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Just returned on Friday evening from a weeks birding & dragon/damselfly trip to Scotland. We stayed for 3 nights at Spean Bridge (close to Fort William) which included a trip to Mull for White-tailed Eagle & Iona for Corncrake. We also spent 3 nights in Aviemore.
Highlights were: Pr of Black-throated Diver, 2 prs of Red-throated Diver, Slavonian Grebe with young, 5 Black Guillemot, 2 White-tailed Eagles, Golden Eagle, several Osprey (icluding 5 in the air together), 3 Capercaillie (including a male walking down a road at 4.55am!), Black Grouse heard, Corncrake, Ring Ouzel, Wood Warblers, Crested Tits & Snow Bunting.
2 Otters were seen on Mull & Pine Marten seen on 2 seperate evenings close to Loch Garten. Plenty of Red Squirrels also seen.
All 4 target species of dragon/damselfly seen - Northern Emerald, Azure Hawker, White-faced Darter & Northern Damselfly.
Butterflies included Large Heath, Dark Green Fritillary & Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary. Painted Ladies were seen at several sites including on the summit of the Cairngorms!
The weather couldn't have been better - sunny and hot every day which saw us climbing the Cairngorms in 86 degrees heat.
Quite a productive trip considering that the end of June/start of July is not the best of times to go birding in Scotland (though prime time for the dragons/damsels)
Finally, a big thanks to Deano for supplying us with info & maps for the trip.
regards
Chris
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