Scotland.

 Just over 2 years ago I met Matt at Inverness for a short trip to hopefully see some of the rare dragonflies and mountain birds and animals found in Scotland. The trip was mostly very successful, well, the dragonfly part of it was, but the weather turned nasty and I was still to see my first Ptarmigan, Crested Tit and many more species. I did on that occasion see an extremely wet and windswept Mountain Hare. At the time I was in the same predicament, so much so I didn't even attempt a photograph, but at least I had seen one. 

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So, when Lisa suggested a trip to Scotland I was more than keen. It is an area I have only visited a couple of times previously and one of those was over 30 years ago for my brother's wedding, so that was hardly a wildlife hit!!

The other time was with Nigel to see the Chequered Skipper, which too, was very successful, with us seeing plenty of the skippers as well as many other great insects.

Lisa had never been during the Red Deer rut, so this is one of the reasons that we chose mid to late October. As she had visited Scotland several times before it was down to her to choose the areas that we would visit. We would have 4 bases during the 16 days that we would be in Scotland, as well as an overnight stop on the way up and down near Martin Mere wetland centre. 

Our main targets would be Red Deer, Red Squirrel, Mountain Hare and Ptarmigan. Also, anything else that we could stumble upon.

Both the visits, up and down, to Martin Mere were good, although these were both quite short, as the centre was nearing closing time on the upward journey, and the return leg we had lots of miles ahead of us.

The timing was actually pretty good as many Whooper Swans had recently arrived to spend the winter at the site. We also had great views of Marsh Harriers and Snipe and a distant view of a Barn Owl. My hope to show Lisa her first Bearded Tits however, were unsuccessful.

Whooper Swans on the trip north.

Whooper Swan flying in for the winter.

On the return journey we had better light which helped the photography.

Whooper Swan feeding.

Common Snipe.

Our first base was near Loch Lomond, and although the wildlife wasn't so prevalent here, we still had a few nice encounters. This included a Red Admiral high up on our first walk. A very strange place to see a butterfly in mid October. Fox Moth caterpillars were also seen high up. We also heard some Red Deer stags bellowing in the distance. 

A walk around part of Loch Lomond on day 2 produced some nice Hooded Crows. Several flocks of small birds also gave me a couple of shots of a Treecreeper and a Nuthatch. We also saw a wonderful Dipper on the edge of Loch Lomond, a species we just don't get anywhere near Sussex. Unfortunately, it flew before either of us could get a photo.

Treecreeper.

Nuthatch.

As ever, Scotland is absolutely beautiful. We had so many amazing views during the trip. Most of my scenic shots were with the phone as I don't have a wide angle lens. The following were with the 500mm and a telephoto zoom, which were not really ideal.

Above Loch Lomond.

A Misty Morning.

Our first accommodation was at the far end of this Loch, Loch Arklet.

A lovely view of a Weasel was had along the road to the house we were staying in on the way back from an evening out. 

It was after we left Loch Arklet that we really started to see some of our targets.