RETURN OF THE DOTTEREL (AND THE SUN) TO THE CAIRNGORMS

Female Dotterel (Charadrius morinellus)

Coire an Lochain and the Great Slab

The slab 'went' about 1 week ago

Lovely waterfall at the Feithe Buidhe

Feithe Buidhe & Ben Macdui in the distance

Coire an t-Sneachda

Male ptarmigan

Beinn Mheadhoin

Top of Jacobs Ladder

Loch Avon and Shelterstone

Coire Domhain

It was lovely to see some sunshine back on the Cairngorm Mountains after a mostly gloomy and damp week. It was a tad warmer too but we still had a few short, sharp sleet/hail showers high up. I went over the Cairngorm plateau to see if the Dotterel had arrived back to their breeding grounds, and was pleased to see they have. Spotted 4 pairs in two different areas today which was really nice. There are still large areas of snow in the Cairngorms, especially over toward Ben Macdui, a lot of the main routes across the plateau ( from the North) to Britains second highest summit are covered in snow so good navigation skills still required, especially in poor weather. As a French couple with their dog found out today, they were following me over pathless terrain heading down to the Feithe Buidhe! At least they got a little insight from me on the wildlife of The Cairngorms and a few tips on navigation (it would have helped if they were carrying a map and compass I guess). Apart from them, it was very quiet on the hill. The Feithe Buidhe is looking wonderful with a waterfall pouring down through the deep snowpack. The Great Slab 'went' about a week ago. Huge amount of debris at the bottom and down at the lochans it's littered with rock and silt. The Goat Track is still completely covered in deep snow. Some great snow tunnels forming. I wonder if they will be as spectacular as last year? Plenty ptarmigan also seen today and the Trailing Azalia is just coming into flower, thats the sign that summer is coming.  Weather looking a bit wet over the weekend but getting sunnier and drier next week.