Country: Scotland

Destination: Highland Region / Inverness & Strathspey

Traveller guidance and Kit recommendations are at the end of this article.

Click to enlarge images

Our first trip of 2020 began with a long drive north, passing by the Peak District, the Lake District, and into Scotland through the Central Lowlands to the Firth of Forth. After a short stay to visit family in the Central Region, we headed further north to the Highland Region. Driving-snow was around us on the M9/A9 as we left Perthshire, limiting us to a snow-ploughed single lane at a mind-numbing 40mph all the way to our farm cottage rental on the outskirts of Inverness. Later that afternoon we met our local nature photo-guide, Pete Walkden, to discuss our options for the next few days.

Day 1: We travelled back down the A9 into the Cairngorm National Park; parking not very far from Aviemore village, then hiking into the mountains on foot. There had been fresh snow overnight, even as low as Inverness at sea-level. Hiking up the mountains in deep snow with a heavy camera bag was manageable with walking-poles fitted with snow-baskets; although arduous at times for Colin, who had a lingering viral ‘bug’ he picked up 8-days prior from one of his 5yr old 1-2-1s; during a weekly visit to a local primary school as an ABC to Read volunteer. They may be small but they can carry a payload that packs a punch.

Colin waiting for Ptarmigan to come into frame.

Colin, a very experienced mountain hiker, really struggled with shortness of breath after 30mins walk-in. A point came where he almost turned back down the mountain, which for those who know him well is completely out of character. He thought he was over a bug he had picked up at the school before our journey north. Our guide, Pete, was a bit concerned so we slowed the pace right down, took frequent rests and carried on. The planned 1hr hike-in through the snow took over 2hrs, with ‘slow and steady’ being the order of the day.

On route we met up with a good friend of Pete’s, and a fellow pro-photographer, Andy Howard, who was also guiding a client into the Cairngorm National Park that day. We can say here that we highly recommend them both, and will certainly travel with them again in the future when we are up north.

Ptarmigan were the first sighting of the morning; a group of about 6. We set down our bags and poles together on a visible rocky outcrop, and walked on further into a col. We were now carrying just a single camera/ lens combo (along with rain-cover, lens-cloth, spare card and battery). The birds were fairly amenable but also spooked quite easily. We had to stay very low, minimising our body profile while crawling through the snow and around boulders. With the wind and spindrift we learned quite quickly to keep our lens down-wind when not actually shooting. A lens cloth in the pocket was essential for those moments when the lens-hood inevitably dug into the snow, whilst we were crawling around on all-fours. We spent about three enjoyable hours with the Ptarmigan giving us time to really observe their behaviour and get some decent shots in pristine surroundings. We also saw two Mountain Hare in the distance: a beautiful setting but not enough lens-reach. With the setting sun falling behind our mountain, and with light fading in the col, we returned to our bags and started the long hike off the mountain; arriving back to the car during the blue-hour, just after sunset.

Mountain Hare hunkered down in the spindrift.

Day 2: We set off early in a southerly direction again; parking near the head of a glen. Our goal was Mountain Hare, and the walk-in and climb were much easier. Our guide, Pete, had a couple of ideas that might reduce the amount of climbing we needed to do. We struck lucky first time with him sighting a hare through his binoculars, on the hill-side near a col; and we had only been hiking about 25mins! Times like these is where professional guide knowledge comes into its own. Again, we chose our tools and put on our camera rain-covers. We left our poles and bags together at the head of our freshly-made trail. On advice we took our tripods today because there was likely to be a bit of waiting-time: trust us, a hare hunkered down in the snow and wind is not very active. It is also smart, and has its backside facing the prevailing wind, meaning we have to take our position facing into the weather. We took a few “grab shots”, if only to say we had been there. Then it was a slow and difficult crawl (carrying our camera + long telephoto lens + tripod) contouring a slope toward the hare who had chosen a sheltered spot to settle down, in the lee of the wind blowing through, but an extremely exposed position for us facing directly into the weather. This meant having to frame our shots into the wind and working with the spindrift. We probably crawled to within 30m of the hare before it moved. Luck and the sun was shining for us because it didn’t travel too far; just enough for its own comfort. We then moved down about 20m on our backsides (sliding ungracefully, with Colin showing off the gymnastic prowess he clearly lacks); in parallel and maintaining our distance to take up a good second position. We spent a further 45mins, just watching and framing, taking photo opportunities to capture “the shot” as they came along. The hare eventually moved over the hill-side and out of our sight-line. Pursuing it further was certainly viable but it had been very tolerant with us, and we would also have to retrieve our bags and poles first; now about 50m behind us. There were was no sign of the wind easing so the collective decision was that we had enjoyed a good sighting experience, so we would walk off the mountain hill-side and back to the car for coffee and a snack, and then headed off to look for Red Grouse on the moors near Culloden.

Red Grouse sunning itself in the moor heather

About an hour’s drive from the glen we were soon into grouse-moor territory for the afternoon. Driving along a single-track road all we could see was heather. However we quickly got our ‘eye-in’ spotting Red Grouse, who were extremely well camouflaged to blend into their terrain amongst the moorland heather. Staying in the vehicle was the most practical option because they seemed used to a vehicle driving along the farm-track. There was little point getting out; to potentially spook them by walking around. We spent about 2hrs with the grouse (drive-by shooting ?) and left them as the light was starting to fade. During the return drive toward Inverness, the weather forecast on the radio was for more snow overnight …. marvellous.

