The Land of No Wildlife

I have to admit that a large part of the reason for coming to Aviemore for a brief two night stay was driven by my inner bird geek, and a desire to see a Crested Tit. I've never seen one, and this area is the only place in the UK to see them. I'd done my homework on where was best to find them, but at Loch an Eilein there were not only no Cresties, but the promised Crossbills failed to materialise. A Capercaillie in such situations would be been way too much to ask for.

There were certainly a lot of Coal, Blue and Great Tits, and heading round the slightly disappointing, and too busy, loch some Fieldfare made themselves known, as well as a Goldcrest. But that was our lot - so after extending around a little side loch, we turned off for a wander into Glen Einich. Black Grouse at least darted away from us as we splashed upwards on a rough track, thankfully now more or less devoid of people, save a couple of mountain bikers. Lunch under a tree by the river; warming meander back down the hill, and we'd basically spent almost the entire daylight hours on our feet.

There was time for a quick spin to Loch Garten where once again the Cresties were in hiding, and by the time we hit the Ski Centre darkness was descending, so there was no chance of Snow Bunting (I told you I'd let out my inner bird geek).

Not to worry, the other nice bit of the trip is a stay at the Old Minister's House in Inverdruie, which is the very definition of comfort (with an astonishingly good breakfast), and a mere 15 minutes walk from the centre of Aviemore for a hearty dinner.