I received a great e-mail with photos from Tim Wells which summarises perfectly the great diversity of wildlife which our guests can see even over a few days...

Red Grouse and Red Deer on the moors, rafts of Eider Duck and Bottlenose Dolphins on the Moray Firth, and Snow Bunting in the mountains. Just another day in the Highlands, really.

Thanks for those, Tim.

Winter has its distinct advantages: even the hardiest species are sometimes forced down from the mountain tops in search of food and shelter, and the Highlands of Scotland can seem like the tropics when you spend the rest of the year in the Arctic Circle.

As such we have a collection of photos which form a winter wildlife watcher's salute to old Jack Frost...Snow Bunting at Cairn Gorm, Greylag Geese at Moy, Red Deer on Alvie Estate, oh yes, and our faithful band of Waxwings in Grantown-on-Spey itself...

We can't wait to help our guests enjoy the best of Speyside's wildlife during our Winter Wildlife Watch week and are keeping our fingers crossed that the Waxwings will still be around...one thing is for certain, if they are you'll be the first to know!

Our winter wildlife watching week is almost upon us, and during my two weeks away you'll be pleased to learn that I've been busy gathering the gen from some of the Cairngorms' best wildlife sites to pass onto all of our guests and blog followers.

As expected, on the moors the Red Grouse are already starting to pair up and Glen Kyllachy is the best place to see the cocks loudly proclaiming their territory over the ling as they show off their beautiful breeding plumage to admiring hens.

Meanwhile, in the glens I was delighted to be reunited with a familiar face from the summer down at stunning Findhorn Valley - I had first noticed this lone Wild Goat in July, unusually seperating himself from the rest of the tribe and there he was again, seven months later, in his usual spot on the boulder-strewn slopes. He was quite happily munching away at the rough grasses and seemingly unperturbed by my best rock-climbing efforts, secure in the knowledge that at any time of his choosing he could disappear into the mountain faster than I could say "Cheese".

On the coast there are rafts of geese and sea ducks such as Eider and Wigeon everywhere and I was lucky to get a particularly close encounter with a Common Seal at Lossiemouth.

Finally, the Cairngorm Mountains themselves are offering the patient wildlife watcher a rare opportunity to witness small parties of beautiful Snow Buntings pecking around the ski areas for scraps of leftovers, before they resume their high altitiude lifestyle in the coming Spring...

But if you want to join in the fun and book onto our winter wildlife watch package you'll have to be quick - we only have TWO places left!

A fall of snow on Monday has transformed the Cairngorms into a winter wonderland! And the wildlife watching has been as good as ever.

Our guided walks this week have turned up the best sightings of the year of both Crested Tit and Scottish Crossbill - in fact the Cresties have been seen at a number of sites by guests; check out the very seasonal photo taken by 15 year old Charlie Rogers who stayed with us and caught this great image at Loch-an-Eilein!

In addition, guests are still seeing big herds of Red Deer, as well as seasonal favourites such as Whooper Swan and the first sightings of Snow Bunting at Cairngorm Mountain!

I doubt there's anywhere in Britain to rival the Cairngorms in the winter - to join in the fun why not have a look at our 'Winter Wildlife Watch' package as featured in November's Watcher available to download for free on our homepage...