Scotland: Hebrides and Highlands, April, 2005 Apr 03—13, 2005
Posted by Peter Roberts
Peter Roberts
Peter Roberts is based in Britain and lives on the island of Islay in the west of Scotland. He has been a keen naturalist since childhood in London. While birds remain his ...Related Trips
This is, I suppose, an eclectic and somewhat offbeat tour for birders from America. Early April might seem an odd time to visit Scotland, but this tour offers a bit of everything for all tastes. Timed in early spring, it has, in its two years of operation, proven successful at catching the end of the fascinating winter bird populations, yet finding the best of the area?s special breeding birds on territory. In addition to juggling those two concepts, we split the tour between two distinctly different parts of Scotland to give participants a taste of both the wild Hebridean islands and the even wilder Scottish Highlands?both providing memorable scenery in different ways. Most folks don?t visit Scotland just for the birds, so we further try to interweave some cultural and historical activity into our daily program. Then there is the famous and much maligned Scottish weather! It will never be as piercingly cold as Minnesota in January, with its several feet of snow and minus 20 temperatures, but it is certainly changeable.
We had everything thrown at us in short bursts on our 2005 tour, from brilliant sunshine and one or two brief mild spells to gales, rain, and even hail and snow for brief moments. But this is all part of the idiosyncratic charm of this tour?it is what you expect and part of the fun?honestly! With all those variables to play with, we all took a very flexible approach and turned our 10 days into a really good, fun trip. We watched huge flocks of Barnacle and Pink-footed geese at slam-dunk range in gorgeous light?the Barnacles especially dapper in their crisp black, gray, and white plumage. In between we sheltered from the rain showers at some wonderful whisky distilleries where the free samples and fascinating tours warmed us up and put us in a good frame of mind.
With so many people interested in genealogy these days, it was fun to visit the place where the Macdonald surname originated at the historical site of Finlaggan, seat of the Clan Donald in the medieval period. In between watching Iceland and Glaucous gulls, we played ?spot the Iron Age Fort? and found charismatic Red-billed Choughs nesting in old crofts abandoned as the land was cleared in turbulent historical times over a century ago. An informal tour of Islay?s idiosyncratic Woollen Mill, complete with the latest photos of Princess Ann in her Islay tweeds, was punctuated by dashes outside to watch the Gray Wagtails and White-throated Dipper on the river. The breeding-plumage Arctic Loons on Loch Maree with its backdrop of glaciated valley sides and thick forest were classic ?wild Scotland,? and those languidly displaying Red Kites on the Black Isle a hopeful reminder that man can put right previous wrongs by successful reintroductions. The fields full of calling and displaying Northern Lapwings in early spring exuberance show how farming and wildlife can live side-by-side.
For the most part, this is a ?civilized? and fairly relaxed tour with purely optional pre-breakfast birding in the idyllic settings of our two accommodations, but only one mandatory early rise to be in place at dawn for one of Scotland?s most wanted species, the Eurasian Capercaillie. This year we really lucked-out with the best looks I?ve had of this magnificent and imposing bird in its rich Caledonian pine forest home. As soon as we arrived at the blind we were ushered forward to watch a huge male puffed out, iridescent hackle feathers splayed and broad tail fanned and erect. This was quickly followed a short distance away by even better looks at two Black Grouse leks_places where the electric blue-black males get together in groups and strut about impressing each other and hidden females with their grandeur. The brilliant white undertail coverts on flared lyre-shaped tails splayed over their backs were dazzling as they strutted about the isolated heather moorland. All in all, a memorable early morning celebrated by a feast of a Scottish cooked breakfast at a nearby hotel.
The birding was excellent, but the whole experience is so much more, and hopefully makes the tour more enriching and rewarding. The fine accommodations, especially at the grand Victorian Hunting Lodge of Aigas with cocktails in the lavish study, make it very special. The short informative lectures, the historical diversions, discussions about Scotland?s history and culture, and even that weather, punctuated with warming cups of tea, coffee, chocolate, and snacks in the minibus, are all part of VENT's ?spring in Scotland? experience!