GOOD HARE DAY

Mountain Hare

Hare at rest

Curious

Another 'summer' day

The ground is extremely dry just now

Not to be left out

Sunbathing

The sun shone merrily again all day. Light winds and high temperatures. It felt like another summer day in The Cairngorms. Quite surreal, it is supposed to be the height of winter. This time last year we had the 'Beast from the East', topping up a bumper winter. At the moment we have very little snow lingering. Things are about to change from tomorrow. Much cooler temperatures as the Atlantic weather systems take over again. Snowfall forecast on Saturday. Winter will return hopefully.

In the meantime it was a day to soak in the sun and enjoy another fabulous day out on the hills photographing the amazing wildlife we have high up in The Cairngorms. Today the Mountain Hare was the star of the show. The hares and the ptarmigan are, of course, still in their winter pelage and plumage. Looking quite splendid in the bright sunshine.

I run wildlife photography days throughout the year if you are interested in getting some nice images. A great walk in the hills too!

MORE WILDLIFE PHOTOGRAPHY IN THE CAIRNGORMS

Male ptarmigan on the snow

Snow Bunting

Mountain Hare soaking up the rays

Ptarmigan Hide

Beautiful Alpine weather!

Coire an Lochain

Warm on top

Coire an t-Sneachda

plateau snowfields

Half an hour with these guys

Off

Too warm to move

It was like a summer's day up high on the Cairngorm plateau today. Light winds and virtually wall to wall sunshine. Temperatures were way up high. Not much clothing needed! Another brilliant Wildlife Photography day. Spent around 30 minutes filming a pair of chilled out ptarmigan making use of the snow free ground to have a good feed. Snow bunting high up at the moment and even heard a male singing away (usually this happens in the Spring months). Finished the day with a Mountain Hare to round off a great day across the Northern Corries ad plateau.

BRIGHTER AND COLDER

Ptarmigan in the sun

Paired up, Spring not far away

Loch Etchacan & Ben Macdui

Ciste Mhearad

Fiacaill Coire Sneachda

Macdui from Cairn Gorm

My snowpatch

Another pair

The temperatures dropped much lower last night, at last! Any snow was completely frozen this morning. It was a beautiful clear skies morning. Light winds. Beautiful. A great day for some wildlife photography. This time of year it's great to get the ptarmigan with bright sun shining on their wonderful pure white feathers. Best places to see these masters of the Cairngorms is where the best snow areas are and sheltered from the winds. High level clouds creeped in during the afternoon and the winds increased.
Looking good next weekend. Colder , at last! We may even get some fresh snowfall!

CREAG MEAGAIDH

White out,  despite little snow

Summit selfie 

A sad looking summit area

Best view of the day, towards the end 

Coire Ardair this morning 

Third day out with return clients Chris & Steve. Today we headed to Creag Meagaidh. The cloud stayed low most of the day,  below 700m. Light winds and some drizzle on the summit plateau. We made a circuit of the mountain, descending over Puiste Coire Ardair in the hope of an afternoon view.  We did get one but low down at the end of the day. It definitely did not feel like mid winter. Apparently it was 18C somewhere in The Highlands today, a record high for February. Things can only get better, can't they?
Thanks to Chris and Steve over the last 3 days. Chris has been coming out with me for the last 9 winter seasons. The most loyal client ever.

WARM, WET, WINDY

Climbers in Coire an t-Sneachda 

What's left

Top of Jacob's Ladder 

No croc of Gold here

Afternoon Lenticular cloud 

Loch Morlich and the Northern Corries 

Day 2 with brothers Chris & Steve. Yet another big rise in temperatures,  as forecasted. A rather drab, warm and drizzly morning in The Cairngorms. It was a windy day, no gueeses which direction the wind was blowing from. A bit more snow loss, hardly anything around the Northern Corries. A bit of sun in the afternoon. There's always March of course,  the finest winter month of the season.

LOCH AVON

Steve and ice

Feithe Buidhe Slabs 

Hell's Lum Crag 

Coire an Lochain 

Plenty of ice

Plenty of cloud 

Looking good, today

Brothers Chris & Steve have been returning for a winter course for so many years I have lost count! Their annual pilgrimage to the Scottish winter mountains is always a pleasure for me. Three days of winter fun in the Cairngorms kicked off with a great day exploring the Feithe Buidhe Slabs area. I love this place.  Wild, remote and peaceful. Just 3 other folk in the area which made it unusually busy! Plenty of ice and although there is much less snow than normal it was a good covering to  make it worth venturing into. A cold morning with plenty of frozen ground and firm snow gave way to a much milder afternoon and snow softening up.
Unfortunately it's looking mild for next few days. Winter on hold......again.

WINTER RETURNS, GOOD DAY FOR NAVIGATION

The temperatures dropped overnight giving much better walking conditions.  The remaining snow had firmed up and we had fresh snow falling for the first time in a long while! It felt like winter today! High winds had scoured many areas leaving icy conditions on the plateau. Great for cramponing.
Leanne and John were out with me for an Intro to winter hillwalking . They wanted to concentrate the day on Navigation and basic core movement on snow and ice. We even sneaked in a snowshelter for lunch. Brilliant day, feeling like a real winter day out in the mountains.
Unfortunately only one more 'cold' day tomorrow before a return to heat!