Saturday 12th August

On our journey up we saw plenty of Buzzards and Kestrels and a wrong turn out of Perth produced a sighting of what I believe to be a Red Kite. On arrival at Aviemore we discovered that the Caravan park we were staying at (Speyside Leisure Park) was about 300 metres from the Rothiemurchus Fish Farm and during the week Ospreys were actually soaring above the camp !!! We visited the fish farm and were told the best time for Osprey sightings were after 9pm the very helpful man said that there were recent sightings of 2 parents teaching a juvenile to fish , so we returned about 8.30pm to find about 20 people stood around the trout lake watching 2 Ospreys doing an aerial display but not venturing into the water.?

Sunday 13th August

An early start - 7am we walked around to the fish farm and after walking across the footbridge we spotted an Osprey perched on a floodlight watching us (I didn't have my camera with me!!!) When he/she took off we walked on around the lake to discover a total of 3 Ospreys flying around I think it was 2 adults and a juvenile that was mentioned the day before .After a while one of them dived into the water and stayed attached to a trout for about 5 minutes and then using his/her wings swam to the shore, we then spotted the fish (it was about 15 inches long !!) , it must have been too big for it to carry It then released its? grasp because the fish got back in to the water. After a few minutes the Osprey again recaptured the fish this time on the opposite bank (this was closer to us in the hide watching through binoculars) But the fish was too much to carry and constant calls to the others failed to reap any help, it was constantly getting mobbed by Seagulls and Crows as well . At this time (8am) a few fisherman arrived so I went and told them that an Osprey had a fish on the central bank that they would be fishing on and could they give it chance to take the fish away, they held back a while then walked on up to their place of fishing and by this time the mobbing had got to much and the Osprey disappeared with the large trout being claimed by one of the fishermen (I believe that the Ospreys know when the fishermen arrive (the farm opens at 8am every day) and certainly take a back seat or wander away completely) Monday I again went to the farm this time at 6.15am with it pouring with rain (which it had been doing all through the night) to see if this weather stopped the Ospreys from hunting. The answer was no. On arrival there were 4 Ospreys taking it in turns to fly over the lakes Instead of going into the hide I decided to go to small 3 sided hide that was by the lake which must have been there for anglers to shelter in during a downpour (It was also much closer if I was to get the same action as yesterday) The Ospreys watched me walk to this hide and then disappeared to some faraway trees. They returned about 10 minutes later (when I was hidden from view in the hide) After a few flypasts one Osprey did a corkscrew dive into the water but came away fishless Then the younger bird did the same and it too came away fishless (I was able to photograph the impact of bird to water - though I haven't had the results developed yet) but the bird spent a good 5 minutes on the shore shaking the water off of him/herself so it could well have been one of its first descents because it certainly looked shocked by what water feels like !!.

Tuesday 15th August

During a boat trip to spot Dolphins we sailed past the Black Isle and saw 2 Red Kites soaring high above the fields.

Wednesday 16th August

We decided to follow details of how to reach the Findhorn Valley and after visiting the Tomatin distillery we soon found ourselves in the depths of the valley and parked in the car park at the end of the track and, after having a fruitless walk up into the valley, we returned to the car and I spotted a far off figure in the distance, after using the bins found it to be a Golden Eagle (my first in the wild) when that Eagle departed we spotted a large bird very close to the stream that runs along the valley - it was an Osprey who kept flying along the stream occasionally looking down and swooping but again I failed to see a fish being caught. We then spotted a man further back along the track who had a scope so we drove back along to where he stood and as I asked him to confirm that was an eagle (to which he replied "yes") we spotted another overhead so I parked the car and got out. The chap we had met had also spotted the Osprey and said it was very rare for them to be seen this far up the valley !!?

The one eagle soon became a pair and (through his scope) the chap saw a Peregrine Falcon making a quick exit on seeing the Golden Eagles we continued to talk and found that this chap was on holiday from the Brighton / Eastbourne area and was staying at Grantown on Spey (about 14 miles from Aviemore) and had a family of Buzzards nesting very close to the cottage they were staying in. Anyway the Eagles had by then exited the scene but a few minutes later I was amazed to see no less than 4 appear above the hills in front of us and I wish I had the binoculars, scope or giant lens on the camera that our new found friend had because that would be such a wonderful sight to capture on film and frame (my pictures will show little dots on the skyline when I collect them I'm sure!!). Because we had people in the car who were promised a trip to Inverness to go swimming we soon left but the next time I return here will be with with bigger binoculars/scope and a large lens. By the Friday (day of departure) we had become bored of seeing Ospreys !!! , rabbits running around the Caravan Park and hearing Owls hooting - I will return but maybe alone so as I can spend more time at the wonderful places around this area and not have to worry about taking others ice-skating or to the pictures. I may well dedicate some of my web space to the findings I have made to do with Raptors I will shortly be getting a new computer with Scanner , web cam , etc so I can share my photos with others and maybe create a database of info for others to use (I am aware that this might not be a good idea (i.e. Egg collectors could benefit from my info - which none of us would want) so I will think long and hard before I do anything) - I would like to gather up Bird sounds to put on the page so as you can use it to find what certain raptors sound like.?

Author: Dave Harris
Cheltenham

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