On Top Of The World.

 On our final three days in Scotland, we headed a little south from our Highlands base near Inverness. We were now heading to Braemar, where we planned to climb up Glenshee, a mountain we had great success in 2023, at exactly the same time of year. In fact just 2 days different this time.

https://bobsbutterflies.blogspot.com/2023/11/ptarmigan-or-bust.html

On the way to Braemar, we were going to stop at Findhorn Valley. A beautiful area that is well known for its Mountain Hares. Two years ago we caught up with some of the Hares here, and we were keen to see more. On arrival at Findhorn we were going to visit the other side of the valley that we went to before, but there was another guy already on that side, and to be fair to him we decided to go to the other side. However, we did keep an eye on the other guy, and it was pretty clear that he was having some success, something we were not having!! After climbing high up, the weather deteriated and we were soon getting rather wet, thankfully we had the coats that we had bought for the Antarctica trip.

 However, it certainly wasn't very pleasant, and not seeing any Hares either wasn't helping us feel any better. Also seeing the other guy was obviously doing rather well didn't help us either at that time. After well over three hours of getting wet and blown around we decided to head back down the hill. At this point the other guy had walked back to his car. At the bottom of the valley Lisa then suggested trying the other side where the other guy had been. I was hoping to do that, but was certainly not expecting Lisa to be keen. Especially as the rain soon started to get worse. However, after searching for so long already, it would have been a shame to leave without really trying. 

After another climb, at last a Mountain Hare was spotted. It was well tucked away in its 'form'. A very careful approach got us close enough to photograph it, but far enough away so it wasn't disturbed. It was certainly looking as wet as we were. Amazing how hardy these animals are.

A very wet Mountain Hare.

We then left this one and searched further, making a note of where it was so we could return if the weather brightened up a little. As it was, another Hare was very soon seen, and this one was very confiding, being in a clearer position but also not at all bothered by our presence, even grooming itself while we were watching it. It also came out of the form and stretched, as it surveyed the area, all the time keeping a watchful eye on us keeping a watchful eye on him!! Even the weather improved a little too.

Grooming.

Stretching.

Looking around.

Mountain Hare.

After this encounter, one that we certainly couldn't have believed possible only a few minutes earlier, we didn't need to go back to the first Hare. Also after more than 5 hours on the hillside, we were extremely tired, so it was with a little regret we decided to leave. On the return to the car I spotted a Water Pipit. A rare bird in the area. We also saw some Brown Hares on the drive back along the valley.

It was then a long drive along some tricky roads in the dark as we headed to Braemar.

The following day, it was a climb up Glenshee. Two years ago, we did this climb in horrendous weather so it was a relief to be able to climb up this time in dry weather, albeit, a bit breezy. However, unfortunately the weather soon went downhill as we climbed uphill. Once again it was a case of us getting pretty wet. However, Lisa once again was really keen to keep on going and it was another five plus hours at the top of the mountain. We saw lots of Mountain Hares here, but they were much more wary here and it was difficult to get close enough for photography. The main target here though was the fabulous Ptarmigan. Two years ago we climbed the mountain three times before we succeeded with these birds. This time we only had a few fleeting gimpses of the Ptarmigan. Very frustrating when we had put so much effort into it, and walked and searched through wind, rain and sleet. Our only photo opportunity came when we saw a Ptarmigan pop its head up above the rocks.

Ptarmigan head above the rocks.

Who says perseverance doesn't pay off. The following day, the weather had improved a little and it was back to Glenshee again for another full day on the mountain. This time, to help Lisa as her back was still playing up a little, we went up on the ski lift. It was certainly a little easier, and from the height of the lift we saw our first Mountain Hare of the day.

Once we were up the top again, we headed out around the top of the mountain. We concentrated on an area where we had seen Ptarmigan the previous day, albeit briefly. Once again there were plenty of Mountain Hares. Perhaps due to it not being quite so breezy the hares were not quite so skittish, although it was still hard to get close to them. 

I suddenly had two Ptarmigan fly past me. I kept an eye on them and saw roughly where they had landed, just over a brow of the mountain. We quickly moved to that area in hope, but there was no sign, until one of the birds suddenly appeared, walking up the side of a rock. Wow, at last, a fabulous Ptarmigan in full view. Unfortunately, it was very brief, as both birds took off again and flew a further 30 metres or so.

Ptarmigan climbing a rock.

We then moved in the general direction of their new position, making sure we kept some distance. Once again we couldn't see where they were straight away, but by careful searching we soon spotted them again. They were now resting together in a small clearing in the rocky terrain. We very quietly moved slightly away to get to their height before gradually moving a little closer, all the time in view to the birds, so we didn't suddenly alarm them. We now had some great views of them, and we were able to watch them as they rested, fed a little and generally relaxed in front of us. We were in this postion for over 20 minutes. During this time we had a little rain and snow as well as a little sunshine. Eventually they decided it was time for them to move to another spot, at which time one of them called, and off they went. An absolutely brilliant time watching these beautiful hardy birds. Like the Hares they were changing into their white winter plumage.

