Return To The Highlands....Day 2

 We left Kinross and headed North up the M90 to Perth and then onwards to the scenic town of Pitlochry. After a 2 year hiatus we were finally back in the Highlands.

 A quick return to Motorway Raptorwatch produced 2 Buzzards on the M90 and 6 Buzzards on the A9.

  Pitlochry is a place we have visited frequently, for browsing the charity shops, the woodland walk up to the Falls and of course the fish dam. As we were driving all the way up to Elgin we only had time for the high street. We parked up and on attempting to buy a parking ticket I noticed the time it gave us. The ticket lasted for only 30 minutes, a bit less than expected for the £2 fee. I then noticed that 30 minutes was free parking and then that the machine had taken the money but not registered it as payment :( After a loud argument with the ticket machine and several presses of the cancellation button, coins started to spill out like a slot machine. It had obviously kept numerous people's coins and gave them a free 30 minute ticket. We went back to the car £8.20 richer and had a quick look at a closely parked car and noticed they too had a 30 minute ticket which was already past it's time. Hopefully a warden didn't arrive and give them all a fine.

 We had a browse at the charity shops which are becoming more like antique shops by the day and too costly to get any bargains anymore so left to continue our journey, but did notice this great Stephen Moss book in The John Muir Trust shop.

   As we travelled up the A9 the snow got ever closer to the roadside. A scenic lay-by gave me the chance to jump out of the car for a photo. The wind nearly blew the door from it's hinges and the icy blast gave me the look of someone who had just returned from getting a botox injection.

 

 An hour later we were parked in Aviemore and tucking into some Smiffy's chips 👌

  After feeding ourselves we thought it would be a good idea to go feed the birds so we drove the short distance to Loch Garten Osprey centre. Still too early for the ospreys but always great to see the woodland birds close up and the chance of seeing a stunning Crested Tit.

 Majella was in her element interacting with the Coal Tits and Great Tits whose trust we always cherish.

 I couldn't let her have all the fun so I took my turn connecting with Nature.

 The woodland was alive with Great Tits, Coal Tits, Blue Tits, Chaffinches, a Great Spotted Woodpecker and Siskins, but no sighting this time of a Crested Tit.

                                                             Siskin

Relaxing on the shore of Loch Garten before leaving.

 We took another quick detour to Nethy Bridge in hope of finding the recently sighted Hawfinch but as every other time searching for this bird, no luck.

  Another day, another Travelodge, this time on the outskirts of Elgin. This would be our base to explore the Moray coast and further inland during the next 2-3 days where our real adventure begins.

Thank you again for viewing the blog. Hope it is enjoyable.

More to come.....

Self-Isolation - Home Garden Safari World Tour

  As well as watching the actual living bird life in our garden I decided to travel the world from our garden and photograph some of the amazing wildlife we saw.
  This is our whole Facebook garden safari trip in one blog with a few extras added that didn't make Facebook. :)

  Day 1 - Africa
  The tour began on the African Plains. Antelope, Zebra, Cheetah, Leopard, Rhinos and African Painted Dogs were all seen our on drive out.

  That evening we were also treated to a night-time drive.The Lions were more active and Hippos were grazing away from the river under the cover of darkness. A lone Red River Hog was also spotted.

  Bonus Trip (not seen on Facebook) ;) Before leaving the African mainland we trekked up to the Virunga Mountains in hope of seeing Mountain Gorillas.We were very fortunate ;)

  Day 2 - Madagascar
  Travelling East from Africa we headed for the island of Madagascar with all of it's wonderful endemic wildlife.
  It was fantastic to watch the Lemurs but the highlight was being able to dive with Green Turtles.

  We spent the evening on a walk through the Madagascan forest and found one of the most extraordinary creatures on the planet, the Aye-Aye.A nocturnal primate that finds it's food through echo-location by tapping the tree and listening for larvae under the bark before fishing them out with it's elongated middle finger.

  Bonus Trip (not seen on Facebook) - On our journey across the Indian Ocean we had a quick stop over in Mauritius and was astonished to find a previously thought extinct bird, the Dodo ;)

  Day 3 - Asia
  An incredible journey from South Asia all the way North to the Himalayas produced some amazing and endangered wildlife.A increasingly rare sighting (due to the deforestation for Palm Oil plantations) of a male Orangutan on his nest.A Giant Panda and a Moon Bear, another mammal struggling due to Human poaching for horrendous bile farms.

  In the snowy foothills of the Himalayas I searched for the elusive Snow Leopard.

  Back South in India I looked for Bengal Tigers and found one stalking a Chital.

  We set up a few trail cameras in the area to see if we could get any closer footage and caught a Mother and her cub on film.The Cub calling and then the Mother then scent marking our camera.

  Day 4 - Australia 

  We didn't have a lot of time in Australia but still managed to see two of the most iconic species there.The Koala and a Kangaroo with her joey.

  Despite the swarms of flies we were able to do some local bird watching and found this Rainbow Lorikeet.

                             

  Day 5 - The Americas

  Starting in the South American Jungles we found a couple of Three-toed Sloths in the same tree.The upper one is obviously cold and needed the jumper ;) and then as we headed in to North America a Nine-banded Armadillo crossed our path.

 A quick detour East to the Everglades saw us come face to face with one of the most destructive invasive Species, a Python.

  Continuing our trip North we searched for awesome Grey Wolves and was lucky enough to spot one before getting interrupted by this Black Bear looking for toilet roll. ;) 

                              

                              

  Bonus Trip (not seen on Facebook) - While in the South American Jungle we spotted Squirrel Monkeys and in Central America a Vampire Bat was seen sneaking up on it's unsuspecting food source.

  Day 6 - Canada

  Moving North out of the USA and into Canada we were able to explore an area just North of the stunning Hudson Bay.Caribou were on their immense migration across the tundra and two Polar Bears were seen.

  We also a saw Moose crossing 😏 

  Before leaving Canada I had an encounter with an Arctic Wolf and her cub.

  Day 7 - UK

  After our long around the world tour it was back to the UK where we have some amazing wildlife.We got the chance to find some before heading home.

Badgers, Puffin and a Chough.

  Back home and a pond is a fantastic way to encourage wildlife into your garden and it works ;) Two Spoonbills, a Mallard and an Otter frequent our pond.

  Bonus Trip (not seen on Facebook) Our Fox statue has found a new friend.

    Behind the scenes ;) 

  Top of the range technology was used to bring the garden safari to life 😂

   Thank you to everyone who had already followed this adventure on my Facebook timeline each day and to those who are seeing it for the first time and trying to imagine just how crazy we have gone in our first 2 weeks of self-isolation.

  Just a few photos of proof that we do see living wildlife too in our garden :) 

  Thank you again for joining us on our slightly unorthodox world safari. :)
 
  Kindest Regards
  Stuart
  #staysafe