HOGMANAY BIRDING EXTRAVAGANZA!

THURSDAY 28 DECEMBER 2023 – SATURDAY 6 JANUARY 2024

PRICE: from £2195pp

Early Birder Prices from £1995pp (subject to availability).

Full details and a Trip Report are on our website.

Please read FIELD NOTES on page 9.

Many of you are looking for special birding at this time, and this holiday is a real cracker! Come to the beautiful Highlands for a wonderful Hogmanay (we usually have snow on the mountains), and enjoy a bird-filled end to 2023, followed by five full days to begin 2024 in style.

We aim to see as many species as possible, and this tour is ideal for all birders who want an exciting winter holiday, as well as those who keep lists. During the last birding days of 2023, we spend time inland looking for Ptarmigan, Black Grouse, Golden and White-tailed Eagle, Scottish Crossbill and Crested Tit, mingling our efforts with exciting coastal birding, which could produce a big range of wintering specialties, uncommon or rare vagrants. Hogmanay is a time of great celebration in the Highlands, and on the night itself guests might have the opportunity to visit a nearby party, which could typically involve live music and dancing. Held in the open air, this is entirely subject to vagaries of the weather, so wrap up well! For those who prefer to stay indoors we will celebrate ‘The Bells’ in the warmth, toasting the old year list with a variety of local malt whiskies!

We begin New Year's Day full of anticipation, and with a full week at our disposal, Scottish specialities will be high on the itinerary again to round-up as many key Highland species as we can! We spend at least one full day birding the Moray Coast, with options to venture further north to the 'Black Isle' or Sutherland, east into Aberdeenshire or out to the stunning west coast. Keen to accumulate a high bird-list, with our finger on the pulse we search for known rarities on coastal days such as Snow Goose, American Wigeon, Green-winged Teal, Ring-necked Duck, Surf Scoter, King Eider, Iceland, Glaucous and Little Gull, Little and Great White Egret, Waxwing, and Great Grey Shrike – all of which have occurred in the last two years! By the end of the holiday, you should have seen many 'difficult' Highland birds you might otherwise miss without a guide, or which rarely turn up further south in the UK.

Total species approx. 120. Other wildlife should include Red Squirrel, Red Deer, Roe Deer, Grey Seal, Common Seal, Mountain Hare and possibly Otter.

Nine nights at Mountview Hotel.