It felt like I had been away an eternity, probably emphasised by not going abroad (like everyone else) for a while now!
Having cleaned up on the dragonflies in the west, Dad and I made tracks to the mountains of the Cairngorms, stopping off to find a small colony of Coralroot Orchids. Although I had seen this distinct species before in Cumbria, I was staggered by how tall these specimens were. The sun had emerged from behind the clouds so we quickly made our way to Loch Garten where we found more than a trio of White-faced Darters, but they were very flighty allowing poor photographic opportunities. The Northern Damselflies were easy as per usual, so we then did some more orchid hunting, finding two sites for the delicate Small White Orchids
– a new species for me and very welcome after previous dips.
Unsure now what to do, we opted on the Findhorn Valley as the cloud wasn't too low and Dad was keen to see Mountain Hare. Arriving at the usual car park, we weren't too sure where to go, so we opted for 'up and over'. A Mountain Hare's ears were seen bounding off over the hillside, but by far the highlight was a stunning near-adult Golden Eagle which swooped low over the hill and was watched flying off into the distance. A Red Grouse and several toads were also seen.
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| Coralroot Orchid |
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| White-faced Darter |
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| Golden Eagle |
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| Findhorn Valley |
The weather had sadly not improved for our day planned in the mountains, which was a great shame as I was keen on showing Dad some Ptarmigan, but we still had a decent day in poorer conditions. Our visit to Loch Garten for the Ospreys was pointless as there were no Ospreys breeding this year! So, we quickly went back and photographed the Small White Orchids which were pure class; we then spent a decent hour getting a series of lovely photographs of the Northern Damselflies.
We then walked a long circuit around Abernethy without finding a single Crossbill (!), nor much else for that matter, so we headed up to another valley where Dad got a better view of a Mountain Hare! It was wet and windy so we gave up for the day and made plans for the following day.
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| Small White Orchid |
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| Northern Damselfly |
What turned out to be our final day, today I drove the whole distance from Grantown-on-Spey to Seaford, with two stops: one for the Slavonian Grebes at Avielochan and the second at a site in Cumbria for the rare High Brown Fritillary. The Slav Grebe was stunning and showed really well (my camera was packed away), while the High Browns were difficult to catch-up with. We saw at least two, but with many Dark Greens on the wing and the temperature increasing, making a positive ID wasn't easy. However, the two that settled were much appreciated by us.
So that's that, a lengthy time away resulting in seeing an incredible diversity of wildlife, starting off with the Black Hairstreak and ending with the High Browns, with so much packed in-between, for which I feel very lucky to see. It was great to get Dad away from home, and hopefully the next time we go the weather may have improved.
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| Dark Green Fritillary |
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| High Brown Fritillary |
