Up Inverness Way

 So a long time since the last post! We had planned a week in Grantown on Spey, with 'covid secure' guided trips out for mid August, but due to some issues we had to sadly cancel, we did manage to sort things and find an outrageously expensive flat just outside Inverness for later the end of August. Due to the demand we just couldn't find anything else!

Having said that we had a great time exploring some new and some old places. I won't go into a day by day account, but we did manage to bring our 2020 total for birds up to 143 for the UK, still way short of our normal totals, but that's down to missing spring really in lock down.

So here are a few highlights:

Slavonian Grebes, Loch Ruthven,

Knot, Chanonry Point,

Canada Geese, Gulls & a Redshank at Udale Bay, The Black Isle,

Ringed Plover at Chanonry Point

Turnstones, Chanonry Point,

Herring Gull, North Kessick,

Osprey, Beauly Firth,

Curlew, Beauly Firth,

Wren, Balblair Wood, Loch Fleet

Seals, Loch Fleet,

Falls of Shinn

Salmon, Falls of Shinn,

Osprey, Spey Bay,

Brent Goose, Spey Bay,

Redshank & Bar-tailed Godwit, Nairn

and Goosander, Leith -Edinburgh

Common Terns, Longniddry, East Lothian

Sandwich Tern, Longniddry, East Lothian

So a really great trip, ending up in Edinburgh to celebrate our daughters birthday, so all worked out well in the end! Over 70 species of birds seen, sadly no Eagles or Crossbills, but with the aid of our new scope, managed to get a Red-throated Diver in the sea by Burghead, plus fantastic views of the Osprey in the Beauly Firth. In fact we had 8 separate Osprey sightings, which was awesome (admittedly that includes 3 flying together at Spey Bay)