Today I took a train/bus from Edinburgh to Aviemore for the start of my Highlights of Autumn Highlands Birding Tour. Before that, I had a few hours to explore Edinburgh so I decided to go to the Royal Botanic Garden. The grounds were gorgeous and the gift shop was seriously tempting, but I didn’t see any birds that I haven’t seen before. Here are some pics of the grounds (and a cute lil’ Ginger cat who seems to live here).
The train was supposed to be direct to Aviemore, but because of work being done on the tracks, I had to get off in Perth and transfer to a bus. It was fairly obvious where to go. I picked up snacks at a Tesco Express at the train station for the 4-hour journey.
In Aviemore, I was picked up by Holly, one of two guides we’d have on this tour. Also in the van were Joy and John, a couple from the south of England. John spotted a Hen Harrier which Holly said was actually a pretty rare bird! I was impressed that he was able to ID this bird from the van and I got good looks at it as it flew across a field.
I didn’t realize that the place where I’d be staying is owned by Heatherlea and therefore, the only guests at the “hotel” would be people who were going on the tour. The location is The Mountview Hotel, Grantown Road, Nethy Bridge, a guesthouse near Inverness.
The house is absolutely charming, with a huge library of bird books, a bar, a lovely dining area, and large, comfortable rooms with private baths. I unpacked and then at 7:00, went down to meet my fellow birders. I was surprised to learn they are all from England as I’d been assuming there would be birders from all over the EU and UK. I could tell it would be a very amiable group.
Dinner was fabulous. I had a local beer, smoked salmon as an appetizer, cod as my main course, and dessert was a delicious sticky toffee pudding.
745: Hen Harrier
"Tails" of a New Birder's Journey 
Leave a comment