Scotland 20-22 Mar 2020

A short photographic trip, pre-planned but undertaken in the light of an evolving national crisis with the continuing spread of coronavirus in the UK, and consequent forthcoming travel restrictions to limit and slow its spread. I travelled with a bit of trepidation but I was not going to be in contact with anyone and was less at risk (and less of a risk to others) in the open spaces than when at home. I travelled up the A82 with blue skies and snow on the mountains - a stunning, wintry combination, which I had never really seen before. Difficult to capture with the camera but I tried, with SLR and iPhone. The Black Mount looked especially majestic with Loch Tulla in the foreground. The roadside loch at Glencoe held 3 Black Guillemots, plus Red-breasted Merganser and Eider, with Hooded Crows on the foreshore. My first photo day was in Mark Hamblin's Red Squirrel hide, and I had up to 8 Red Squirrels present at any one time, always hard to capture with their rapid movement. Also visiting were a variety of birds including Treecreeper and, best of all, a Crested Tit. Flocks of Pink-footed Geese were moving back north at regular intervals, calling as the migrated. A morning here was followed by an afternoon trip up to Elgin on the Moray coast, where I had very goods views of the wintering drake King Eider (with a small group of Common Eiders), along with small numbers of Long-tailed Ducks and a couple of Red-throated Divers. Waders included Bar-tailed Godwit, Curlew, Redshank and Turnstone. Also present were a flock of 11 Pale-bellied Brent Geese. The last day was a Mountain Hare foray to the Monadhliaths with the excellent James Roddie. We had brilliant views of 7 or 8 Hares, mostly still in their white winter pelage, with 3 together around a snow patch, resting and washing their coats and staying perfectly relaxed at fairly close range. Two of them at one point even indulged in a brief bout of boxing. Ravens and the first arriving Meadow Pipits were seen, but no Eagles, Buzzards being the next best on offer. Perfect weather with weak sunlight filtering through the clouds and highlighting the remaining snow. A memorable experience.....