Scottish Wildlife ( no pic in thread )

markyboy.1967

markyboy.1967

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Mark Molloy
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Folks, im looking for ideas for the next few months on what to photograph here in Scotland. I need some sort of agenda to try and stick to or i will just keep visiting my local haunts and seeing the usual suspects ( usual suspects are warblers, tits, buntings and other small bird types ).

So need ideas what to photograph in the wild, it could be birds or animals.My biggest interest is in Raptors of all sorts but find it difficult getting close enough, so anything along those lines would help.Im waiting for October for the rutting season and will be trying my hand for that as well.

Anyone have hotspots to visit or visiting themselves and i could tag along would be great ( local knowledge and all that ;) ).Im quite willing to travel 3 or 4hrs each way to get the pic im wanting( Central Scotland based ).

To give you an idea here are a few things i want to see-
Osprey
Buzzard
Kestrel
Sparrow Hawk
Marsh and Hen Harrier
Any other raptors
Most waders
Woodpecker
Red Squirrel
Deer
Badger
Pine Marten
Fox
Otter
As you can see its a long list but i just want to photograph any bird/animal in the wild.
If you have knowledge of places then let me know or can help let me know. Cheers...
 
That's quite a tall order, but have a look here (esp. the Where and When tabs)

http://wildlife.visitscotland.com/

I don't know what fieldcraft skills you have, but if you are simply looking to walk about in "likely" areas you'll be depending on luck to a large extent.

Some of the creatures on your list are extremely elusive.

Red deer will probably be the easiest. Commonly seen by the roadside in the Black Mount area near Glencoe and you can be there in under 2 hours by car.

Be wary of stags in the rutting season. They can be aggressive. I had a bad experience with one some time ago.
 
Thanks for the reply.I have visited that site a few times but its quite general. What im looking for is local knowledge of areas where others have had good results watching and photographing wildlife.

As for fieldcraft, my skills are improving and allowing me better oppertunities but as i say knowledge is everything.:D the list is just a wish list and i know it would be difficult to spot everything.lol
 
Have to be fast for Osprey as they should be starting to leave any day soon (female adults first, chicks later & male adults last of all).

Thought about 1 or more of the many reserves (RSPB, SWT etc.)? There are iirc Peregrines @ The Falls of Clyde & badgers in the Clyde valley.
Buzzards shouldn't really be a problem as there are plenty of those.
Red Kites @ Argaty near Doune over the Winter.

I was up in the Trossachs on Sunday & saw an Osprey fishing, got within 30-40 yards of a Roe deer & saw a Purple Hairstreak butterfly.
 
Hi Markyboy, I might be able to help out with a couple of things time allowing. Like heidfirst mentioned, the Ospreys are getting ready to leave just now, expect the females to be leaving any time about now actually.

Drop me a pm and I will see if I can help you in anyway.

Arron
 
Slightly further than you wanted and a logistics challenge - Canna
I was there in January and had constant sightings of Sea Eagles, Golden Eagles, Pereguines and very occasionally a Buzzard. Time your visit right and you will get Puffins too.

I got trapped on Canna by a storm and swapped my photo skills for food and booze. You can see some of my piccies here. I only had a wide angle lens so no close ups of the birds. I've been shown piccies of a Golden Eagle filling the frame taken with a compact camera and although a Golden Eagle snuck up on me and got within 20ft, darned thing had sped off by the time I got my camera out.
 
On the A835 heading down towards the Dingwall roundabout in the fields on the left hand side there are several red kites regularly flying. There are local roads which help you to get near to them as they fly over the various fields.

Falls of Shin currently have salmon jumping.

Chanonry point near Rosemarkie at the turn of the tide is the time to see dolphins in the Moray Firth and if you're lucky you should see them jumping.

A bit expensive but Aigas centre runs a course for wildlife photography including field skills.

Not seen them myself but I'm told the place to see osprey is at the coast of Lossiemouth.

I'm on my hols up here and have some cracking shots :clap::clap:, I'll post some when I'm back home.

Kev
 
Aviemore is a great base and then you can travel to the Cairngorms and head for the Ptarmigan restaurant, From there walk up towards the steep corrie walls which are either side of you and you will find Ptarmigan, A great bird to photograph as you usually have to go out of your way to get them :)
 
Loch Garten for Red Squirrels.
Loch An Eilean for Scottish Crossbill, Crested Tit and Long-eared Owl.
Loch Ruthven for Slavonian Grebe, although not at their best by now.
 
A good place for you to visit is the Landmark Centre at Carrbridge - just south of Inverness - where you will definitely see Red Squirrels with the possibility of a few more from your list too. See here Landmark
 
Aviemore is a great base and then you can travel to the Cairngorms and head for the Ptarmigan restaurant, From there walk up towards the steep corrie walls which are either side of you and you will find Ptarmigan, A great bird to photograph as you usually have to go out of your way to get them
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Darn it you beat me to it, might be worth looking to see if you can get the bird in the all white winter coat as well against some snow......I imagine it would make a fantastic shot certainly one I would wan`t. Only ever seen ptarmigan once and that was by luck (or maybe some higher power :suspect:) I twas up on Ben cruachan (sp?) near loch awe and for some reason felt I should look behind me and as I did so saw a ptarmigan fly past and land about 20ft away.......had I not had that feeling I would have missed it as the bird was silent :eek:.
 
You will see most of those around Argyll and Bute.

Glen Etive is excellent for Red and Roe Deer

The Areas around Oban are full of various birds of prey and Woodpecker.

Mull has a decent otter population

Thanks

Andy
 
MarkEvan said:
Darn it you beat me to it, might be worth looking to see if you can get the bird in the all white winter coat as well against some snow......I imagine it would make a fantastic shot certainly one I would wan`t. Only ever seen ptarmigan once and that was by luck (or maybe some higher power :suspect:) I twas up on Ben cruachan (sp?) near loch awe and for some reason felt I should look behind me and as I did so saw a ptarmigan fly past and land about 20ft away.......had I not had that feeling I would have missed it as the bird was silent :eek:.
Click to expand...

I have only seen two and that was after chasing that strange sound around the rocks for around 20 minutes and then they both flew right in front of me and landed about 70 yards away. I managed to grab 2 shots of them in flight and they had their white winter coat which i think makes them even more pretty. :thumbs:
 
i'm going to keep an eye on this thread for some pointers - we're staying at skye/west coast + braemar/cairngorms for 2 weeks this autumn :D :D

drew
 
Red kite feeding station at Argaty near Stirling.
 
See many tits do you? Lucky *******.

In Skye you can find seals easilly. There are boat trips, but even from land it should be easy to tog (they stay in small rocky islands).
I'd like to be doing more wildlife too. Only did some birds in the ponds of Arthur's Seat in Edinburgh.
 
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