At times, especially when they stood up, the 600mm lens I was using was actually too powerful, although this did help get close views without the need to disturb them.

The two Ptarmigan resting together.

Ptarmigan resting by some snow.

The white plumage on this one was slightly behind the other bird.

Just before the birds flew.

A call to his buddy, and they were off.

After this fabulous encounter we were totally buzzing, and the tiredness of being on top of the mountains again quickly went away. We enjoyed further Hare encounters. At one time we had 3 Mountain Hares together, all in different stages of  their changing into winter coats.

Mountain Hares changing colour.

As the first snows had now begun to settle, the Hares would have to change quickly. However, those still brown would have the advantage of remaining hard to see for any passing Eagle until more snow arrives.

This one has partly changed colour.

This one however, is still in its summer coat.

After another 5 hours plus on the mountain top, it was time to call it a day, at least this day had been much more successful than the previous day. We really couldn't have hoped for a better day on the mountain. Our patience and perseverance certainly had paid off. Our final full day in Scotland had been fantastic to say the least. I found it amazing that Lisa had not complained at all, despite her sore back. She had been just as keen as I had been to keep at it. She even suggested the following day that we could have another go during the morning!! However, time was not on our side really, and we had already spent over 15 hours over the 3 days on top of the mountains in dismal weather.

As we descended down the mountain we had one final treat in store, as we came across a small flock of Red Grouse. We both managed a quick shot of the birds looking at us before they all flew off.

Red Grouse.

On the final morning before we headed back to England, we saw a Red Squirrel outside our cabin. I spotted it as I was washing up. Then instead of going back up the mountain we concentrated for 3 hours along the river valley. We saw at least 3 Dippers and one Golden Eagle.

Dipper.

It was then back into the car for the long drive south. Scotland had once again been brilliant, and we are already looking forward to heading up there again. With Matt and Emily being there now, we have more reasons than ever to go back more often.

Aigas Visit.

 We had two different cottages booked for our eight day stay in the area near to Matt and Emily. One, a very nicely equipped cottage and the other one that was really a wooden cabin in a private woodland, which was across the valley from the cottage. We were literally on our own in the woodland, just the single cabin and 280 hectares of woodland. It was really quite unique and exciting. In the sales brochure there was a picture of a Pine Marten on the decking, so we put the camera trap every night hoping!!

One night I was woken at 2am by the sound of paws running along the decking, I woke up Lisa and we both heard the sound as it ran back a little later. We both hoped it would be either a Pine Marten or possibly a Badger. We had actually seen a Badger earlier that night on our drive back from Matt and Emily's. Needless to say, we were extremely disappointed when we checked the footage and saw it was just a domestic cat!! Presumably from the nearest house some distance away.

Both properties were in the Aigas valley, and as Emily had worked for the Aigas Wildlife Field Centre she very kindly contacted the centre to see if they would let us look around the site. We were then given VIP treatment, as we were met by two of their wardens and shown around this impressive site. They also told us about the Scottish Wildcat breeding program, where several institutions around the country are involved with breeding suitable cats, for release back into the wild. There have already been several releases in the Cairngorms, and they are already breeding again in the wild. Each breeding cat is DNA tested to make sure it's 95% or higher for true Scottish Wildcat, as there has been breeding in the past with feral cats that ran the risk of the true Scottish Wildcat becoming extinct.

We were lucky to be shown a male cat that is now beyond breeding age. The cats being used for the breeding program are kept as far away from human contact as possible. Although I don't normally post photos of captive animals, I think I can safely post this one, as to see a true Scottish Wildcat in the wild would be almost impossible as they are so elusive and obviously rare!!

Male Scottish Wildcat.

Unfortunately, the weather on our day at Aigas was quite wet and dull, but we still had a great time there. Following on from the Wildcat, we were left to explore if we wished. With the rain continuing, we decided to sit in the Red Squirrel hide and hope for some good views of these delightful animals.

We didn't have long to wait before we were entertained by three different Red Squirrels. Often they chased each other, or ran off with a Hazelnut, to bury it somewhere safe.

Red Squirrels.

There were plenty of birds too using the feeders outside the hide. Mainly Coal Tit, but also Siskin, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Chaffinch and Great-spotted Woodpecker.

The kindness shown to us by the Aigas Field Centre was absolutely fantastic. If only the weather had been as kind!!

Scotland Scenery and Fungi.

 With Matt now having successfully settled well near Inverness with Emily, I expect my visits to Scotland will become more frequent. Both Lisa and myself do enjoy our trips up there anyway, so Matt and Emily being there just gives us a great excuse to head up there!!

This time we had just under 2 weeks, with 8 days based in two locations near where Matt and Emily live. We had booked the trip before they had moved into their lovely home, but fortunately both of the properties we had booked, for 4 days in each, were both within 20 minutes of them. Our trip also coincided with Matt's birthday, so the Eade tradition of celebrating with a curry was possible!!

