April 4th
An unnecessarily early start saw us arrive at Musselburgh at a little after first light to be met by deeply unpromising conditions. All four of us on this trip but given the crappy weather the missus and our youngest opted to sit this one out in the car, and I can’t say they were wrong on that count, this time at least. Strong winds, a heavy chop on the sea and poor visibility were not unexpected having seen the forecast but given that we were heading up for a planned short break in Speyside and this site, currently host to an American White-winged Scoter (presumably the same bird we’d dipped over two days last August further up the country at Murcar), was on the way(ish) I couldn’t not at least try. As it turned out we couldn’t find a single Scoter of any kind and left with nothing more than year tick Eider before our next fool’s errand, seeking out Auld Reekie’s peripatetic Ring-necked Duck. With blanks drawn at Blackford and Duddington (where I nearly went base over apex more than once negotiating the steep slippery slope from the car park down to the loch side) and the rain turning heavy and sleety I decided enough was enough – it was time to head for Aviemore.
Past Perth the sleety rain turned to snow. Past Pitlochry it got heavier. Shortly after Dalwhinnie we were treated to the bizarre sight of thirty odd Red Grouse flying high up in the sky, traversing between heights either side of the wide open valley. Then, as we approached Aviemore, it became quite nice. The snow stopped, the sky brightened, and do you know what, we might get something out of the day after all! First though, lunch, and with the Rothiemurchus café having provided an absolutely top-notch Cullen Skink I settled on Loch Garten as a nice undemanding spot to round off a long and tiring day. On the way we had a quick stop at the picturesque Loch Pityoulish, where some briefly glimpsed white blobs in the first cove had me pulling in at the lay by to double check, and sure enough, as hoped for, it was a pair of Whooper Swans, one of which drifted out onto the loch for splendid, serene views.
So, to Garten, where the corner baited by photographers was on the quiet side, so having membership we decided to head up to the Osprey centre (no Ospreys present) and try there. On arrival we struck lucky, with a Crested Tit on one of the feeders. Brilliant, first tick for the boys down. (Back in 2015, before starting these targets threads, we did a trip to Speyside and managed to score some of the specialities of the region, Capercaillie, Ptarmigan, Mountain Hare amongst the highlights, as well as Harlequin in Aberdeen, and Bottlenose Dolphins up at Chanonry. That trip, so early in their birding careers, also provided the boys with ticks of Song Thrush, Bullfinch and Grey Wagtail amongst others, but Crested Tit was one they didn’t catch up with, not for lack of trying, so it was ace to finally lay it to rest today.) They also enjoyed the super close views you get here of feeding Chaffinches, Coal Tits, Siskins etc. And that was that for day one, with plenty to look forward to on day two after some much needed sleep.