Onwards to the coast, and a very long trip to Troup Head, RSPB. Heard of it? No I hadn't either. It has Scotland's only mainland GANNET colony. As we headed north to the coast, the landscape changed to become more agricultural. The landscape in the Cairngorms was moorland with pine plantations and rough grassland. On the coast there were a lot more farms, and the birds we saw reflected that. The small birds included CORN BUNTINGS, YELLOWHAMMERS, LINNETS and SKYLARKS.
As we got to Troup Head it was obviously a working farm, with only a small area for the RSPB reserve. From the car park we had good views into a bay where we saw a massive GREAT SKUA, and smaller ARCTIC SKUAS, their flight resembling that of a falcon.
As we got to the cliffs, the smell of guano, and the cacophony of noise hinted about what we were going to encounter. Thousands and thousands of GANNETS, GUILLEMOTS, RAZORBILLS, and KITTIWAKES were around the cliffs and out to sea. There were also small numbers of PUFFINS and FULMARS.
A great spectacle.
After that we travelled to Spey Bay, one of the few places on the trip I had already been to. Spey Bay is an area where the river Spey enters the Moray Firth, creating an area of different water flows, and shingle islands. On one of the islands were a pair of COMMON TERNS and a couple of DUNLINS in summer plumage, with their black bellies.
And then an OSPREY appeared causing the whole area to erupt. In that explosion of birds four WHIMBREL were heard flying over us. The OSPREY hung around the area, and the birds got used to it. The OSPREY was often hovering in flight like a kestrel, looking for all the fish caught in the different currents.
A short while after leaving Spey Bay we stopped at an area of nest boxes in a small plantation. On one of those was a TREE SPARROW.
We then headed back to the hotel to finish the final day.
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