The Mute Swans have bred yet again on the small island in the middle of the River Nairn. This year they have managed to hatch 6 cygnets after last years bumper year of 9 cygnets hatched (only 8 survived). Have a look at the post for May 13th 2009. Sadly only 4 of the cygnets have survived so far this year. Click here for the full story.
You can watch this story unfold if you are staying in either Caravan 109 or 196 at Nairn Lochloy Holiday Park. It is only a 10 minute walk!
The Nairn area continues to provide some great birdwatching highlights in addition to all its usual 'culprits'. The latest 2 rarities to frequent the area are a White Billed Diver (seen again today) which has been seen on several occasions off Burghead, and a Black Winged Stilt which made a brief appearance on the mudflats at Findhorn on Sunday.
In addition to these rarities which have been seen within half an hour of caravans 109 and 196 at Nairn Lochloy Holiday Park, you can take a trip to Loch Garten RSPB reserve to see the Capercaillies which are visible at this time of year. Have a look at last years blog here.
At long last it would appear Spring is on the way with some nice weather forecast this coming weekend. After the long Winter freeze and the recent snow, it will make a welcome change. Remember you can book a short caravan break (3 or 4 nights) in Caravan 109 or 196 at Nairn Lochloy Holiday Park, and there is still some availability over the coming weeks. Make sure you look at our How to Book page.
The weather has certainly confused the wildlife in the Nairn area. The Pink Footed Geese are still flying overhead with their gentle 'oink' and there are very few Summer visitors in the area yet. However the King Eider that has spent much of the Winter off Burghead can still be seen. We would expect the first Sandwich Terns, Sand Martins and Swallows to be in the area over the next few days.
Now that the ground is drying out the Culbin Forest is a great place have some fantastic bike rides. There are many many forest tracks to cycle along and it is relatively flat and even. You can go to the 'Gut' which looks out over some nice tidal mudflats, or take a picnic to Buckie Loch and enjoy a nice sheltered spot around the corner from Findhorn. Keep your eyes out for the Scottish Crossbills flying overhead!!
Remember that is you spend a caravan holiday at Nairn Lochloy, all the entertainment is included in the price - 7 days a week!!
A very exciting bird has appeared at Burghead over the last few days - a King Eider. We are all familiar with the Common Eider which we see plenty of around the coastline, especially at this time of year, but a King Eider is very special. Burghead is about a 20 minute drive from Caravan 109 in between Findhorn and Lossiemouth and has a nice beach as well.
The Snow Buntings have returned as well on Nairn East Beach. There are well over 50 of them. They look fantastic with their white and black wings as they flit between the shore and the grasses in the dunes.
A couple of weeks ago we had a nice day out on the Black Isle with friends from Yorkshire. It is easy to get to from Caravan 109 and takes no more than half an hout to get over the Kessock Bridge and onto the Black Isle.
The weather was great with some warm Autumn sunshine. We stopped off first at Chanonry Point which is the premier place in the UK for watching Bottle Nosed Dolphins. Apparently there are about 130 of them resident in the Moray Firth. Typical - not a dolphin in sight but a very nice walk on the beach towards Rosemarkie along the side of the golf course.
We then headed to the top of the Black Isle and had a fantastic lunch in Cromarty at the Pantry. No trip to Cromarty is complete without a visit here. They make the best sandwiches around and use what is called a Cromarty 'bloomer' - a huge soft loaf of bread which is very moorish.
After a wander around Cromarty and a look at the Nigg Ferry (still only taked 2 cars at a time!!) we wandered back around the Cromarty Firth side of the Black Isle looking out towards Invergodon. This is where they repair all the North Sea oil rigs and there were 4 in dock as we looked across. They look gigantic!
There was plenty of wildlife on the water as well. There were about 50 Scaup not far offshore as well as hundreds of Wigeon. Further on at Udale Bay, we sat in the hide and watched a fantastic array of ducks and waders. There were Brent Geese, Shelduck, Teal, Bar Tailed Godwit, one Whimbrel, Knot, and probably most exciting, a Manx Shearwater. With the sun starting to set everything had a wonderful orange hue. Another great day out.
