The arctic-alpine summits of the Cairngorm Mountains in northern Scotland rise out of the dark skirts of the ancient Caledonian pine forests like a postcard from the last ice age.  Rugged west coast sea cliffs soaring a thousand-feet-high pulse with the raucous cries of gannets, gulls, terns, and Atlantic Puffins.  Picturesque villages are neatly clustered on treeless moors with stone churches, castles, and battlefields for a backdrop:  these are just some of the scenes from the panoply of delights we’ll experience during our birding holiday to Scotland.  Other sights will include fjords reminiscent of the Scandinavian coast, rushing salmon streams—replete with White-throated Dippers, prehistoric peat bogs, and even Great Britain’s most revered whisky distilleries, some dating back for centuries.  And all this before we even arrive in the Shetland Islands!  The birds live up to their surroundings.  With a full six days to explore, we will have multiple opportunities for turkey-sized Capercaillie, the world’s largest grouse, Crested Tit, related and very similar to Arizona’s Bridled Titmouse, Ring Ouzel, a black “robin” with a white chest crescent, and the Scottish Crossbill, Britain’s only endemic species—not to mention Pine Marten, perhaps more common here than anywhere else  in Europe.  Circumpolar birds such as Red-throated Loon (or “Diver,” as they are known in the Old World), Northern Fulmar, Northern Goshawk, Black Grouse, Willow (this race is called “Red Grouse”) and Rock Ptarmigans, and Short-eared Owl are also probable.  Widespread birds confined to the Eastern Hemisphere will likely include Little Grebe, Red Kite, White-tailed Eagle, Corn Crake, Eurasian Curlew, Common Cuckoo, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Blue Tit, European Robin, Common Redstart, Goldcrest, and Eurasian Bullfinch.  Recent taxonomic splits mean the Winter Wren found in Scotland is now distinct from our two new species in the U.S.  We’ll even stop off at Loch Ness, home of the world’s most renowned undocumented life form.  The final six days begin with a flight from Aberdeen in northeast Scotland to the Mainland, as residents of Lerwick (population about 15,000) call the largest of the Shetland Islands.  This far-flung archipelago—which includes 16 inhabited islands—is located about 110 miles north of Scotland, encompass 567 square miles, rises to a height of 1480 feet, and is designated as a National Scenic Area.  The islands are considered Mecca by British birdwatchers.  Not only are the nation’s largest seabird colonies situated here, but 21 out of 24 of Great Britain’s seabirds breed here, giving it the greatest diversity of any seabird rookeries in the British Isles.  Terrestial species are also well represented, with Rock Pipits, Twites, and the dark Shetland form of Winter Wren, considered common.  Mammals we may see include Orcas cruising the shores, Common and Gray Seals, Eurasian Otters, and surprising numbers of the small horses originally developed for mining called Shetland Ponies. Often birds and wildlife occur in sight of—or within—pre-Christian era brochs.  Uniquely Scottish, the largest and best-preserved of these round, stone-walled structures are found in the Shetlands.  Among our destinations is the Iron Age broch on the islet of Mousa where the world’s largest roost of 6000 endangered European Storm-Petrels occurs.  Even older, the so-called “wheelhouses” at Jarlshof (a name coined by Walter Scott in 1814 meaning the “Earl’s Mansion”) shows it was occupied from about 2500 BC to approximately 1600 AD.  Located on the southern tip of Shetland Mainland, there are an estimated 2000 pairs of Atlantic Puffins and 13,000 pairs of Black Guillemots on the nearby cliffs.  More recent is the 1598 castle on Unst, the northernmost occupied island in British waters. Here rafts of Great Skuas ply the skies in search of unguarded nests.  Aside from the third-largest colony of these skuas in the world, the 560-foot-high cliffs at Hermaness National Nature Reserve on the northern tip of Unst host over 100,000 breeding seabirds.  Located within 200 miles of Norway--whose influence permeates every aspect of Shetland culture--the fish-rich waters surrounding these islands have produced a justifiably famous international birding destination.

Leaders: Richard Fray & Rick Taylor

View Scotland & Shetland Island Photo Gallery