Caravan holidays in Scotland

King Eider at Burghead

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.

Day out on the Black Isle

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.

Gannets diving in the Moray Firth

At about this time of year the Moray Firth is a great place to watch young Gannets plunging headlong in to the water in search of fish. There is no better sight than fifty or so large brown birds dropping into the water one after the other just off shore. You can see all this from the Nairn Habour breakwater just 5 minutes from Caravan 109.

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.

Swimming with the Seals

Last Wednesday we took a trip down to Fort William so we could go out on the SeaXplorer fast boat down Loch Linnhe and swim with the Seals. Fort William is a good 2 hours from Caravan 109 at Nairn Lochloy Holiday Park, but it is well worth the trip for a wildlife excursion on the RIB (rigid inflatable boat).

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.

Day out in Findhorn

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!!

Autumn wildlife around Nairn

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!

Beautiful butterflies

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.

Lots of birds on Minister's Pool

Over last weekend (14th and 15th August) there was lots of bird activity at Minister's Pool. The pool is only about a 10 minute walk from Caravan 109 and you can either walk along the beach and then cut over the dunes, or take the footpath which runs from the far end of the East Beach car park past Nairn Dunbar Golf Course.

There were lots of Sandwich Terns sitting on the beach, with one lone Kittiwake amongst them. There were also lots of Greylag Geese flying overhead which was quite disturbing - they are returning for the Winter from the Arctic!! There was also a juvenile Osprey hunting over the shallow waters - the first viewing of this year.

On the Pool itself were 28 Redshanks, a Greenshank, a Black Tailed Godwit and 4 (yes 4!!) Water Rails. There were 2 adults and 2 very large juveniles. They were not shy and were quite happy wandering around the fringes of the reeds. To round the morning off a Common Sandpiper appeared and started bobbing around the edge of the water.

Since the weekend there have been a couple of Bottle Nosed Dolphins just off the Nairn Harbour Pier on Tuesday morning, and a Peregrine Falcon over the beach this morning. Not a bad little haul!!

Trip to Gairloch

Yesterday we decided to take advantage of the fantastic weather and head over to the west coast. Gairloch is about an hour and a half away from Caravan 109 but is well worth the trip for a full day out.

The drive across is one of the most picturesque around here and takes you through some dramatic scenery. As you get towards Gairloch you go through the Ben Eighe National Nature Reserve which is a great place to see the elusive Golden Eagle. As luck would have it we spotted one being mobbed by a Hooded Crow - its plumage looked great in the sunshine.

The road into Gairloch is the usual Highland single track road but is well worth it. We went for a coffee in the Harbour Lights Cafe down at Gairloch harbour and then went for a stroll around to see what was around. The sea was crystal clear and the was a wonderful little fish shack selling lots of Highland specialities including hand dived Scallops.

There are also boat trips running from here - a glass bottomed boat and Orca whale watching trips. They all looked very busy as there were lots of tourists around. We then headed up the hill and parked up by Gairloch Golf Course. There is a little cut through to the beach which is a beautiful arc of golden sand. You look out across Gairloch Bay towards the distant hills of Skye.

We had a picnic and spent a couple of hours just chilling. There were about a dozen people on the beach!! If this was in the south of England it would be mobbed!! There were several Red Throated Divers (calling), lots of Arctic Terns and best of all a small pod of Porpoise.

Sadly it started to rain so we decided to return to Nairn via Poolewe. Here there are the famous gardens which looked great in the distance. We didn't stop but will return later in the year. In Little Gruinard bay on the way back were 4 Black Throated Divers - fantastic!!

Roseisle beach

Yesterday the temperature was 23 degrees so a beach beckoned. We had passed the turn to Roseisle beach but never visited, so yesterday seemed the ideal day. It is only about 15 miles from Caravan 109 - turn left at Forres for Findhorn, and then continue through Kinloss towards Lossiemouth. The turn to Roseisle Forest is just by the Kinloss Country Golf Course.

We parked in the shade and walked through to the beach. The view was fantastic with Findhorn to the left and Burghead to the right. If you wanted you could walk from one to the other. The sand was covered with huge concrete blocks and disused pillboxes. Apparently the Americans and Canadians trained here during the Second World War for the D Day landings.

The concrete blocks are great as they give a bit of protection from the wind and provide little areas of privacy. We had a picnic and the first sea swim of the year. Not too cold but still not for the faint hearted.

A lone Fulmar flew overhead and a Peregrine Falcon was heading towards Burghead out at sea. A fantastic Arctic Tern was hunting close to the shore and gave an exhibition in Sand eel fishing. In the woods there are Red Squirrels although we didn't see one yesterday.