Christmas in the Heilans

This year (2017) we were not expecting any visitors over the festive period, so we decided to treat ourselves and have a Christmas break in a hotel. The hotel we chose was the Grant Arms in Grantown-on-Spey and the reasons we chose it were:

1. They do a wildlife-themed Xmas break
2. We had eaten in the hotel before so we knew the food was good
3. We love Speyside

Three good reasons to be cheerful; so this is the story of our Christmas in the Heilans.
We arrived at the hotel about midday on the 23rd Dec and had a relaxing afternoon with a short walk in the local woodlands, followed by a welcome reception then a nice meal in the evening. Later in the evening we joined other guests for a Xmas Wildlife Quiz (which we didn't win!)
The next day (Xmas Eve) promised to be a bit more hectic, but we did things at our own pace (as you don't need to go on all the organised outings). We chose to go on a trip with wildlife artist Chris Rose to Loch Garten and headed off just after breakfast.
It was pouring on rain unfortunately but that didn't deter us, and our first stop was the RSPB Osprey Centre at Loch Garten. This was of course closed as the Ospreys were sensibly sunning themselves in West Africa. The RSPB do however top up their bird feeders, so there were still plenty of birds to see, as well as the occasional Red Squirrel:

Red Squirrel at Loch Garten

By far the most common birds at the feeders were Coal Tits, and our guide put some food on the ground so we could watch them coming down to feed. It was like they were on elastic bands .......they were so quick! .............. they also came to your hand to get seeds as well:

Whilst the Coal Tits were very entertaining (and abundant) the real star turn had yet to make an appearance. I am talking of course about the Coal Tit's punk cousin ..........the Crested Tit........... a much rarer bird and a real Speyside speciality. After about half an hour waiting in the rain, one Crested Tit made a fleeting appearance at the feeding station. I was fortunate enough to catch it on video:

Blink and you would miss it; here is a slow motion replay just in case you didn't get a good view of it in the previous video:

After seeing the Crested Tit our guide decided it was time to move on. The plan was to walk along the shores of Loch Garten and admire the ducks, goosanders, grebes, etc. on the loch. Unfortunately there was nothing on the loch and the rain just got heavier and heavier, so we decided to cut or losses and head back to the hotel for some hot soup and a sandwich.
We had planned to go on a further guided trip to Insh Marshes in the afternoon, however after our soaking in the morning and insufficient time to dry out properly we decided against that option. With the rain still pouring we decide to just have a run around the local area in the car, stopping at various spots to enjoy the view and any wildlife.
One such place was Loch Pityoulish, on the road between Coylumbridge and Nethy Bridge:

Loch Pityoulish

By this time the rain had stopped and the sun had even threatened to make an appearance, causing some Scotch Mist to rise from the trees and the loch. My eye was drawn to what looked like a pair of Penguins in a tree on the side of the loch:

Pair of Penguins?

Closer inspection revealed they were really Cormorants! .......... the white-breasted one being a juvenile:

After a few other stops we headed back to the hotel for a rest before our evening meal.
Our Xmas Eve Gala Dinner (as it was officially titled) was a bit of a strange do .............. but enjoyable never-the-less. We were seated in large tables and it started like a Burn's Supper, with a haggis being piped in and then addressed by the hotel manager, after which we were served a haggis starter and a nip of whisky. We then proceeded to have what I can only describe as a 'dry run' for Xmas dinner; there was no turkey on the menu but we did have fancy hats to wear, crackers to pull and balloons to blow up? The meal was lovely as usual and the company very welcoming, so we enjoyed ourselves.
After the meal we attended a painting demonstration by Chris Rose which was fascinating; he attempted to demonstrate (on a blank canvas) how to paint a picture in one hour, something that would normally take him a few weeks to perfect:

Chris Rose Painting Demonstration

It may be hard to tell from this photograph but the final painting was incredible and very lifelike, it was of course a Crested Tit:

Crested Tit Painting

The whole audience were amazed at the quality of painting he produced in this time and I made the suggestion that he should auction the painting as there were plenty of interested people in the room. With the proviso that the proceeds of the auction went to charity Chris agreed to this and the auction went ahead. The painting sold for £400 that night, and considering Chris Rose paintings can sell for thousands I think the successful bidder got a bargain. Chris kindly agreed to 'tidy up' the painting and sign it before passing it on to the successful bidder.
The next morning was Christmas Day (hurrah!) luckily Santa seemed to know we were not at home and delivered our presents to the hotel. After opening our presents we enjoyed a hearty breakfast before heading out to the local Anagach Woods. This was a guided walk and it seemed that most of the hotel guests were taking part. Needless to say there was plenty of excited chatter going on and most of the wildlife ran for cover when they heard us coming.
Luckily the BWWC (Bird Watching & Wildlife Club, based in the Grant Arms) had feeding stations in the woods and the usual suspects Coal Tits and Red Squirrels were there to entertain us:

After our stroll through the woods we returned to the hotel and put on our glad rags ready for a slap-up Christmas Lunch:

Moira in her glad rags

Xmas Selfie

 The Christmas lunch followed a similar format to the previous night's gala dinner, but without the Burn's element, although Santa did arrive with a bagpipe-playing reindeer (not a real one!........... that would have been worth seeing!). We were seated with a different group of guests than the night before and it was just as enjoyable with lots of good food.

