So Long Tulloch......Day 12

 Our last morning waking up at Tulloch Farm. It was so good to be back and we had absolutely amazing time.It really is a magical place to stay, with the most wonderful hosts.The perfect base from which to explore the Highlands with all it's splendour and magnificent Wildlife.

We couldn't leave without saying a last goodbye to Shadow, Neville and Georgie and of course to those wonderful hosts(friends) Margo & Robert.

If you want to know more about the farm, their website link is below.Just don't all book it at once so I can't get back in 😉

https://www.tullochfarm.co.uk/

 Last photo of Tulloch Farm before we left.

 We weren't driving all 7 hours back to Lincolnshire today as we were going to 'overnight it' in Stirling. It meant we could take our time and stop along the way to admire the scenery, especially as our route home took us through Glencoe to Crianlarich and Callander.

 We continued on to Callander as it is always a nice place to stretch your legs and browse the shops. Little did we know that there was a race on and the place was busier than we've ever seen it.The main car park was full, mainly of runner's and stewards so we had to park along the river. At least it meant that it wasn't far to look for birds.

 A Robin sang for us and a couple of Jackdaws looked at us in anticipation of food and on the water there were Mute Swans, Mallards and Goosanders.

 Goosanders on the River Teith.

 Arriving at our final stop, Stirling Travelodge we settled in for the night and thought of the fantastic wildlife we had seen during our last 11 days in the Highlands. Tomorrow we would be back in Lincolnshire.

Photos by Stuart Pike & Majella Fox 

Thank you to everyone who took the time to read any of my latest blogs about our Scotland trip. I really hope you enjoyed the photos and stories, and a look around the Scottish Highlands with us,

Hopefully it won't be in the too distant future when I do the next blogpost.

Thanks for reading.Stay safe and get out to connect with Nature.

 

 

The Journey Begins......Day 1

 It has been nearly 2 years since I did any blog whatsoever, mainly because I have barely left the house since 2020 and the arrival of the pandemic so it was so good to finally get back up to the Scottish Highlands to see wildlife, scenery and friends.

 Hopefully I will have time to blog daily about each day exploring Scotland and it's wealth of Flora and Fauna. We were originally supposed to spend a week on Skye and a week at our friend's farm in Glen Spean but late changes made, cancelled our 7 day trip to Skye in to a shorter 3 days along the Moray coast, before our Glen Spean week.

 Before we get to that point, there was the small issue of a 6hr drive from Lincolnshire up to our first overnight stop. To pass the time we played Motorway Raptorwatch 🦅😏 I always keep an eye out for Birds of Prey when we are out in the car so we decided to keep count of the numbers for each road section.

Raptor Count - 

M18 - 2 Buzzards

M62 - 1 Buzzard

A1 - 3 Buzzards & 2 Red Kites

M6 - 1 Buzzard

M74 - 6 Buzzards

M73 - 1 Buzzard

M80/M90 - 2 Buzzards

Not a Kestrel in sight but did see our first Hooded Crows of 2022 along the M74.

  Due to our late change in destination which meant travelling up to Elgin, we needed an overnight rest and so stopped in Kinross. Unfortunately Kinross is not as busy as it used to be as the very popular market and carboot was closed down years ago and along with it went some of the shops, but it still had the beauty of Loch Leven nearby and that is where we headed before the hotel.

 On arrival we were welcomed into the reserve by hundreds of Snowdrops and some beautifully painted Scottish wildlife steps.

  We made our way out on to the reserve and the viewing hides and were instantly rewarded with a stunning blue-skied vista and a flock of around 60 Curlew.

  The glorious collision of numerous honking calls alerted us to the arrival of thousands of Pink-footed Geese, first circling and then whiffling down into the field.

  Not wanting to be left out 3 Whooper Swans followed soon after, gliding down to their water skiing landing on to the Loch.

  Other birds seen on and around Loch Leven were Goldeneye, Pochard, Greylag Geese, Little Egret, Tufted Duck, Grey Heron, Great-crested Grebe, Little Grebe, Wigeon, Mute Swans, Mallard, Coot, Moorhen, Black-headed Gulls, Magpie, Robin, Blue Tits, Great Tits, Chaffinch, Lapwings, Mistle Thrush, Kestrel (finally) and a Sparrowhawk.

                                                         Little Egret

                                                         Little Grebe

                                                        Sparrowhawk

                                                       Lapwing roost

                                                       Greylag Goose

  

By this time it was very late afternoon and the light was starting to fade but it gave us some wonderful photo opportunities as the lowering Winter Sun glanced over the still waters of the loch.

  It was now late and time to turn into our hotel, the expensive Kinross Travelodge to rest up and prepare for the journey further North to the Moray coast.

Hope you can join us tomorrow to continue the journey with us.

Many thanks for taking the time out to browse the photos and read the blog.

Photos taken by Stuart Pike & Majella Fox.

  

   

Tales From The Highlands

Days 13 & 14

  Sorry for the lengthy double blog to end the trip but I thought I should get it all done together while I have the chance and working internet ;)

Day 13 - A Trip To Hawaii

  Okay, so we didn't really visit Hawaii but we did go to Embo that is twinned with Kaunakakai in Hawaii.I'm guessing it's because of the beaches and not the weather lol
  It took us about an hour to drive up the A9 from the Black Isle detour through Dornoch and up to Embo where we drove straight through the caravan park to the pier.It's a great place to look for birds.We have seen Scoters, Guillemots and Gannets here before.Today there was a raft of Eiders.
  Embo pier.