The scenery in the area was absolutely amazing with all the autumn colours. However, the wildlife was, in the early part of the trip a little disappointing. This was certainly partly due to the weather, as well as Lisa that had a bit of a bad back in the early part of the trip. Fortunately, this would improve in time for our mountain top visits near the end of the trip.

Our first property was looking across the Aigas valley, where each morning we were treated with a light mist covering the autumn coloured trees on the opposite side of the valley.

Mist covering the opposite woodland.

We were also very close to Glen Affric, and we visited this area several times during the eight days of being in the area. Our first sighting here was a lovely Dipper on the river. We assumed as we saw it straight away, that there must be good numbers here and we spent quite a bit of time on each visit hoping to see more. However, we failed to see any more dippers here, however, on our final morning in Scotland further south, our final wildlfie sighting of note was good views of at least three further dipper. Our visit to the Highlands coincided with the first snow of the winter on the mountain tops. This we really enjoyed seeing and photographing on the visits to Glen Affric.

Glen Affric.

Mass of Silver Birch.

Autumn Colours at Glen Affric.

Glen Affric.

The first snow on the mountain tops.

The mountain tops near Glen Affric.

On one of the days, instead of climbing high up a mountain, we took a more leisurely kind of day looking at Loch Ness. This was partly to make it easier for Lisa to improve her back. As it happened, we still walked several miles that day, but without so much of the heavier camera equipment. Several good viewpoints were seen, but at least we didn't have too much staggering up steep hillsides to do the sightseeing..

Lisa somewhere near Loch Ness.

Most of the scenery shots were taken on our mobiles, as we don't have wide angle lenses, but I still haven't sorted them yet, so all of the photos here were with the 100-400mm zoom. 

On our final morning in Scotland, we had moved further south, to be near Glenshee. After two long days on top of Glenshee, we had a morning along the river valley, before the long drive south for a one night stop over near Martin Mere. On the morning on the river valley we had those great views of the dippers. A fabulous finale to our Scotland trip. More of this on another post. However, I was also taken by the views along the valley with some beautiful shaped trees with the mountains behind. I couldn't resist taking a few shots of this.

Autumn around Glenshee.

As well as the beautiful autumnal colours of the trees, we also saw some nice fungi. with yellow/orange being the popular colour!! The Yellow Stagshorn were particularly numerous, and lovely to see, as was some Orange Peel Fungus.

Yellow Stagshorn.

Orange Peel Fungus.

I could have taken many photos of all the fungi, but I did stay with just the more unusual or colourful ones, however, this Hoof Fungus was quite impressive on a Birch tree.

Hoof Fungus.

Some of the wildlife memorable moments will follow on the next couple of posts.

Spiders and Fungi.

 Just before a superb trip to Scotland, I had a few local outings mainly searching for Fungi. However, my favourite trip was to Ashdown Forest with Pete and David, where we were pleasantly surprised to find good numbers of Raft Spider, a species I have seen many times before in the area, but not in such good numbers. I was also trying out a new lens that I was hoping would work well for close up photography, despite it being a 100-400 zoom lens. As it happened, the spiders were perfect for trying out the lens.

Raft Spider with prey.

Raft Spider finishing off its meal.

Raft Spider in hunting mode.

Another Raft Spider hunting.

In all we saw well over double figures of Raft Spider, and with many photographed with the new lens we headed to another location to look for the fungi. 

Several species were seen, but the best was found by David, a beautiful Upright Coral Fungus.

Upright Coral Fungus.

We also saw several Fly Agaric, although my best Fly Agaric specimen was found a few days later in a private woodland.

Fly Agaric.

The following week, Lisa and I went back to Ashdown Forest to search out the Raft Spiders again. Strangely, we found many more than I had seen the previous week, over 30 seen, although these were mostly juvenile, whereas with Pete and David, most were fully grown adults.

Lisa however, did spot a lovely example of the Pixie cup lichen.

Cladonia pyxidata.

On the 9th of October on a lovely day, I was walking on a circuit of my local patch, when I was very surprised to spot a fresh Adonis Blue.  This species always has a 2nd brood in August which can go into early September, but an individual in October is extremely unusual, and would point towards a 3rd brood individual. Of course, it is very unlikely to find a partner to mate with, so I expect it ended up dying without helping next years generation.

Probable 3rd brood Adonis Blue.

On the same walk I also saw a couple of Clouded Yellows. These were almost certainly British born individuals from eggs laid earlier in the summer. On a walk today, November 2nd, I spotted another Clouded Yellow flying in sunshine.

Male Clouded Yellow.

In the week leading up to the Scotland trip , I also had several vists in the garden from a lovely Green Woodpecker. It was really good at digging small holes in the lawn as it hunted for food. I expect that my lawn is productive for the bird as I let it go pretty wild each year!!

Green Woodpecker at home.