​Laikenbuie crew (Sue Sykes)

​We then had a brief stop at the bridge over the Nethy and enjoyed excellent views of a pair of Dippers which soon will be nesting here and saw a few other common birds at nearby feeders.

​Approaching Boat of Garten Woods a Red Kite was spotted – it’s only in the last three years or so that this species has become reliable locally. A walk here gave us a pair of Common Buzzards and distant views of a probable Goshawk but failed to deliver another Crested Tit. Three or four Crossbill sp and a few Siskins were seen up high but these woods were fairly quiet although singing Mistle Thrushes broke the silence. 40 Wigeons and a few other common waterbirds took off from the Deshar Flood but water levels are very low this winter and it’s unlikely this site will deliver the good birds it has in the past.
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We then drove up to the car park on Cairn Gorm but the coming and going of skiers from an (estimated) 200 vehicles didn’t put off the flock of Snow Buntings which are regular on picnic tables here. We only saw five this time but up to 50 birds are regular here and give superb views. There was a cold wind here and clouds were scudding across the mountain top so the shelter of cars – or the restaurant for a coffee – was very welcome.

A stop at the layby by the south end of Loch Insh gave us a few of the commoner wildfowl but the reported Smew here almost eluded us until Tim picked it out in the shadow by the far bank. The combination of distance, shade and the bird’s constant diving at first made viewing difficult but in the end we all obtained satisfactory views. Some 500 Pink-footed Geese flew over, a few Greylags were on the water and five Canada Geese did their best to hide behind a bank. A gang of five Little Grebes squabbled, dived and then swam serenely by.

Next, we tried to find the Snow Goose at the south end of Insh Marshes – it was seen earlier that day – but were unsuccessful. A pair of newly arrived Shovelers was slight recompense for that failure but that’s the way of birding. Good numbers of returning waders were seen towards Kingussie – lots of feeding Lapwings and Curlews and some 180 roosting Oystercatchers which will soon disperse to their farmland nesting grounds. The weather had closed in by this time and it had turned colder so we were disinclined to wait longer for a possible raptor and called it a day.
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As promised, it was a day of quality over quantity with only 41 species recorded but, as Leader, I found it very enjoyable to share my birdwatching with a group of equally-enthusiastic friends. 

Pete Gordon

​On then to Embo where the very high tide was crashing against the rocks and the Purple Sandpipers had found a ledge on the crumbling pier to shelter with Turnstones.  On then to the Mound – seeing a few Greylag Geese on the way.  The rains were now on and the water was very high with little to see, so we called it a day and felt very lucky to have had a good, mostly dry, outing with an excellent leader.

​There was a biting easterly wind and a dark morning that saw six of us at Dingwall Ferry Point and the tide was very far out. Still it came rushing in quickly enough and we had some good close views of the waders who like to sit tucked into the mud banks of the Peffery at this turn of the tide. Notable was the single Black-tailed Godwit ( who has been around for a few weeks now) spotted by Lesley amongst the Redshank  and Dunlin. There was a solitary Greylag Goose out on the sand and we worried about about that one… a few Shelducks, Little Grebes, Wigeons, Teals, Lapwings and Golden eyes and a small group of Pink-footed Geese flew past but the birds were pretty scarce. The feeders had all the usuals including Tree Sparrows. There were hundreds of Shelducks and Oystercatchers on the way to the business park at Alness and we checked out some bushes holding Yellowhammers. Pat showed us his thermal imaging camera which pointed out about 30 small warm bodies in the centre of a bush. Apart from two more Black- tailed Godwits, the roost was the quietest I've seen it.
The plan was to go down to the Dalmore roost but the road was blocked by roadworks and we couldn't even walk there. So we decided to call it a cold, dark, quiet but rewarding day! 45 species were recorded

Some great birds were seen during the day, including the White-fronted Goose at Alturlie, Black Scoter along with Common, Velvet and Surf Scoters off Dornoch beach, King Eider at Dornoch, Brambling in Fortrose, Water Rail, Greenshank and Kingfisher at Merkinch nature reserve, a Nuthatch at Strathpeffer and Golden Eagle and 4 Great Northern Divers off Eigg. The total birds seen during the day was 126 – pretty impressive.
 C:\Users\carol\Documents\birds\SOC\Bird race\2026\SOC Highland Winter Bird Race Checklist 2026 Total Birdlist.docx
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​We met in the evening over Zoom to swap stories and to award some virtual prizes. The team that saw the most birds, Lord of the Wings, Matt Broadbent, Emily Hill, Oscar Puls and Sophie Hodson, saw or heard a whopping 107 birds, with 3 extra points taking their total to 110. Very well done! Runners up were Totally Aukless of Peter Stronach, Emma McBride and Craig Forsyth with 104 birds +3 taking their total to 107, so a very close run race! 3rd with 92 points, 89 species +3, came Josh & Tracy Allan, Ruaridh Edmonds and Ross Macleod who managed to beat their total from last year. A special mention goes to our lone West Coast birding team on Eigg, The Eigg Eagles, who had difficult conditions, still managed to get 36+3=39. Well done everyone, you are all winners!

Best Team Name – ‘No Hoodies No More’, chosen by Alex Joss
Best Bird – E coast – White-fronted Goose. W coast – 4 Great Northern Divers
Bogey Bird – Goldfinch. Not seen by the ‘Dingwall Dippers’ team
The Eco Award for most birds on foot – “Bumbling Brambling’s” who managed to clock 61 species in their walk in the Fortrose area.
Best photo – Waxwing by Josh Allan
Thanks to everyone who joined in and helped to make it a fun winter day out birdwatching!