Also today were 6 Brent Geese - the first arrival of the Winter. They were bobbing around on the choppy water. There were plenty of the usual suspects - Redshank, Oystercatcher, Curlew, Cormorant and lots of Bar Tailed Godwits. There were also about 50 Common Gulls on Ministers Pool.
The boat leaves from the pontoon by the Tourist Information Centre at Ballachulish (next to the Isles of Glencoe Hotel). We headed out under the Ballachulish Bridge and then across Loch Linnhe to a few small islands on the far side. The tide was a bit high for there to be lots of Seals, but there were half a dozen lounging on the rocks.
We put on our wet suits and plunged in to the 'freezing' water!! The seals were very inquisitive and although they didn't come right up to us, it was a great feeling to be capturing their curiosity. There were a couple that came quite close, mimicking our moves. After about 15 minutes we decided to leave them be so as not to disturb them too much. After all it is their natural habitat.
As we swung round to head back across the Loch, a young White Tailed Sea Eagle flew out of the trees. It had a white wing tag on it which indicated that it is two and a half years old and was hatched on the Island of Mull. A fantastic end to a perfect evening.
If you would like to swim with Seals from SeaXplorer this year or indeed next, please e mail here and put Seals in the subject box. Please add any comments or questions.
Yesterday was a grey day but we had a friend visiting from Appin, so took a drive out to Findhorn which is about 20 minutes from Caravan 109 at Nairn Lochloy Holiday Park.
We arrived at lunchtime so went straight to the Kimberley Inn for lunch. As always it looked great and we settled down to their huge Haddock and Chips, Chilli and Baked Potato. The sun was shining when we came out so we headed round to the Captain's Table as they have a marine shop and we needed to buy a wetsuit (swimming with seals tomorrow).
We took a stroll around the headland onto the beach and there were around 100 seals basking out on the sand banks. Out to sea there were lots of Gannets diving in to the sea for fish, and there were still a few Sandwich Terns squawking over the shallows. Back in the Findhorn Bay estuary there was a flock of about 50 Mute Swans, hundreds of Redshank, lots of Knot and around 20 Grey Herons. The highlight of the day though was an Osprey fishing overhead. After a couple of unsuccessful lunges, the youngster managed to catch a fish before heading off over the Pines of the Culbin Forest.
We rounded off the day with a cup of tea outside at the Captain's Table, whilst watching the kids on a sailing lesson. Just as they set sail the wind got up and the instructor spent the next 20 minutes rescuing them off the sandbanks and righting capsized yachts!!
There has been a definite change in the birds to be seen around Nairn, in particular the waders on the beach. There are good numbers of Redshanks, as well as lots of Bar Tailed Godwits. At the end of last week good numbers of Knot had reappeared, as well as plenty of Whimbrel flying overhead.
There is a sizeable flock of Greylag Geese on the mudflats by the Culbin Forest and the numbers of Sanwich Terns and Swallows are dwindling by the day. They will soon be on their way back south for the Winter. Another Summer visitor, a Wheatear, was perched on our car on Saturday at Nairn Lochloy Holiday Park.
There is a Common Seal showing itself well up the River Nairn at the moment and last Friday there was another Dolphin off the Nairn Harbour breakwater. It had caught a Salmon and was playing with it - tossing it high in the air and then diving down underwater with it. Fantastic!
This morning, the sun was shining and it was pleasantly warm. A walk along the beach and through the dunes beckoned.
The most notable wildlife around were the butterflies. They seemed to be all over the place despite the lively breeze. There were plenty of Small Whites and Painted Ladies. The latter has invaded the UK this year in vast numbers.
There was also one Red Admiral, a couple of Peacocks, a Speckled Wood and a Ringlet. All of these are fairly common but is is always a pleasure to see them all in the same day. Fantastic!! And all within 10 minutes of Caravan 109.
