Further to my earlier post about birding in mid to late June http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=341075, we seem to have decided to go to Scotland (even if we have been already), as it was a long time (12 years) ago and only for a few days.
This time we’ll have a couple of weeks so we can take it easy, but we still have doubts as to where to go as there’s so many good places to choose from.
I thought I’d write down our dates and target species, plus a list of locations that we have put together. We'd rather not travel to a different place every day, but choose 2-3 bases and take day trips from there.
Timing: roughly second half of June, from the 11th onwards. It looks like we’ll be flying into Edinburgh.
Species (in order of importance or sort of)
- Skuas, Great and Arctic
- Puffins (our daughter would love to see them)
- Twite (we dipped last time) :-C
- Red Grouse
- Corncrake (we know it’s not likely)
- Capercaillie (as above)
- Rock Pipit
- Short-Eared Owl
- White-Tailed Eagle
- Great Northern Diver? wrong time? or still a chance?
- Dotterel
- Snowfinch
- Ptarmigan
- Crossbiils
- Bullfinch
- Redpoll
Places. An itinerary could be Cairngorms-Handa-Mull, but are there any other places that may be worth a look?
- Handa Island. We would stay nearby for a couple of nights.
- Mull. We were thinking of staying a week, visiting also Iona, Threshnish isles etc. Is it too much? Is it better to spend time elsewhere instead?
- Cairngorms. We have seen Ptarmigan in Sweden, and Dotterel and Snowfinch in Italy, but it would be nice to see them in breeding plumage. We would probably get a guide as we don’t feel confident enough to tackle the trek by ourselves. how long should we spend in this area?
- Farne Islands/Isle of May. Given that last time we went to Fowlsheugh and that we are going to Handa and maybe to the Threshnish Isles, are they worth a detour? if yes which of the two? Maybe Troup Head instead? given that it’s on the mainland?
- Loch Garten? Is it worth a visit outside of lekking season? I have read that Capercaillies are sometimes seen even later in the season. We wouldn’t go just for the Ospreys as we have them here.
- Lochindorb?
- Insh Marshes?
- Abernethy forest?
Any other thought on this plan is welcome. Thanks a lot for the help!
This time we’ll have a couple of weeks so we can take it easy, but we still have doubts as to where to go as there’s so many good places to choose from.
I thought I’d write down our dates and target species, plus a list of locations that we have put together. We'd rather not travel to a different place every day, but choose 2-3 bases and take day trips from there.
Timing: roughly second half of June, from the 11th onwards. It looks like we’ll be flying into Edinburgh.
Species (in order of importance or sort of)
- Skuas, Great and Arctic
- Puffins (our daughter would love to see them)
- Twite (we dipped last time) :-C
- Red Grouse
- Corncrake (we know it’s not likely)
- Capercaillie (as above)
- Rock Pipit
- Short-Eared Owl
- White-Tailed Eagle
- Great Northern Diver? wrong time? or still a chance?
- Dotterel
- Snowfinch
- Ptarmigan
- Crossbiils
- Bullfinch
- Redpoll
Places. An itinerary could be Cairngorms-Handa-Mull, but are there any other places that may be worth a look?
- Handa Island. We would stay nearby for a couple of nights.
- Mull. We were thinking of staying a week, visiting also Iona, Threshnish isles etc. Is it too much? Is it better to spend time elsewhere instead?
- Cairngorms. We have seen Ptarmigan in Sweden, and Dotterel and Snowfinch in Italy, but it would be nice to see them in breeding plumage. We would probably get a guide as we don’t feel confident enough to tackle the trek by ourselves. how long should we spend in this area?
- Farne Islands/Isle of May. Given that last time we went to Fowlsheugh and that we are going to Handa and maybe to the Threshnish Isles, are they worth a detour? if yes which of the two? Maybe Troup Head instead? given that it’s on the mainland?
- Loch Garten? Is it worth a visit outside of lekking season? I have read that Capercaillies are sometimes seen even later in the season. We wouldn’t go just for the Ospreys as we have them here.
- Lochindorb?
- Insh Marshes?
- Abernethy forest?
Any other thought on this plan is welcome. Thanks a lot for the help!