Red Squirrel : watching me, watching you

Day 3: Dawn arrived as we had breakfast and indeed the weather had dumped more snow overnight, with more forecast during the morning. Andy Howard has a Red Squirrel hide to which Pete has access. We were all keen and eager to make the best of a great opportunity to try to capture shots of the Red Squirrel in the snowy conditions. Snow was falling and snow-ploughs were out on the roads, but it was a relatively short drive to the hide. We had only sat in there for about 15mins when the first juvenile arrived; quickly followed by two others, an adult and another juvenile. The snow-fall eased as they darted all over the place looking for pine and hazel nuts, and checking their cache. Eventually they relaxed and calmed down in our presence; very kindly posing for us, albeit very short stops. The snow-fall returned and Pete suggested we set our tripods outside the hide to see if we could get a few mid-air shots of the squirrels jumping around the mainly nature / part man-made assault course in the Scots Pine wood. Using a shutter cable-release was essential. It took some practice to capture them leaping mid-air but eventually we mastered it; with the falling snow adding an extra dimension to the shots.

In the afternoon we drove out to another glen, where Pete was fairly confident we might encounter Red Deer. We had a fairly long drive and the deer occasionally got so close to the vehicle we were down at the low end of our 70-200mm lens. Again we spent most of the time shooting from the vehicle, mainly because the deer were understandably less tolerant, and moved away more quickly, when they saw people on foot.

Overall we had three days of action-packed photography in some exceptional locations. Perfect weather conditions and local knowledge from our guide, Pete Walkden (and our brief encounter with Andy Howard) played a huge part in making our short visit so productive and enjoyable. We spent a few more days with family in Central Scotland before heading south and arrived home a just few days before the UK’s Covid-19 lock-down; so this may have been our last outing for a while.

GALLERY : click an image for Slideshow

Traveller Guidance:

Being UK based, we travelled north by car: Inverness is accessible by Rail and Air, with car hire available. Alternatively, one can arrange local transport with photo-guide Pete Walkden (and possibly Andy Howard too).
We used Airbnb for our accommodation where there is plenty of choice for those seeking independence in their accommodation. For us, catered accommodation is the choice of last resort given we are often up very early, before dawn, and many can be completely inflexible about breakfast times. (There is a recommended exception in West Wales, covered in our Skomer Puffin blog). There’s plenty of tourist accommodation around the Cairngorm too, although expect to pay a high premium in those tourism “honey-pot” areas: basically, something for everyone, it’s whatever floats your boat.
Weather can be extreme and variable in February, so be prepared for heavy snow through to heavy rain; basically warm layers with an outer waterproof. Warm gloves, preferably with a waterproof outer-layer. Hand-warmers are a ‘nice to have’ too; for those longer periods of inactivity in the harsh elements, waiting for the shot.
Heavy walking boots, preferably with crampons that fit your boots correctly. We did not use our crampons, but always take them when in this type of terrain in winter.
Walking poles, used correctly (their misuse is often an entertaining distraction on hiking trails) can be very useful for energy efficiency on longer hikes into the mountains; particularly when packing heavy gear.
Walking pole snow-baskets are a recommend too; there are plenty of “kit-monster” shops in both Inverness and Aviemore, and they retail around £7-£10 a pair. We ordered ours on-line at home from Braemar Mountain Sports and collected them from their Aviemore Mountain Sports store on our drive north. Their customer service was excellent; and we also enjoyed some “retail therapy” there on the drive back south.
A camera bag/rucksack/backback, correctly adjusted to fit your body is essential and must have spare capacity for safety equipment (survival bag/bivvi, cyalume sticks, torch, whistle, Silva compass, OS Map, emergency snacks and water). It might sound a long list, but it takes up very little room, and you might thank us one day.
Always inform someone of your plan and timings before you walk-in to any “wild” area …… and let them know when your back.
As ever, Mobile phone coverage is a lottery in the hills; don’t rely on it for navigation or comms.

Camera Kit:

Waterproof camera-gear covers are essential; you need to be able to protect your gear from prolonged exposure to the elements; rain, snow, and driving wind.
We found a telephoto zoom range around 100-500mm, f4 - f5.6, was ideal in terms of reach and weight. The 400mm to 600mm primes are also an option, as is a 300mm prime for wider-vista shots.
We used and would also recommend taking a compatible 1.4TC, if possible.
A medium telephoto (filling the 70-200mm range) is also useful for wider shots, along with occasional close-quarter encounters. Better still, if it is mounted and ready on a second/spare body. We found them most useful with Red Deer and Grouse along the road-side.
Tripod/monopod with gimbal/mono-gimbal will be useful because spending time with Ptarmigan and Mountain Hare can involve some waiting around and it is somewhere to rest your rig above the rocks, snow, or mud. Often you will need to leave your bag and poles some distance away, in order to remain mobile and agile to crawl around in the often challenging terrain.
Filters were not essential, although we always carry CPLs (circular polarisers). However, ambient light can be challenging at times, especially in the snow and rain; so know your camera’s capabilities and limitations (every camera has them), particularly with ISO noise and auto-focus in low contrast light. Be ready to adapt your shooting to the conditions.

Scotland, Cairngorm - Winter Wildlife

GALLERY : click an image for Slideshow

Traveller Guidance:

Camera Kit: