View from the top of CairnGorn
Ptarmigan
Another cake break
Red Grouse on the Moor
On what proved to be our busiest day of the break we started by making the short journey over to Nethy Bridge where we quickly located Black and Red Grouse whilst a Lesser Redpoll flew over. The Black Grouse were quite distant but the Red Grouse could be seen within just a few yards.
During the day we started to notice an increase in thrushes including a number of Redwing and Fieldfare that had freshly arrived.
After a quick pit stop for breakfast it was off to the Cairngorn Mountains. The scenery was magnificent throughout the journey and we passed through the Ski resort of Aviemore. As we drove up CairnGorn a helicopter appeared to fly around the summit, not quite the welcome we were hoping for. Thinking the worst we headed up the mountain to the viewpoint where another birder informed us that she could see seven Ptarmigan, good news. However upon looking ourselves there was a brilliant 83 Ptarmigan. A rare sight indeed to see this many birds in one spot. On recent visits to the site other birders had reported on seeing 1 or 2 birds, so we were very lucky. The ptarmigan is a game bird that I could best describe as a plump partridge crossed with a chicken.
The views from the top of the mountain was brilliant and a rare treat. We all retreated inside the Ptarmigan restaurant for yet another piece of cake and a hot chocolate.
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