Scotland - Ben Alder

18-19 Oct - My last Munro trip of the year, to the remote Ben Alder range.........seasonal autumnal weather, with shifting cloud, showers, northerly breeze and a dusting of snow on the higher tops on the last morning. Fairly limited sightings bird-wise, but several nice groups of Ptarmigan on the tops totalling over 20 birds, some moulting into winter plumage, seen both feeding on the stony ground and in flight. The hills echoed to the sound of roaring Red Deer stags especially at dawn and dusk, and some good sightings of stags with attendant hinds, although they were generally fairly wary. A skein of Pink-footed Geese seen flying over eastwards at dusk presumably having arrived in from Iceland on their retreat from the northern winter.