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Cairngorm Question (1 Viewer)

Nick Smith

Nick Smith

Member of the Staffordshire Bird Club
Is it possible to walk from the restaurant on Cairngorm to the summit without joining a guided walk? I thought I read somewhere recently that if you are early enough you can walk out?
Also, any recent sightings from Findhorn Valley? Any white-tailed eagles there this year?
Thanks
 
Apparently you can't: http://www.cairngormmountain.org/funicular/ - I think this was originally done to prevent damage to the microflora in the area.

I have seen various people saying that it has been mooted that they might allow access at some point in the future, but the only way to access the top on foot on your own at the moment is to walk up. You can quite easily see ptarmigan and snow buntings from the viewing area of the visitor centre.
 
Nick Smith said:
Is it possible to walk from the restaurant on Cairngorm to the summit without joining a guided walk? I thought I read somewhere recently that if you are early enough you can walk out?
Also, any recent sightings from Findhorn Valley? Any white-tailed eagles there this year?
Thanks
Click to expand...

No, only in the skiing season. There's always a reasonable chance of getting WTE in Findhorn Valley at any time of year!
 
Thanks for the replies. I knew about the guided walks but I thought I read somewhere that if you were up the mountain early enough, then you could simply sneek out and go for a walk. I must have mis read it.
 
Nick Smith said:
Thanks for the replies. I knew about the guided walks but I thought I read somewhere that if you were up the mountain early enough, then you could simply sneek out and go for a walk. I must have mis read it.
Click to expand...

You can walk freely anywhere up there as long as you walked up. The only restriction is you cannot access the hill by going up on the funicular, there is no public exit in summer. I have heard of people falling over the low wall on the Cafe terrace occasionally though, then wondering off dazed in to the distance..;)
 
Greetings Birders,
I have an unexpected chance to get to the Cairngorm area Saturday. Is there any news on whether Dotterel are still around this year? On eBird it looks like they do sometimes stay into August, but on other posts here it looks like they sometimes clear out in July. I'm thinking of walking from the upper parking lot to the top of the ski area, but I'd welcome other suggestions.

Thank you!
 
jpoyner said:
You can walk freely anywhere up there as long as you walked up. The only restriction is you cannot access the hill by going up on the funicular, there is no public exit in summer. I have heard of people falling over the low wall on the Cafe terrace occasionally though, then wondering off dazed in to the distance..;)
Click to expand...

Lol...true enough, I cant really see how they could stop you to be fair, illegal, I doubt it, anybody can fall of a wall. Or you could always say you walked up.
 
Just got back. Only saw the top of Cairngorm once during whole week and that was at 18:00hrs one evening. Mist/cloud covering Ptarmigan cafe most days so we never got up. Did have plenty of crested tits around in quite a few places. Good season for them? Also had about 8 of these knocking around. Did tape their flight call too but not got round to downloading it yet
 

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Nick Smith said:
Just got back. Only saw the top of Cairngorm once during whole week and that was at 18:00hrs one evening. Mist/cloud covering Ptarmigan cafe most days so we never got up. Did have plenty of crested tits around in quite a few places. Good season for them? Also had about 8 of these knocking around. Did tape their flight call too but not got round to downloading it yet
Click to expand...

Looks a pretty good candidate for Parrot to me. Cresties have a had a pretty good breeding season I think, as have most birds up here it seems this year.
 
Nick Smith said:
Just got back. Only saw the top of Cairngorm once during whole week and that was at 18:00hrs one evening. Mist/cloud covering Ptarmigan cafe most days so we never got up. Did have plenty of crested tits around in quite a few places. Good season for them? Also had about 8 of these knocking around. Did tape their flight call too but not got round to downloading it yet
Click to expand...

For future reference, I generally find that the ptarmigan come down much lower when the clouds are down, and on more than one occasion I have only had to walk about half way to the cafe along the track from the car park to see them. I don't think it works for dotterel, though. Early morning is necessary to avoid the crowds.
 
Was there in May 2011. Walked from carpark for funicular at bottom of mountain to top. Easy enough climb as there good paths the whole way up. Only took around 4 hours. Went at a slow enough pace though. Had several good views of Ptarmigan and a ring ouzel. Got no Dotterel though.
 
I have seen dotterel on the top platform (by which I mean the top area near the summit, which is flat) of Cairn Gorm itself, but I think you basically need to be the first person up there that day. I would suggest leaving the car park no later than 6am, earlier if (like me) you are not fit and walk slowly uphill :)
 
Alcina said:
For future reference, I generally find that the ptarmigan come down much lower when the clouds are down, and on more than one occasion I have only had to walk about half way to the cafe along the track from the car park to see them. I don't think it works for dotterel, though. Early morning is necessary to avoid the crowds.
Click to expand...

I don't think cloud cover has very much influence on Ptarmigan movements generally, it's usually only heavy snows that force them further down the hill in winter.
 
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