Hello Internet!
These will not be posted until my return, but I will try to write a blog post every day for this trip as a) it’s good practice b) it’s interesting (at least to me) and c) it’ll help me remember what I did when relaying the story to family later on! And please excuse the title puns!
The views from the minibus window
Day one of the field trip included a lot of travelling. We left Glasgow airport at around 10/10:30 and got to the bunkhouses in Nethy Bridge at about 3, it was a long journey but it was gorgeous. Scotland oddly reminds me of Cornwall with its moody scenery!
Enroute we were looking for carrion and hooded crows, recording the species, number of crows and plotting the location on the GPS when we saw them. All we saw today were carrion crows, we won’t be crossing the hybrid zone into hooded crow territory for a while.
Once settled and rooms chosen (the bunks are hilarious, three high with just enough room to roll over, it’s great fun) we all went for a walk around some ‘pristine’ woodland. We didn’t see deer or red squirrels, but there were tonnes of ant nests and birds to ID so it was quite fun.
Better still, after dinner we went for a dusky drive into the mountains and saw short eared owls, mountain hares, hen harriers, red grouse, red deer, roe deer and most saw black grouse in the grass in the distance but I couldn’t distinguish them from the plants!
The bunks
When we got back to the bunk house it was to the news that we were leaving for the Cairngorms at 7:15, so we pretty much collapsed in bed and passed out.
Species List Day 1:
Siskin
Chaffinch
Willow Warbler
Robin
Buzzard
Red Kite
Peacock
Short Eared owl
Hen Harrier
Black grouse
Red Grouse
Sparrowhawk
Carrion Crows
Violet ground beetle
Wood Ants
Pygmy Shrew
Mountain Hare
Roe Deer
Red Deer