Santa & Rudolph (with bagpipes)

We didn't do too much for the rest of the day, too full to move, but did enjoy an evening talk presented by Gordon Hamlett (author of the Best Birdwatching Sites in the Scottish Highlands). The talk was intriguingly called "Molotovs and Merlins" and was a jovial account of his trips round Scotland researching the book.
The next day was of course Boxing Day, and we had a full programme of events lined up, starting after breakfast with a trip to the foothills of the Cairngorms to feed the wild reindeer. After parking up in the Sugarbowl car park (strange name?) we had a short walk down a steep gulley to reach a bridge which crosses a fast flowing burn, then a steep walk up the other side to the hillside where the reindeer are:

Utsi Bridge across Allt Mor (Big Burn)

Upstream of Utsi Bridge

Downstream of Utsi Bridge (Xmascardified)

The bridge was built by the army in 1979 and named after Mikel Atsi, a Sami Reindeer Herder from Sweden, who first re-introduced reindeer to the Cairngorms back in 1952.
His legacy is now a herd of over 150 reindeer which graze in an area of 10,000 acres. Luckily for us they come to an accessible area this time of year where their grazing is supplemented by human feeding. The location is stunning:

View from Reindeer Paddock

Views and Reindeer

Reindeer starting to gather

The reindeer are pretty special too, very friendly, especially if you have food. You just have to be careful of the antlers:

Reindeer looking for food

Mind the Antlers

Old Large Stag

Younger Large Stag

As well as the stags there were a few hinds and a couple of youngsters:

Baby Reindeer

Feeding the Baby Reindeer

We refrained from feeding them (the food was pretty messy and it was too cold to take my gloves off .........what a wimp I hear you say!) but we did get close enough to give them a pat on the back.
Our attention was drawn elsewhere when one of the hotel guides managed to locate a male Capercaille in a tree using his telescope. It was pretty far away but still recognisable, a bit too far away for me to get a photograph unfortunately.
After the reindeer feeding we were feeling a bit hungry ourselves so we headed further up the mountain to the Coire na Ciste car park to have our packed lunch and enjoy the views:

Loch Morlich from Coire na Ciste

Wrapped up against the cold

Towards Meall a Bhuachaille

This little video clip probably portrays the scenery (and the cold wind) better than my photographs:

The car park was like a sheet of ice and it was so cold we decided to head back down the hill to Glenmore where we could get some hot chocolate and cake. After our  hot chocolate and cake we were just leaving the café when we bumped into Mick and Chris (other guests from the Grant Arms) and they informed us that they had seen Snow Bunting at the car park for the funicular railway. This was only a mile or so passed the one we had just been at, so we decided to head back up the mountain road.

The road up the Cairngorms

We were not disappointed, there was a whole flock of Snow Buntings feeding on seeds that someone had put out on a nearby wall:

Flock of Snow Buntings in Cairngorms

Snow Bunting near Coire Cas Car Park

I even had time to grab a short video of them:

It had been a busy but enjoyable day and as the sun got lower in the sky the air got colder, Moira was ready to go back to the hotel:

Can we go now?

I couldn't agree more, so we headed on back down the mountain:

Road down from the Cairngorms

I did stop briefly on the shores of Loch Morlich to grab a few snaps before we headed back to the hotel for a rest and some heat:

Cairngorms from Loch Morlich

Sun Setting over Loch Morlich

We had a lovely meal that evening and as it was our last night in the hotel we decided on a celebratory drink to toast our wildlife spotting successes on this trip. Moira chose to have a Drambuie and I wanted a whisky, but which one to chose?

Some of the Whiskies available

I plumped for a 20 year old Balblair (from the Gordon & MacPhail private collection don't you know!) and very nice it was too:

My choice of tipple

So cheers to the Crested Tit, Capercaille, Snow Bunting and Red Squirrel .................... not forgetting the Reindeer of course!
Who knows we might be back at the Grant Arms for Christmas another year.

More Steam MacPhail!!

Take care

Teddyedward