Carol Miller
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​Whilst all this was unfolding in the Cromarty Firth, a Kingfisher had been spotted flying away from us down the spit and it soon perched on a large branch further out into the firth, where it sat for a few minutes giving everyone great views through the scopes. 
 
We continued round the circuit passing along the river into the woodland. Another Dipper, presumably the same individual, was spotted on the rocks where it gave great views for a few seconds before it bolted off up the river. We saw a few very photogenic Reed Buntings illuminated in the December sunshine. 

Common woodland birds were ever present along the trail including a Treecreeper which was new for the days list. Just as we started to head back towards the carpark, a Kestrel was spotted in a tree watching over the field below.
 
Once we returned to the carpark we had a brief exploration of the grave yard. We got great views of around a dozen Redwings and Fieldfares sitting in the trees that had presumably been feeding on the many yew berries littered on the ground. There was also some interesting earthstar fungi under one of the yew trees which puffed out a cloud of spores when poked with a stick. 
 
It was then time to head off for lunch so we went in convoy along the windy country lanes to the nearby Highland Farm Cafe, where we all enjoyed a lovely lunch and great company. Thanks to Sue and Hugh for organising a great morning's birding with a fantastic count of 61 species, including some very nice sightings and for arranging our festive lunch gathering. 
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Josh Allan

​We said our friendly goodbyes and returned home for hot broth whilst Mary, Tony and Tim continued to Nairn.  This addition from Mary -  The wind was even icier at Nairn and onshore.  We did well to spot Sanderling but our search for Snow Bunting along Nairn beach was fruitless.  Returning towards Inverness, we stopped at Loch Flemington and added Moorhen, Coot, Long-tailed Tit and had a lovely sighting of at least 15 Whooper Swans coming in to land on the loch calling.  As we returned to the South Kessock carpark to collect our cars, a Pied Wagtail was our final bird of the day.
Alan thanks all for support, and I can add our thanks to him for leading the outing.

​From Cromarty harbour we spotted Eiders, Long-tailed ducks, Razorbills, Guillemots, Shags and at least six Rock Pipits and one Meadow Pipit. Starlings were perched on a tree but one bird we had surprisingly NOT seen was a Wood Pigeon.  However, we finally spotted some in the village plus a Collared Dove.  Rosemarkie shore gave us Cormorants, Red-throated Divers and a female Velvet Scoter.   Avoch area gave us Goldeneye and Little Grebe.  Most folk then departed as it was getting more and more murky, but the four from Fortrose/Rosemarkie finished the day with a quick visit to Chanonry Point and logged  Turnstone, a Pied Wagtail and Ringed Plover to make the final count of 74 which was surprising for a day where jizz and call of birds were mainly the identifiers.

The first leg of our record attempt was a walk along the Peffery in Dingwall, where we were rewarded with very good views of a Kingfisher, which was joined by a second one as it headed down stream.   The bird table beside the path just beyond the football ground then yielded another sought-after species – Tree Sparrow.  With a big female Sparrowhawk doing a fly past, we were on 21 species when we left Dingwall for Alness Point.

The Point gave us a chance to see our first waders and wildfowl.  As well as some close-up views of Bar-tailed Godwit, we added Turnstone, Redshank, Oystercatcher and Curlew. The lagoons held Little Grebe and several duck species, while beyond the shingle ridge there were Slavonian Grebe, Red-throated Diver, Guillemot, Cormorants and a Shag.  Five finches flying over turned out to be Crossbills, and we had reached 54 species after only two stops. With Eider and Long-tailed Ducks seen almost immediately when we arrived at Salburn, we’d equalled Ruairidh’s record and with a single female Scaup and a Black-throated Diver we were at 58. so the target was raised to 60.

It was very high tide at The Nigg RSPB hide, but we eventually found Pintail, Lapwing and Dunlin, so we were at 61 and our new target of 70 was looking possible. By the time we reached Balintore harbour, both cars had seen Stonechats and one car had added a Merlin.   The high tide meant the Purple Sandpipers (Ruaridh’s 197th species for 2025!) and Ringed Plovers were roosting on the seawall and there were at least 12 Rock Pipits.  Three Twites gave excellent close views and Mary picked up a lovely winter plumage Black Guillemot. We eventually managed to positively identify some distant Gannets, and Tony found our only Greenfinch of the day.

When we decided to head back to Dingwall we were on 74.   One car picked up Peregrine, Feral Pigeon and Song Thrush on the journey back and a Grey Wagtail flew over the car park as we were saying our farewells, giving a final total of 78 species.

Thanks to everyone for the good company, Carol & Tony for driving, Ruth for keeping the list and Ruairidh for continually raising the target! 


Simon Cohen

As we walked back to the minibus we had excellent views of a Crossbill, leading to a discussion on the diet of crossbills and their classification. We returned to Cloddymoss, our starting point via the toilets at Culbin Forest Car Park. A flock of 18 Crossbills flew over the car park making a special end to the outing.
 
In total, 52 species were recorded.
 
Thanks to Lawrence, Janet and Tim, Tracy and Josh for making it such an enjoyable outing. Tracy for compiling the species list. All photographs are copyright Josh Allan.
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Alister Clunas