A truly inspiring Illustrated Talk by Osprey expert Roy Dennis at the hotel ensured that we ended 2008 on a high (not forgetting the traditional Hogmanay dinner-dance and ceilidh, of course!).



And the first guest wildlife sightings of the New Year gave a mouthwatering taste of what is to come over the next 12 months...4 Bottlenose Dolphins at Chanonry Point...Black Grouse at Lochindorb...and skeins of Pink-footed Geese landing on the frozen lochs and comically skidding and sliding away into the distance.




Lochindorb itself was a haunting place to be at dusk as the melting ice groaned and occasionally exploded as another 'berg' broke off. Even the River Spey has frozen and looks particularly picturesque as the image left shows...I wonder how the spawning Atlantic Salmon are managing in the headwaters of the Monadliath Mountains if one of the main rivers of the Highlands can freeze up?

Still, with a warm Hotel to return to and over 100 Speyside single malts to choose from, wildlife watching in winter at the Grant Arms has its own singular charms...

A very Happy New Year to everyone!

As contributors to the BirdTrack website, the BWWC was very interested to receive a report about the patterns of migration seen by other observatories in the area.
The main trend thus far appears to be a large influx of Goldcrests into Central and Northern Scotland, something which we have certainly noticed on the guided walks in the past week. The smallest bird in Europe is actually relatively easy to spot, being one of the more vocal of the calling woodland birds in the Autumn Caledonian pine forest.
On the Spey, large parties of Wigeon and Goosander seem to have taken up residence, whilst the Redwings are just starting to re-appear.
The Aberdeenshire coast is also really hotting up - over 50,000 Pink-footed Geese have now arrived at RSPB Loch of Strathbeg which over the winter period hosts approximately 20% of the world's population!

Meanwhile the Red Deer rut is in full flow - guests who have joined in the Land Rover safari are reporting sightings of herds of over 150 Red Deer at a time, as rival stags try and round up their own 'parcel' of hinds. The diversity of other wildlife seen during the tour has been quite remarkable and includes Red and Black Grouse, Brown and Mountain Hare, and even the dreaded Mink!