Rock Ptarmigan Lagopus muta
As well as a capercaillie, I managed to see ptarmigan a couple of times (see link below). I came across a pair on Cairngorm.
As well as a capercaillie, I managed to see ptarmigan a couple of times (see link below). I came across a pair on Cairngorm.
Back in March I was lucky enough to see a capercaillie that posed for photos. I got some photos of the capercaillie in the woods too.
A few photos I took of red grouse on my way home from the Cairngorms back in March, the route for which just so happened to take us through a good spot for them.
Some pics from the Cairngorms now. Most people stick to the grouse and other highland specialties when in the the Cairngorms but I can’t resist a good toad photograph and at this loch there were 100s! They were in the water and on the paths. There were a few mating pairs. I I couldn’t resist…
Driving to Glen Shee, we passed plenty of red grouse and we stopped to photograph an number of those in photographic postions. I managed to get one making that fantastic call. A few were wandering around the ski resort car park. We also passed a golden plover, which I managed one ok photo of.
One of the species I wanted to see in Scotland was ptarmigan. These are a bird of mountain tops in the UK and it usually it would have involved walking through snow to get them in March, but the record warm weather meant there was little snow about so easier walking. Unfortunately it also meant…
Carrying on with my photos from Scotland, I took a number of small bird photos in Cairngorms. I got one good photo of a crested tit, which I had to crop quite heavily. The siskins stayed too far away as well. I got a couple of ok shots though. As always in Scotland, the were…
I could write a lot about these fantastic birds but I thought I’d just let the photos do the talking: For anyone with welfare concerns with this bird you can rest easy: the SNH capercaillie recorder was present while I took these photos.
While not a target species, with them not being 100% wild or native in the strictest sense, coming across the reindeer on the cairngorms was still pretty cool. It was great to see them in an at least semi natural habitat. I tried a different shot too.
One of the reasons for the lack of recent posts was that I was away in Scotland, in the Cairngorms National Park. I saw lots of new species and will be posting the photos in the near future. My first new species was the red grouse. Not to long after entering the national park this…