Scottish Highlands, Isle of Skye, and Edinburgh

Most flights leave the United States a day ahead to arrive on Day One.

Please note: Transfer will be required, perhaps via London or Amsterdam, or by train from Edinburgh.

As some travelers will be weary and arrive on different schedules, there’ll be no activity scheduled for today. It may be possible to schedule an optional group gathering for dinner. No meals are included today. The hotel will require a taxi/shuttle transfer (not included). Our local guide will meet the group after breakfast the following morning.

Night: Edinburgh hotel

This morning, we’ll enjoy breakfast together and have time to get acquainted. After our local guide arrives, we’ll head over to the impressive historic site of Culloden Battlefield. We’ll have time to take in the exhibits and walk through the field, a sobering but rewarding experience. Our first birds are here too, including singing Yellowhammer, Reed Bunting, Eurasian Linnet, Greater Whitethroat, Eurasian Blackcap, and Sedge and Willow warblers, while Red Kite may be seen overhead. Later, we’ll travel south to Strathspey through open moorland with views of rolling mountains and woodlands. Time may allow for an enroute birding stop at a moorland lochan (a small lake or loch), perhaps giving us our first Red Grouse, Osprey, Arctic Loon, Horned Grebe, breeding waders, Meadow Pipit, and Eurasian Skylark. Upon arrival at the Mountview Hotel, we’ll enjoy some free time to get settled in before a welcome dinner and orientation. It’s an easy wander down to the river or the nearby village of Nethy Bridge for more birdlife. Or, those tempting local malts await you at the bar.

Night: Mountview Hotel

Meals: BLD

Today, we’ll visit extensive pine forests, a habitat type that has existed here for close to 8,000 years. This ancient Caledonian forest is the largest natural woodland remaining in Britain, a true national heritage. Here we’ll hope to find a good number of songbirds, including Crested Tit (of the scotica race) and Scottish Crossbill, with both Red and Parrot crossbills also present. Separation of these three species can pose a real identification challenge. Several trails cross the reserve, and we have the day to walk and explore. Other birds might include resident Eurasian Treecreeper; Great, Blue, Coal, and Long-tailed tits; Eurasian Siskin; Redpoll; and Eurasian Bullfinch, as well as the famous Abernethy tree nesting Common Swifts. On local rivers, Common Goldeneye, Common Sandpiper, White-throated Dipper, and Gray Wagtail are likely. We’ll join British birders who are excited to see nesting Osprey, still a relatively rare bird, though recovering, in Britain. In the 1950s, after an absence of nearly 50 years, Osprey returned from their winter home in Africa to breed at this location.

Night: Mountview Hotel

Meals: BLD

If the weather behaves, we’ll stop enroute to search for roadside ptarmigan and Eurasian Golden-Plover on a mountain pass, followed by a rewarding few days on the popular Isle of Skye. Key targets on “The Misty Isle” are Golden and White-tailed eagles, and we’ll enjoy a leisurely exploration of the island as we seek both. The dramatic Trotternish Peninsula, with its fascinating geology, is a great place to see raptors, and we’ll explore many wild and remote corners of Skye where tourists seldom venture. We’ll enjoy prolonged views of many raptors, including Peregrine Falcon, Merlin, and Hen Harrier, in this exciting environment, which features a high density of breeding raptors.

Along the seaweed-clad coastline, we’ll catch up with waders and seabirds, including Black Guillemot, Common Greenshank, summer-plumaged Arctic, Red-throated, and possibly Common loons; and a chance of Eurasian Otter, seals, and Harbor Porpoise offshore. Taking quiet back roads, we’ll visit a variety of exciting under-visited birding sites amid stunning scenery. Summer is in full swing, and moorland breeders, including Whinchat, Northern Wheatear, European Stonechat, and Meadow Pipit, should be found everywhere on the heaths and rough pastures.

We’ll take a thrilling RHIB boat trip out of picturesque Portree to see locally-breeding seabirds like Manx Shearwater,Atlantic Puffin, Black Guillemot, Razorbill, White-tailed Eagle, along with Eurasian Otter, Gray Seal, and maybe even Basking Shark, Humpback, and Minke whales. Our hotel is comfortable and popular, situated immediately by the sea and perfect for otter watching in the early morning and evening.

Night: Isle of Skye

Meals: BLD

Once we’ve seen everything Skye has to offer, we’ll head back to Nethy Bridge, visiting the idyllic and traditional Scottish Eilean Donan Castle, built on its own island, on a sea loch surrounded by mountains and moorland. Birding on the picturesque route eastwards may include more Arctic and Red-throated loons, additional chances of Golden and White-tailed eagles, and Osprey hunting over inland waterways. We’ll stop at one of Britain’s main sites for Horned Grebe – one of the country’s rarest breeding species.

Night: Mountview Hotel

Meals: BLD

Today we return to the local woods where summer breeders, including Tree Pipit, Common Redstart, and Spotted Flycatcher, may be encountered. Local birch woods support scarce European Pied Flycatcher and Wood Warbler, and we search for both these specialists on a lovely walk. Depending on the weather, we may seek out secluded moorland locations with Golden Eagle, Peregrine Falcon, Eurasian Goshawk, Merlin, Red Kite, European Stonechat, Northern Wheatear, and Ring Ouzel in mind, plus any local birds missed earlier in the week. Another possibility today would be to include time at Cairngorm Mountain. Rock Ptarmigan, Eurasian Dotterel, and Snow Bunting are key targets in this special and unique habitat, and there’s also a chance of mountain hare and herded reindeer. Be advised that a lengthy hike is often required (unless the funicular railway is operational), from an elevation of 1,800’ to as high as 3,600’ above sea level, to reach the best areas for these birds. All such walks are, of course, optional.

Night: Mountview Hotel

An optional early start to perhaps catch the last few Black Grouse at the lek is a great start. The birds are more active in May than in June, though we still have a chance of finding a few males. At coastal haunts, we expect to see a range of breeding birds, including more Osprey, Common Eider, Common and Red-breasted mergansers, Common Scoter, Corn Bunting, Yellowhammer, Eurasian Tree Sparrow, and Gray Partridge. Waders are likely to include Eurasian Oystercatcher, Eurasian Curlew, Common Redshank, Dunlin, Red Knot, Black and Bar-tailed godwits, and Ruddy Turnstone, plus a range of gulls and terns. We’ll also search for any rarities within reach.

Night: Mountview Hotel

Meals: BLD

After breakfast, we’ll transfer to the city center hotel in Edinburgh, where our local guide will leave us. The afternoon can be spent at your leisure, with a walk up the Royal Mile as the perfect introduction. Follow the winding cobbled streets, and you’ll come across some of the city’s most famous attractions: the Scotch Whisky Experience, St Giles’ Cathedral, the ultramodern Scottish Parliament, and the Palace of Holyrood House. You can even venture inside the King’s official residence in Scotland, before hiking up the hill to Arthur’s Seat in Holyrood Park.

Night: Edinburgh City Centre

Meals: B

A full day at leisure to explore Edinburgh. Perched atop an extinct volcano at the peak of the Royal Mile, Edinburgh Castle is the city’s most popular tourist attraction and is a great place to begin. It became Scotland’s chief royal castle in the Middle Ages and is now home to the Scottish Crown Jewels – the Honours of Scotland. You can also visit the Stone of Destiny, Mons Meg – the famous 15^th-century gun, and the National War Museum.

Night: Edinburgh City Centre.

Meals: B

After breakfast, you’ll transfer directly to Edinburgh Airport for your flights home or onward.

Transfer costs are not included; however, taxis or the tram to the airport will be easily accessible from your central location.