  Raft of Eider Ducks.

  Just another 5-10 minutes up the road from tropical Embo and you reach Loch Fleet.A wonderful place and always brimming with wildlife where the Harbour Seals lounge around on the sand bars.You can get out and sit on the bench or if you want to stay dry, use your binoculars through your car window lol
  Loch Fleet.

  Seals on the sand bars.

  There were over 100 Oystercatchers, along with some Redshanks,Red-breasted Mergansers, Grey Herons, a Greenshank, some Greylag Geese in the adjacent field and about another 50+ Eiders.
  Greylag Geese.

  Oystercatchers.

  Red-breasted Merganser trying to swallow a fish.

  Greenshank.

  More Eiders.

  After leaving Loch Fleet we headed a bit further North to Golspie where you will find a fantastic fish & chip restaurant, The Trawler.I had Scampi and chips.Now I usually get 8 or 9 scampi when ordering from somewhere, today I got 10 but each one was like a double scampi.Apparently from the West coast of Scotland where they are obviously given steroids lol 

  A quick visit to the charity shop a few doors down and it was time to head back to the Black Isle.

Day 14 - A Very Lochy Day

  This was our last full day in the Highlands (Boooo), and we had a few options as so many places to go and so little time to see them in.We thought about heading up to Ullapool, or across to Skye or down to Glen Affric.In the end we did head West but towards Sheildaig through Torridon.It's a drive we have done before though I never realised the amount of bodies of water on this circular route.Lucky for you all ;), I decided to photograph each of them to share with you as we drove around.

  So we set off up the A835 through Contin(another great cafe just after here, past Rogie Falls where we once got stuck in the snow and had to be pulled out by Police lol) where we see our first Loch of the day.

  1.Loch Garve

  Instead of continuing North towards Ullapool we turn left onto the A832 and head West.We soon see the next Loch, 6 miles long.

2.Loch Luichart

  Just another mile or two up the road and the next Loch comes in to view.

3.Loch A Chuilinn

  Connected to Loch A Chuilin by a few hundred yards of the River Bran was...

4.Loch Achanatt

  As we continued West we reached the village of Achnasheen where we saw a lone Red Kite, the further West of Tollie I have seen one.Just the other side of Achnasheen is a 3 mile stretch of water set in a glen that has some of the lowest temperatures in all of Scotland, Brrrr ;)

5.Loch Chroisg

  There is a short break in Lochs but as you drive down towards Kinlochewe you have this wonderful view of Loch Maree.A place where we have watched Great Northern Divers before.

6.Loch Maree

   We drove down the side of Loch Maree for a few miles to the hotel where we scanned the water for birds but found none.

  We turned around, headed back to the junction at Kinlochewe and down the A896.Going towards Torridon you first come to the most northern most point of the next Loch.

7.Loch Clair

  Now we are excitingly into White-tailed Sea Eagle territory.If you missed them around Loch Maree(watch them on the live cams at Beinn Eighe visitor centre), there is chance of seeing them in Torridon and Shieldaig.

8.Upper Loch Torridon

  We scanned the mountain tops but unfortunately the clouds were moving in and covering them so we moved on to Shieldaig.Here we made a pitstop at a cafe and looked over at the island and the surrounding areas for an Eagle.

9.Loch Shieldaig

  Once again the rain caught us up and stole our hope of seeing the flying barn door.The A896 then heads South through some stunning scenery before reaching our next Loch.

  The A896 scenery, we came from the left and headed off on the right.

  The next 2 lochs were actually joined together with just a narrower section of water between them.

10.Loch Coultrie

  

11.Loch An Loin, a quiet cottage to live in :)

  I couldn't tempt Majella to take a right turn here and head up Applecross so we drove down the East side of this 300ft deep loch, looking West towards Isle Of Skye.

12.Loch Kishorn

  

  Separated by just the headland from Loch Kishorn, the next sea loch on the West coast is...

13.Loch Carron

Panoramic view of Loch Carron

  You would think 13 lochs would be enough but no there was more.I can hear the sighs from here ;) On the road heading back up towards Achnasheen there were 3 more lochs.

14.Loch Dughail

15.Loch Sgamhain

16.Loch Gowan

  So about 100 miles round trip, 6 hours, 16 lochs(not including the few lochans seen along the way too).If you come here and you like lochs then you're in for a very lochy time ;)

  Later that evening it was still drizzling but I knew it was my last chance to get out with the Bat detector so around 9.15pm I spent half hour back at RSPB Fairy Glen and managed to pick up the sound of what I gather was one Common Pipistrelle Bat.They are known in the Glen and I picked it up at 45kHz so would think that is what it was.

  Well that took 2 hours to write and upload lol but it is the last blogpost of my Tales From The Highlands tour.I am back in Lincolnshire now so blogs will be more sparse and boring ;)

  Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to have a look through my blogs, view my photographs and read about my time in Scotland.I recommend that everyone should see the amazing wildlife and scenery of Scotland at least once in their lives.

  Anyone up there already with a spare room(or shed), give us a call ;) lol

Thanks again.

Stuart