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

Go West Young Van

In early November we hitched up the horses to Vannie and headed out to explore the Wild West................ in reality we filled the motorhome with water and diesel and headed sort of Northwest.
Our destination was Bunree Campsite near Onich; which lies on the shores of Loch Linnhe, about 10 miles south of Fort William.
Some say that the journey can be just as exciting as reaching your destination and that was certainly the case for us.
The weather gods had been smiling on us as we headed on past Stirling and Callander, stopping only for a coffee/toilet break and to take a photo of Loch Lubnaig:

Loch Lubnaig

Onwards we pressed, past Lochearnhead and up the hill to Lix Toll (I love that name) and along the foot of Ben More, stopping briefly at Loch Lubhair:

Loch Lubhair

And still we carried on, past Crainlarich until we reached Tyndrum, where the lure of a bite of lunch in the Green Welly Stop proved too much and we had to turn in.
Suitably refreshed we hit the A82 once again, passing Ben Dorain and Loch Tulla, we then started the uphill climb towards the southern end of Rannoch Moor. At the top of the hill we pulled into a convenient car park which gave great views back down the valley:

Loch Tulla from Viewpoint

Clouds over Loch Tulla

Not only was there great scenery at this car park, there was a fantastic wildlife photo opportunity as well. A large Red Deer stag was hanging around the edge of the car park, totally unconcerned about the number of people taking photographs of it. This was not a tame deer with a handler this was a wild animal, which was obviously tolerant of people, however I chose not to get as close as some were as a Red Deer stag around October/November time (in other words rutting season) can easily get a bit tetchy. I did get close enough to get a few snaps:

Red Deer Stag visits car park

Monarch of the Car Park

Has anybody seen any hinds

Red Deer Silhouette

An excellent photo opportunity I could not pass up.
I got back in the motorhome and headed towards Rannoch Moor:

Towards Rannoch Moor

The A82 skirts along the southern edge of Rannoch Moor, a huge, boggy moorland which sits over 1,000 feet above sea level and was created during the last ice age; when it was one of the last areas to melt. It is a very bleak area, however in the sunshine it was also photogenic:

Loch Ba and Rannoch Moor

Rannoch Moor

The A82 through Rannoch Moor 

In the distance we could see the mountains that form the entrance to the Pass of Glencoe, so we headed towards them. Our next photo stop was at the entrance the Glen Etive; which runs south towards Loch Etive and is flanked by two mountain peaks much loved by hill walkers and mountaineers:

Looking South down Glen Etive

Buachaille Etive Mor (1,021m or 3,350ft))

Buachaille Etive Beag (958m or 3,143ft) on the right

Ahead of these peaks the A82 snaked on towards the Pass of Glencoe:

The A82 heads into The Pass of Glencoe

There are a few parking places in the Pass of Glencoe itself, however these were pretty full and not really suitable for trying to squeeze a motorhome into; so we carried on winding our way downhill through the pass until we reached the village of Glencoe.
Here we found a suitable parking space alongside the beautiful Loch Leven and enjoyed the views:

Vannie in Glencoe Village

View Across Loch Leven

Looking West down Loch Leven

Looking East up Loch Leven

Magnificent scenery, on a sunny day like this it just takes your breath way.
We pushed on towards our destination which was drawing ever closer; crossing the Ballachulish Bridge we were stopped at traffic lights, which presented an ideal opportunity to photograph what some consider are the best views in Scotland:

Looking West from Ballachulish Bridge

Looking East from Ballachulish Bridge

A few miles further on we passed through the village of Onich, then we turned left into Bunree Campsite:

Bunree Campsite, Onich

Not only was it a lovely site with great facilities but the views of Loch Linnhe were spectacular:

Looking down Loch Linnhe towards Mull

View across Loch Linnhe

Looking up Loch Linnhe towards Ardgour

This video might give you some idea how stunning it was:

Moira liked it anyway:

Moira at Bunree, on the shores of Loch Linnhe

We were very lucky that the site wasn't busy, this being the last week of the season for them, so we managed to get an ideal pitch overlooking Loch Linnhe:

Vannie at Bunree

View from Vannie - Sunset over Loch Linnhe

We slept well that night, looking forward to some adventures over the next few days.
The next morning the weather looked a bit more ominous than the previous day. It wasn't raining but clouds were drifting in over the hills and it definitely looked like rain was on its way. It was also much colder than the day before:

Clouds gathering over Loch Linnhe

Cloudy View from Vannie

Misty Mountain

 

Despite the threat of rain we decided to wrap up and head over to Ardgour on the other side of Loch Linnhe.

