Speyside Part 1 10th to 13th April 2026

A long awaited trip to Scotland that I organised for the RSPB SE Herts Group with Oriole Birding. As the minivans were leaving Norfolk at 6am some of us went up the day before for a spot of birding. Our first stop was Lakenheath Fen. We were a bit too early for Hobby and Cuckoo, but did have good views of a fly by Bittern. As usual at the feeders, this Goldfinch was quite confiding.

And a singing male Blackcap.

At the first viewpoint we heard Common Cranes and I managed a distant shot of two birds flying overhead.

The next step was to walk back along the river looking for Garganey but sadly no luck. This male Reed Bunting proved a photographic distraction.

Apart from a few Avocets, the only other bird of note on the Wash was this Great Egret.

Time then to head for Weeting Heath for a guaranteed year tick in the shape of a Stone Curlew. Luckily, one was relatively close, and we did find two more later in the field opposite.

Watching the small pond at Weeting is always a joy, with close views of the birds as they come down to drink. Firstly this female Reed Bunting.

A Coal Tit was next up!

This Goldcrest seemed to enjoy a prolonged session in the pond.

A short drive up to Fakenham and an early night before a 5;30am departure for the Minivans. A massive thanks for Ashley & Nick driving us up to our overnight stop at Dunfermline and after dropping the luggage off there was still time to try for the Stejneger's Scoter at East Wemyss. Although distant, it was easy to spot, as it was on its own with only a few Velvet Scoters near by. A lifer not only for me, but for all of the group. This was the only image I could manage.

Next stop was Methil where we could not pick out the White Winged Scoter amongst the thousands of Common and Velvet Scoters present. I did manage a couple of flight shots of the Velvet Scoters.

There were also Eider out to sea. Just one shot here as they will feature in a later blog.

And my first Sandwich Tern of the year.

Methil is home to East Fife FC and it was a strange experience birding with a match going on less than 100 yards away. After the match, it was lovely to chat to some of the fans who came up to see what we were looking at. For the record, East Fife beat Peterhead 2-1. From the shore, we looked out to the famous Bass Rock.

A final stop at North Queensferry where we failed to spot a reported White Billed Diver, but did have a view of the Forth Rail bridge.

The following day dawned with another dip for the Diver at North Queensferry but we did have Razorbills, Peregrine, Red Breasted Merganser and Bullfinch to compensate. It was then a couple of hours up towards Grantown on Spey with a stop off at Loch Insh. Here we were treated to the amazing sight of a male Osprey displaying. The pictures don't really do it justice.

A Snow Goose had been present at Insh Marshes. Sadly, the bird that was now being reported in error on Birdguides was a large White Duck! We did however add Whooper Swan and Greenshank to the bird list.

Time then to check in at The Grant Arms, our home for the next few days.

The weather forecast was good for Monday so we made the decision to head for Cairngorm for one of our main target birds - Ptarmigan. It was freezing at the top with ice on the viewing platform. Clive came up trumps spotting three birds some distance away. No chance of a picture, but they were in this general area.

And a spectacular view from the top.

There is always a chance of Snow Bunting in the Upper car park, and we were not disappointed. Such beautiful birds, so please forgive the overload of images as I go a bit " Bunting crazy"!

We tried the Lower car park for Ring Ouzel but were probably a few days early, so here is a Meadow Pipit on a pine tree.

We had a distant Black-throated Diver on Lock Morlich as well as another Osprey before trying our luck at Alt Mhor where we had our first views of a Dipper. It was also good to see four Bullfinch in the car park.

This Treecreeper was also very obliging.

We had seen a distant White Tailed Eagle earlier in the day, but this young Golden Eagle showed closer over the car park.

We had some time scanning for raptors in the Dorback Valley before heading back for a well earned pint. A wonderful start to the holiday with a great group of people and two excellent guides. Part 2 of the Speyside blog will follow very soon.