A Highland Midweek getaway with Birding Ecosse and The Speyside Hotel.

Monday 05 to Friday 10 January 2026

*** 4 Spaces Available***

Monday 12 to Friday 16 January 2026

***4 Spaces available***

Monday – Arrival Day

The beautiful Speyside Hotel, Grantown on Spey

Arriving on Monday afternoon why not treat yourself to a couple of “local brews” in the hotels stunning bar, prior to you enjoying your evening meal in the beautiful dining room.

Tuesday

The Moray Coast

Now the Moray coast is not all beautiful Sandy and Rocky Beaches,  it has amazing estuarine habitats, fresh water Lochs and plenty of farmland, woods and scrub to keep us fully occupied on this full day Birdwatching Tour, and it can produce some great passerines as well. Snow Bunting are regular and Corn Bunting and Tree Sparrow are relatively easy to find, if you know where to look! All in all a great place to visit and with an expected 60+ species list for the day it is a brilliant way to bring on your bird identification skills along with your year list.

This area can host an amazing 25000 Long Tailed Ducks, 100’s of Common Eiders, rafts of Common Scoter with their scarcer cousins the Velvet Scoter being seen in double figure numbers and in 2025 a long staying Male Surf Scoter graced the area. Red Throated, Black Throated and Great Northern Divers are all relatively common and White Billed Divers are becoming more and more regular.

Waders are another draw to this stunning coastline, Purple Sandpipers are seen on nearly every trip, Turnstones, Sanderlings, Redshanks and Knot are all common.

Accessibility: No accessibility issues on this tour.

Wednesday

Highland Birds

This is a “must do” trip when you visit the Highland of Scotland!  The day starts off with a visit to a traditional Black Grouse Lek, and at the same time the “Go Back Go Back Go Back” calls of its Red Cousin fill the air.

The Highlight at this time of year for many people are the fantastic views we get of Crested Tit.  In extreme cold they have even been known to come down and feed off your hand! It is not uncommon to have three or four individuals hopping around your feet, whilst the more numerous Coal Tits have no such reservations and will fight and clamour all over you to get to the seed, it is a magical experience, and no matter how many times I do this it always gives me a buzz!

Snow Buntings are another sought after specialty bird.  And the high tops and car parks are the perfect place to pick up these wee beauties, present throughout the winter they also come readily to seed, and standing with a nice hot coffee in a winter wonderland watching them go about their daily lives is something quite special.

We finish the day in a what has to be one of the most beautiful valleys in Scotland, and it is here we will search for two of the “Big Ones”  they are White Tailed and Golden Eagles.  This area is probably one of the most productive sites in this part of Scotland to see these iconic birds, and the reason they are here? Herds of Red Deer roam the hillside, Britain largest land mammal is very common as its it smaller relative the Roe Deer, we may even stumble across the secretive Sika deer. White Mountain Hare, Brown Hare, Feral Goats and Red squirrel are also often encountered and provide lots of food for the above raptors.

Great Birds, great Scenery and fantastic experiences it really is a day not to be missed.

Accessibility: No accessibility issues on this tour.

Golden Eagle

Thursday

The Mystical Black Isle

Situated here in the beautiful Scottish Highlands, wintertime on the Moray Firth and Black Isle is a magical time of year. Tide and weather permitting we start the day off with a short walk on a local nature reserve, the exposed mud flats attracting hundreds of Ducks, such as Wigeon, Teal and Eider, we may be lucky and see the regular overwintering American Wigeon. Winter plumaged Slavonian Grebes loaf about just offshore whilst Waders feed in the seaweed strewn pools and sand banks. And who knows, we may catch a glimpse of the local Otter family as they glide effortlessly among the seaweed beds just off the beach or perhaps catch the flash of blue of a Kingfisher.

After this we head over the Firth to the Black Isle, one of my favourite Birding Spots. From Sandy Beaches, mud filled tidal bays to fields and fields of arable farmland it is a cracking place to see a vast array of Species.  The area holds one of the largest and most easily viewable flock of Scaup, sometime numbering several hundred, Long Tailed Ducks mingle with Red Breasted Mergansers and Common Eiders. Several Thousand Pink Footed Geese roost in the area, right in front of the best hide in the Highlands, and with a careful check we may pick up Brent, Barnacle, Canada and White Fronted Geese as well, and not to be outdone by the first location we may encounter our second American Wigeon of the day! 2024 Saw the arrival of a rare Snow Goose to the area, not exactly hard to spot in the thousands of Pink Footed Geese it frequented with!

Spot the Snow Goose.

The mixed habitat attracts large Finch flocks to the area, Brambling and Yellowhammer mingle with Chaffinch, Greenfinch and Linnets and in 2016 the area turned up a Siberian Accentor!

A fantastic varied day, with an expected species list of 50+, what a great way to start your new year list.

Accessibility: Todays tour may involve walking on even gravel paths.

Pick up 0900 – Drop Off 1630

 

Friday

Give yourself a treat!  Enjoy a long lie before you head down for your last breakfast, sit back and enjoy the memories of the past two full days birding in the glorious Scottish Highlands, and start planning your next trip North!

**All this for only £880 per person!**