A touch of Scotch

One of the perks of my job is that I often get to visit some amazing parts of the UK, and last week I hit the jackpot with a trip up to Abernethy Forest. My first impression of Speyside was that it was rather damp, with torrential rain flooding the tracks and forcing us into an unscheduled stop at Kingussie, which seemed to be doing a reasonable job of disappearing underwater.

Fortunately the monsoon soon halted, although the weather for the rest of the week remained, damp, grey and overcast, making it a bit more of challenge to get out and find good wildlife. Fortunately there's so much of it at Abernethy that you don't have to do too much looking to find it. Blaeberries carpeted the woodland floor, providing an important food supply for the spectacular Capercaillie. Unfortunately were weren't fortunate enough to catch a glimpse of this largest member of the grouse family, but whilst wandering the trails in search of one we did come across another species with a fondness for Blaeberry, and one I'd been wanting to see almost as much as a Caper. Fighting its way against the wind and cold was a single worker Blaeberry Bumblebee (Bombus monticola), with its neon red abdomen like a glowing beacon in the gloom. Unfortunately it was too active in the poor light to have any chance of a decent photograph, but it was still a memorable encounter.

More memorable still was the evening trip we made to the mammal watching hide at Rothiemurcus (after booking through Speyside Wildlife). After scarcely fifteen minutes in the large and comfortable hide, we were treated to close-up views of a magnificent male Pine Marten, followed shortly after by a daintier female, whose first action was to grab the hen's egg left out as bait, and disappear into the darkness with it. With a tasty follow-up of a trio of badgers, we left the hide well happy with our evening's work.

Male Pine Marten

Male Pine Marten

The following day the sun made a brief appearance during the morning, but had disappeared by the time that I was able to head out. The sunshine had clearly been enough to tempt the local Scotch Arguses out though, as the heather and surrounding grass was littered with these lovely northern butterflies. Although the light wasn't the best, the lack of sunshine and chilly air meant that the arguses were almost entirely comatose, making it easy to find a good angle to photograph them from.

Scotch Argus

Scotch Argus

With a smattering of new plants to round out the trip list, including Cowberry, Hard Fern and a patch of Mossy Stonecrop growing in a parking area, it ended up being a very productive trip, and even better it looks like there will have to be a return trip in December. Maybe those pesky Capercaillies will be easier to find in the snow!