Lochindorb has always been known to be a hive of wildlife activity in May, but the largest body of fresh water in Grampian and the Highlands is really excelling itself just now. As usual, the Black-throated Divers can be seen quite regularly and wait for couple of hours and you are virtually guaranteed sightings of fishing Ospreys. Red Grouse abound on the surrounding moorland whilst Hen Harriers and Short-eared Owls are providing regular views.

Summer breeders only add to the biodiversity of the area - our guest David Carter has sent me this rare image of the ever-elusive Cuckoo and also a photographic gem of a Common Sandpiper.

Just twenty minutes drive from the hotel, this is a remarkable wild place offering the best of Scottish wildlife and scenery.

Loads of great guest sightings - where do I start? Findhorn Valley, the 'Valley of the Raptors', is hotting up with 2 Goshawks reported along with Red Kites, Ospreys and Buzzards.

A Ring Ouzel pair are being seen at the Cairngorm Mountain Visitor Centre car park, and Ospreys have been seen fishing at both Loch Ruthven and Loch Insh.

Both Short-eared and Barn Owls are turning up regularly at Lochindorb, and a first for our guided walks is a definite sighting of a Green Woodpecker which we first thought we heard yaffelling away last week. Right at the northern edge of its traditional range, this is an unusual and exciting encounter for the Cairngorms National Park as a whole.

Just a quick Blog entry today, with three memorable images of wildlife taken in and around the Cairngorms over the past few days...

1. An Osprey at dawn at RSPB Loch Garten from Craig Westlake of Deeside Nature Activities.

2. A Roe Buck misbehaving directly behind the Crown Estate office in Tomintoul.

and perhaps best of all...

3. The rogue White-tailed Sea Eagle over Glenlivet Estate, which amazed a group led by David Newland of Glenlivet Wildlife. Apparently, the bird circled overhead a little too long for comfort, before finally deciding to look elsewhere for lunch.

Another collection of guest photos have been sent to me today which I have to share.
David Bair and his wife Sarah stayed with us recently and managed to capture several stunning wildlife images including a Wheatear, Red Grouse and Dipper.

Though David doesn't say, I'm guessing that the Red Grouse and Wheatear were taken at Lochindorb which has been an amazingly productive site over the past couple of weeks, with other wildlife regularly being seen including Hen Harriers, Merlin, Short-eared Owl and fishing Ospreys. It also appears that the breeding pair of Black-throated Divers have finally decided to settled down at the loch and so are also giving consistently great views.

All the pictures are being entered into our guests photography competition of 2009, with a prize of a holiday for two on offer to the winner. If you've stayed with us this year and have a memorable image then why not send it in?

Where can you see Capercaillie, Black Grouse, Slavonian Grebes, Mountain Hare, Osprey, Ptarmigan, Ring Ouzel and Red Deer in one day?

Right here in the Cairngorms with the Bird Watching and Wildlife Club and Wild Caledonia!

"The best day out ever," (according to guest David Donald) also included a lunch in a remote estate bothy and a nocturnal encounter with a Tawny Owl, on a long but unforgettable crusade for the 'Speyside Specialities'. Everyone involved said they wanted to come again - and you can come too!

We're offering this event again in on 19-20 June and 17-18 July, 2009. For more details and to join in the fun contact Wild Caledonia on 07887 883117.

Lots of exciting news to report from RSPB Loch Garten.

After a very successful courtship period during which female Osprey EJ and new mate Odin appeared to be rather more than enamoured with each other, yesterday at 11.45am EJ laid her first egg and is now dutifully sitting on the world's most famous nest, relying for the first time on her new mate for a regular supply of fresh fish. So far so good, with Odin doing everything that is required, though of course the sterner test of feeding a clutch of hungry mouths is (hopefully) yet to come...
Meanwhile the action is hotting up at the dawn 'CaperWatch'. With three Capercaillie being seen this morning, and a remarkable six individuals being sighted the day before, the early start is proving to be worth it.
The highlights of a flurry of very special sightings over the pasts few days has included a male Ring-necked Duck near Loch Ruthven and a Goshawk at Findhorn Valley.

A great few days of guest sightings and guided walks to tell you about. Ospreys are well and truly back - and not just at Loch Garten. Guests have seen the fish hawk doing what it does best at the famous Rothiemurchus Fish Farm on the last two afternoons! Meanwhile, new contender Odin - believed to be a Scandanavian Osprey, is the talk of the town as he busily mates with usual Loch Garten female EJ. There's bound to be trouble if last year's male, Orange VS, turns up late and tries to gatecrash the party...

The male Capercaillie was the highlight of our guided walk on Monday, with other species being seen including Red Squirrel, Treecreeper, Grey Wagtail and Goldeneye.

