Oliva Rama Holidays
| Home | Tour Calendar | Short Breaks | Enquiry Form | Contact Us |
Scotland (East meets West Coast)
March (by arrangement) Cost - £525
Ken Shaw is one of Scotland's most well-known birdwatchers and rarity finders and his extensive knowledge of these coastal & highland areas is second to none. Late winter is a fabulous time to visit Scotland with all of the wintering species still around and also a sprinkling of migrants. The three main counties he will concentrate on during the long weekend will be Fife, Perthshire & Highland looking for Great Northern & Black throated Divers, Slavonian & Red necked Grebes, Velvet & Surf Scoters, White tailed & Golden Eagle, Red Kite, Black Grouse, Ptarmigan, Glaucous & Iceland Gulls and Snow Bunting.
Day 1 :- After being picked up from
Edinburgh Airport and returned to Kinross, you will be checked into your hotel
for the next two nights. After which and if there is enough time then an
afternoon visit to Vane Farm RSPB reserve on Loch Leven, an internationally
important wildfowl site might be in order to kick start the short break. Loch
Leven is host to Whooper Swans, Greylag & Pink footed Geese during winter
and there is usually one or two of the scarcer species such as Greenland
Whitefront, or Barnacle Geese. Most of the 10 000+ Pink footed
Geese fly into the reserve at dusk, which is a spectacle not to be missed,
and never forgotten. Vane Farm is also famous for it's huge wildfowl numbers
with Wigeon, Pintail, Shoveler, Shelduck, Eurasian Teal and Common
Pochard all to be seen. Consequently the loch has hosted it's fair share of
rare ducks with Lesser Scaup, Ring necked Duck and Red Crested Pochard
all being found by your guide in recent years. Night in Kinross.
Day 2 :- After a traditional Scottish breakfast you will head out to the
Eden Estuary and from the hide we may see some waders including Black tailed
Godwits, Golden Plover, Redshanks, Common Snipe, and hopefully Kingfisher.
At St Andrew's Bay we go to the 'Outhead' where we could find Snow Bunting,
Brent Geese, Long tailed Ducks, and Red throated Divers, while from
the town Purple Sandpipers, Fulmar, and Velvet Scoters
should be seen. Next we drive to Largo Bay in the Firth of Forth starting at the
set-aside fields near Cellardyke where the flocks of House & Tree Sparrow,
Linnet, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Reed Bunting, and Skylark it may also
have a few Twite and Corn Bunting.. Next you will make the short trip to
the famous Ruddon's Point where for many years a few Surf Scoter have
wintered with Velvet & Common Scoters, as well as Red throated Divers,
Slavonian Grebe, Long tailed Duck, Eider, Red Breasted Merganser and
Greater Scaup. The coastline here can be very good for waders with Ringed
& Grey Plovers, Curlew, Redshank, Turnstone, Oystercatcher and possibly
Bar tailed Godwit. Further round the coast is one of the best places to find
Black throated Diver in Fife with the evening gull roost at Leven
hopefully producing a Mediterranean or 'white winged gull', with
masses of other gulls. Night in Kinross
Day 3 :- Today we head north to Perth and Scone Palace on it's northern
edge, which is very good for woodland species including Great Spotted & Green
Woodpecker, Eurasian Treecreeper, Coal, Long tailed & Great Tit, Jay and the
locally rare Hawfinch. We then continue to the heart of highland
Perthshire stopping at the famous ski resort of Glen Shee. From the car park a
scan of the surrounding hillside should produce our first Ptarmigan, as
well as a few Mountain Hares. This site is also good for Snow Buntings,
which come down to the car park to feed on tit-bits, with also a chance of a
patrolling Golden Eagle, Peregrine Falcon or Raven over the
hillsides. We continue further north through some of most scenic countryside in
Britain, to Braemar, on the edge of the Royal Family's Balmoral estate. Here we
will have a walk through some of the old Caledonian Pine forest and moorland
where we hope to find Black & Red Grouse, Goshawk, Common Buzzard, Golden
Eagle, Crossbills, Lesser Redpoll, Dipper & Grey Wagtails. Night in Braemar.
Day 4 :- An early start takes us over the hills into Speyside and the
legendary Loch Garten RSPB reserve in the hope of finding one of their few
Capercaillie often seen from the reserve centre. The walk through this
ancient wood also offers our best chance of seeing the endemic Scottish
Crossbill, as well as the Crested Tit a scarce resident of Loch
Garten. We now head west on the winding road to Ullapool, which should produce a
Red Kite, Short eared Owl, or Hen Harrier from the minibus. Once
at Ullapool we will quickly check into our hotel before heading down to the
harbour looking for Glaucous & Iceland Gulls, or perhaps something rarer.
Night in Ullapool.
Day 5 :- Our last full day is going to be spent around Gairloch and it's
surrounding coastal inlets, White tailed Eagles are seen with
regularity from here looking powerful and majestic. Otters are often seen
on the edge of the lochs and on the water we may find Great Northern, Black &
Red throated Divers, with an outside chance of the very rare White billed
Diver, a species Ken and his co–workers have been working on recently, plus
Slavonian Grebes, sea-duck, gulls and Hooded Crows. In the
afternoon we start to make our return back to Perthshire, where we will stay at
a hotel on A9 near Dalwhinnie. This little known area is also very good for some
of the specialities with healthy populations of Ptarmigan, Black & Red
Grouse, Hen Harrier, Short eared Owl, Golden Eagle, and Sparrowhawk.
Night in Dalwhinnie.
|
Price includes:- |
Price does not include:- |
|
|