 

Towards Ardgour, on the other side of Loch Linnhe

Don't worry, we were not intending to do some sort of wild swimming. The Corran Ferry (which crosses over to Ardgour) leaves from a jetty about twenty minutes walk from the campsite. As we were heading out the campsite we stopped to look at the variety of that were feeding along the shoreline.  There were some dabbling Widgeon.......

 

 

........and a solitary Male Goosander looking for fish........

 

 

..........as well as some Hooded Crow, a Heron and an assortment of gulls. A reasonable 'bag' on a dreich day.

We continued on our walk round to Corran, just in time to see the ferry crossing from Ardgour and approaching the jetty:

 



 

Once the ferry docked we were able to walk on board and after a five minute crossing we disembarked at the Ardgour jetty:

 

Ferry arriving at Corran Jetty



View down Loch Linnhe from Corran Ferry



Ferry docked at Ardgour Jetty

 

We had barely left the jetty at Ardgour when they started to load the vehicles for the return crossing! A busy little ferry, even in early November.

Unfortunately the downside of being in Ardgour in November is that the only eatery (The Inn at Ardgour) was closed, so no lunch to be had there.

Undeterred we went for a stroll along the loch-side in front of the village; the first thing of interest we came across was this old fishing boat which had been abandoned on the foreshore:

 

Abandoned Fishing Boat

Ardgour is a great place to observe The Great Glen, which runs all the way from Loch Linnhe, past Fort William and Ben Nevis and continues all the way along Loch Ness to Inverness.

As the plaque below explains it was formed when two continents collide; and the fault actually runs from the Atlantic south of Mull all the way to the Arctic at Svalberg.

 

Information Plaque on The Great Glen

Eddie and The Great Glen

There was also some wildlife to see in Ardgour; nothing fantastically rare, but interesting all the same. This included some House Sparrows in a bush:

 

 

 

A heron fishing on the shore:

 

 

...and a Little Grebe (aka Dabchick) diving for fish in the loch:

 

 

We then had a little walk along the shoreline south of Ardgour, where we could look back across Loch Linnhe to Bunree, however by this time the weather had closed in and the rain had started.

It was getting near lunch-time so we decided to head across to Corran on the ferry and walk back to the campsite for our lunch. Needless to say the heavens opened and we were soaked by the time we got back to Vannie.

After getting dried out and having lunch in Vannie we decided to stay put for the rest of the day as the weather was pretty wet. That did not stop us from watching the wildlife from our ready-made bird hide (i.e. Vannie's cab). Here we were able to watch some Hooded Crows on the beach, who were picking up cockle-shells and flying upwards with them, in order to drop them on the stones below, hopefully revealing a tasty snack for them to eat:

 



 

We also watched a pair Cormorants swimming nearby, a Heron flying past, gulls feeding on a rip tide, a pair of Goosanders (male and female this time) but unfortunately no Ottters, despite it being an ideal habitat for them.

As well as watching the wildlife we also enjoyed watching how the views out the window changed as the weather changed; this can best be demonstrated by this time lapse video of the view from Vannie's front window during the time of our stay:

 

 

It was a wet and windy night, which made for a bit of a restless sleep, however we awoke to a beautiful morning:

 

 

Here are some photos of the morning views to complement the video:

 

View from Vannie in the Morning

View down Loch Linnhe

 As well as being a beautiful morning we were also graced by a beautiful family of Mute Swans swimming past the motorhome:

This was our last day at the campsite as we were only staying the two nights, so after breakfast we prepared Vannie for the homeward journey and set off. We travelled back the same route as we came, but we didn't stop quite so much to take photographs. We powered on through the Pass of Glencoe and along the edge of Rannoch Moor, stopping only once to snap these scenes:

 

Meall A'Bhuiridh and Lochan na h-Achlaise

Meall A'Bhuiridh

 I don't pretend to understand what the Gaelic names mean, but I think the mountain is called 'The Hill of The Roaring Stag' and the Lochan (small loch) is called 'The Loch of the Chapel' but I might be totally wrong.

Talking about stags (roaring or otherwise) the Red Deer Stag we saw on the way up was no longer hanging about the Loch Tulla viewpoint on the way back home. However I will leave you with one image of the stag which I took on the way to Bunree:

 

Red Deer Stag near Rannoch Moor

 

Hope you enjoyed our little adventure out West as much as we did.

 

Yeehah!

 

TeddyEdward