Bird Camp Reunion - Speyside Birding Day 2

Bird Camp Reunion - Speyside

6 June 2026

Inch Marshes RSPB

Today, after some swimming in the pool at the MacDonald Hotel, where we stayed the night, we drove down to Kingussie, at Inch Marshes RSPB to join the other young birders. Unfortunately, we missing the Moth Trapping session, but I did get the some of the others their lifer Tree Pipit.

We then walked back to the hide, where we scanned the hills for raptors. Sadly, other than a few Buzzards, raptors were low in numbers. We scanned the wetland infront us and saw a flock of Greylag Geese, some Snipe, Lapwings, and Curlews. We then had lunch and I managed to get a nice photo of a male Orange-Tip.

Orange-Tip

After lunch, we went looking for more butterflies in a meadow nearby. Sadly, it was quite overcast, so the only butterfly we saw was a female Orange-Tip. We did find a very large Violet Oil Beetle, and some other cool insects. We were also treated to seeing Heath Spotted, and Northern Marsh Orchids, as well as hearing another Tree Pipit.

One of many Dung Beetles

Common Heath Moth

Cairn Gorm

After that, we drove to Cairn Gorm mountain, to look for Ring Ouzel. When we arrived, Felix and Josh had already seen a male fly from the car park to the midstation. We waited for the others to arrive before making to trek up. We saw a few Meadow Pipits on the way, as well as a single Wheatear.

Meadow Pipit

Meadow Pipit

Eventually, after hearing them a few times, we saw the first of several Ring Ouzels feeding in the short grass near the midstation. We got decent views of the birds, and I even managed to get an audio recording of one individual.

Male Ring Ouzel

Male Ring Ouzel

Visiting the UK's highest phone box

(651m above sea level)

A miserable Cairn Gorm

Before leaving to the wildlife hide, we went to look for the Osprey nest at Loch Insh, near our accommodation. We soon found the nest, where one of the adults was sat. The other was perched on a nearby tree before going fishing, and bringing back a large trout which its partner fed to their chicks. We also saw a female Goldeneye, before leaving to the hide.

Speyside Wildlife Mammal Watching Hide

At around 8:25, Harris, a staff member from Speyside Wildlife showed us to the hide. He put out the food, and the show started. We saw many Wood Mice, as well as some birds, including Blackbirds and Chaffinches before it got dark.

Blackbird

Wood Mouse

Before long, we saw our first Badger. Badgers are the largest predator in the UK. They are a noctural species, and are mustelids, members of the Mustelidae family, which includes Weasels, Stoats, Pine Martens, and Otters. 

Over the course of the evening, we saw three Badgers, and were able to enjoy good view of them at close quarters as they fed on the peanuts that were put out for them. Some members of the group, including myself, even got a glimpse of a Barn Owl. Although we didn't see Pine Martens or Scottish Wildcat, it was a wonderful evening nonetheless.

Bird Camp Reunion - Speyside Birding Day 1

Bird Camp Reunion - Speyside

5 June 2026

Glenmore Campsite

Today, after arriving in Aviemore, we had dinner and headed to Glenmore, on the Loch Morlich shore, for a bat walk, led by bat expert, James. Before it got dark, we saw some Black-headed Gulls, some Mallards with young, and a Common Sandpiper. 

After walking along the shore for a bit, we entered the forest, where we started seeing our first bats. Using our bat detectors, we identified them as Common Pipistrelles. Despite getting massacred by the midges, we contiued on to a small bridge over a stream, where we were lucky enough to spot 2 Woodcocks rudding. We also heard (kind of) a Sopranno Pipistrelle, and a Daubenton's Bat.

"Hockey stick" call of Common Pipistrelle

on a spectrogram

Some members of the group saw what they thought was a Beaver, so they headed off to search for it. When we found them again, they had seen gotten reasonable views of the Beaver.