure, which is a bit problematic when distinguishing between Parrot and Scottish Crossbills - easier to rule out Common.

The bill is too heavy for Common and the culman too curved, so I think it's Scottish or Parrot. The lower mandible should perhaps be deeper and more curved for Parrot. The forehead was noticeably steep and it was quite 'bull-necked'. The overall impression was quite Parrot-like but I'd say it was more likely a Scottish, intermediate between Parrot and Common. Difficult to be certain without confirmation of vocalisations though.

On the second day we set off for the coast at Lossiemouth and Burghead. Unfortunately, it was sunny and half-term and a Sunday and so a bit too busy for comfort. A Jetski at Burghead was a real pain. We did have a good time though, the most enjoyable thing being lots of quite close Long-tailed Ducks, mostly males chasing each other around on a flat sea. There were plenty of Eider and there were Scoter sp further out. A couple of dozen Purple Sandpipers and Redshanks with a few Turnstones were very nice too.

There were large numbers of Red Grouse everywher it seemed, even up at the snow line on Cairngorm itself and I enjoyed taking some photos. We also saw Mountain Hare well but couldn't find some nice white Ptarmigans seen earlier by David Roche.

At Loch Garten we saw some common woodland birds - Coal Tits were everywhere and three Treecreepers appeared along with a couple of Crested Tits which are always good to see.

We would definitely do it again, at this time of year, and wouldn't think of staying anywhere other than The Grant Arms Hotel in Grantown. A really good, short trip.