There was a beautiful dawn backdrop to the Black Grouse Watch with Glenlivet Wildlife today rewarding the Hotel's early risers, with a total of four male Black Grouse seen leking, supported by a cast of Mountain Hare still in winter coat and several Roe Deer on the moorland.

And just in case you were asking, Golden Eagles are still out and about too!

Ospreys are well and truly back! EJ, the breeding female at RSPB Loch Garten for the last 7 years running was first seen back on site a week ago and has since been busy scraping out her old nest and generally laying claim to her throne. In addition, there have been several guest sightings of Ospreys all over the Strath, from Lochindorb to Insh Marshes to Rothiemurchus Fishery. I can wait to see how the drama unfolds over the next few days...

Meanwhile, the first 'dawn CaperWatch' of 2009 duly delivered with Capercaillie being seen in the misty Caledonian pine forest of Abernethy at the only event of its kind in the U.K.

Golden Eagles are still displaying at Findhorn Valley and, best of all, I've added a photo of a Wildcat which I managed to capture as it hunted in the rough grasses for Rabbits near my home! I was foiled mid-stalk in my plans to get a better pic by the attentions of my next door neighbours dog. Still, you get the general idea...

So much news to report since my last entry.

A great day at Coignafearn was topped off with a dusk sighting of one of the most difficult mammals of all to track down - Sika Deer.
I snapped this famously secretive species feeding - very unusually - in a small herd at the edge of a plantation. Sika deer are normally known to be solitary outside of the rut, so this was highly unusual behaviour, perhaps prompted by the lack of suitable rich feeding pastures just now.


Elsewhere, birds galore have been invading the Highlands, with the first true migrants such as Ring Ouzel already being spotted by guests during their travels. Golden Plovers are making their beautiful plaintive call on the moors and floodplains, whilst Red and Black-throated Divers have been turning up on many different lochs, already showing off the best of their breeding finery. The Slavonian Grebes are refusing to be left out too, with 9 already seen on Loch Ruthven!

The first Osprey was seen over a week ago, an incredibly early sighting, and, the best news of all...it has just been confirmed that the breeding female Loch Garten female Osprey from 2008, EJ, has returned safe and sound from her winter in West Africa and is already busily scraping out her nest! First 'CaperWatch' for 2009 just two days away!

Wow. Can a whole season have passed already?

After a fantastic first year for the Birdwatching and Wildlife Club, it seems an appropriate time to take stock and reflect on just how amazing, diverse and resilient the wildlife of the Cairngorms really is.
And with so many of our guests in 2008 reporting back to us on what they have seen, I am going to attempt the impossible and try to pick out a few highlights.
From the unusual and the inspiring, to the sublime and the plain ridiculous, here, in no particular order, are our Top Five Guests' Wildlife Encounters for 2008.....

1. A Rabbit chasing a Stoat in Anagach Wood!
2. 4-5 young Golden Eagles circling together over the Lecht.
3. Five different species of geese (Greylag, Pink-footed, Barnacle, Brent and White-fronted) seen together in a field next to Insh Marshes.
4. A lone and late, late Osprey seen flying along the River Spey...at the end of October.
5. A Pine Marten seen hunting in the treetops at Loch Garten in broad daylight...the same couple also saw a cock Capercaillie!

On behalf of everyone at the Birdwatching and Wildlife Club a big thanks to all the people who have stayed with us or made an enquiry in 2008.
We wish you a fantastic 2009 full of wonderful wildlife watching and look forward to seeing you soon!

A big thank you to all the people who visited our stand at the North West Birdwatching Fair at Martin Mere Reserve at the weekend. It was a wonderful event and fantastic to get the opportunity to speak to so many visitors. One lucky guest - Mr. Chris Moult, from Oakhill - won a holiday for two people with us in 2009! Ten others will receive complimentary copies of our 'Birdwatching and Wildlife Map' of North East Scotland.







I'm still receiving lots of entries for the Guest Photography Competition 2009 - with so many outstanding images the only problem is going to be quite how to pick a winner! Mark Haskins' entries shown here only add to the problem!!!




On a final note, I'm delighted to be able to announce that on New Year's Eve, birding legend Roy Dennis will be doing a book signing and delivering an illustrated talk at the Hotel.
Roy, as many of you will already know, has for many years been at the centre of the efforts to support and promote the re-establishment of Ospreys in Scotland, and latterly, all over the world. His new book, 'A Life of Ospreys' charts this remarkable conservation success story and includes some priceless anecdotes about the journey there.

Roy will speak at 2pm on Wednesdsay, December 31st.

Any of you who happen to be in the Cairngorms area during Hogmanay would be more than welcome to come along...