BEAUTIFUL SUNRISE

 

Another great forecast for bright sunshine over the Cairngorms. Well it started off good with temperatures in Aviemore minus 3 C and frosty. A gorgeous sunrise over the mountains as I had a wander up the Monadhliath. Unfortunately a big bank of cloud down to 700m drifted over and was there most of the daylight hours. A thin covering of snow above750m gave poor visibility and useless for any wildlife photography. But good to be out.

STUNNING CAIRNGORMS DAY

 

What a stunning day to be out on the hills. Wall to wall blue skies from dawn to dusk. Virtually windless on the summits and a light covering of snow above 1000m. Karen and I had a fabulous day visiting places well away from the main routes in the Northern Cairngorms. In search of wildlife and solitude. We weren't disappointed. 

A group of Reindeer were grazing away happily on the lower slopes. Although 'semi-wild' they are a delight to watch and beautiful animals.

Above 1000m on the northern slopes of Cairn Gorm we were on snow. The colder temperatures overnight had frozen some of the softer snow. Under this were areas of older snow from earlier in the week which had gone through a melt/freeze cycle. There wasnt much of this but enough to make you aware where you walked. We didnt need crampons. 

Any vegetation exposed to the air had a beautiful translucent casing of ice. Stunning in the bright sunshine and that wonderful crunch under your boots. We wandered up towards Cairn Gorm summit but shyed away from the actual summit to keep the solitude factor. You also get far better views away from the summit cairn.

We descended Cairn Gorm and walked over towards the Stag Rocks area for a view down to Loch A'an. On the way we had delightful moments watching a flick of at least 30 Snow Bunting feeding around some of the melted patches of hillside. We never 'bait' any wildlife to photograph them. Absolutely no need. Keep it natural. Its just wonderful watching them flutter about in their natural environment.

At this point it felt quite warm with the reflection of sun off the snow. Beautiful. 10 minutes after our Snow Bunting encounter we came upon a beautiful Mountain Hare. His/her markings were just wonderful. In  transition from Autum to Winter pelage. 

All the way along we were watchful for Ptarmigan but so far we hadn't spotted any. Second lunchtime snacklet looking across beautiful Loch A'an to Beinn Mheadoin and further round to Carn Etchachan. Looking very beautiful. 

There were some lovely clouds lingering around Corries towards the South. This gave the day another beautiful, sublime feeling. 2pm and time to head back. 

Wildlife is always a wonderful thing. Just when you think you'll not spot what you came for it may well come up and surprise you. Never give up and don't loose concentration towards the end of your day. Off in the distance I spotted a Ptarmigan blazing around in the afternoon sun. Perfect light to capture these masters of camouflage and masters of the high Scottish mountains in winter. 

Walking back towards Ciste Mheared there was some big stretches of hard, frozen snow and it was great fun to be kicking steps and getting back into walking in winter with winter boots. First day of proper snow conditions this season.

Back to Coire Cas carpark just has dusk arrived. A beautiful clear late afternoon. Down at Loch Morlich there was a stunning sunset. We've seen sunsets here may times. They're always special. It would be rude not to stop and round off the day nicely .

MOUNTAIN HARE PHOTOGRAPHY

 

A day out catching up with friend, Ian who is also a wildlife photographer and qualified Winter Mountain Leader. We decided on the Monadhliath for the Mountain Hare rather than the high Cairngorms for Ptarmigan photography. Although the weather forecast promised some nice clear and sunny spells we were in dull conditions for much of the day. The hares and company more than made up for the weather.

The hares weren't too settled today. No snow around for them so quite rightly they were a little jumpy. We still managed to get some lovely moments. Ian was using his new Cannon G5 Mirrorless camera. Another converted DSLR to Mirrorless photographer. It's the way to go!

PTARMIGAN, HARE, SNOW BUNTING

 

A settled spell of light winds and dry conditions began today. Perfect conditions to get high in the Cairngorms and check out the Ptarmigan. The snow we had last weekend has all but been washed away with the warmer temperatures and heavy rain of Tuesday. Any snow that remained was frozen solid after below freezing temperatures last night.

A big part of wildlife photography in the mountains is keeping a check on recent weather, especially wind direction and strength. These factors will influence me where to seek out Cairngorms wildlife. Because we are now into winter the Ptarmigan and Hares have almost completely changed into their white camouflaged coats. Therefore when we have limited snow on the ground is also another criteria on where to search.

It was lovely in the bright sunshine and blue skies. I was soon able to spot around 12 pairs of Ptarmigan and two flocks of around 10-20 Snow Buntings. Brilliant. The cloud rolled in in the afternoon. To round a great day off nicely a beautiful Mountain Hare popped out right in front of me. I must have disturbed her sleep. She stood there half asleep and yawned. I have never seen a Hare walk so slowly, for e metres then sit and have another yawn. Brilliant. 

A grand day out and welcome sunshine.

SNOW FOR THE SNOW HARE

 

Very slowly we are creeping into winter. There was further light snow showers in the Cairngorms overnight and into today. On the Monadhliath there was a few cm's of snow down to around 700m with some ankle depth snow in some small drifts. Despite a forecast of strong winds I decided to head up onto the hill for some photography with the hope the hares would be in snow, for the first time this season. I wasn't disappointed. 

The winds were in fact not strong at all up to about 800m. The Mountain Hare will always favour lee slopes to protect themselves from strong winds, even more so in winter. Inbetween snow showers there were some nice sunny intervals. Even in the showers it was wonderful seeing the hares as the snow blew across the hillside.

As always I went to my well trodden areas with the hope of seeing familiar friends. Sure enough I had one of the hares sitting pretty amongst the shelter of the boulder field and snow. A big snow shower had just come through and I was hoping the Hare hadn't shaken off the snow from itself. In fact the snow had melted and there were beautiful water droplets off his fur and whiskers. Beautiful. Then 20 minutes of bright sun. Perfect!

Some lovely moments standing with one particular Hare.. I had 4 layers on and within 30 minutes I was getting chilly. These creatures are something else. They live in this environment. Amazing. I said my farewell and headed down the hill as another snow shower swept across. The high Cairngorms were in cloud for much of the day.

Back at lower altitudes it was still Autumn and the trees were just beautiful in the late afternoon sun. 

FIRST PROPER WINTER DAY

 

Cold Northwesterlies late yesterday and overnight brought some very welcome snow to the mountains, especially the Cairngorms. This morning was the first day this season we had a few snow flurries at Aviemore level. The winds had eased down so looking like a good day to be out.

Having lived in Aviemore for almost 10 years now I was totting up roughly how many times I have romped along the Fiacaill Coire Sneachda ridge in Winter. I calculated an average of at least 20 times per winter so that comes to 200! Plus all the other occasions prior to that (lots more!). That seems quite a few! It is never the same conditions every time.  It is the only ridge in the Northern Cairngorms unfortunately. Unlike the west coast where there are so many. This morning I notched up another ascent.

There was a team of climbers somewhere on the cliffs in Coire an t-sneachda. The cloud was down so couldn't see where. Snow was lying to around 550m. Lots of beautiful rime ice over the rocks and frosted vegetation everywhere. Despite the lack of views it was terrific to be coasting along under great early winter conditions. 

A gusty, stiff breeze near the top. Poor visibility for most of the plateau area up to the summit of Cairn Lochan. I headed on down into Coire and Lochain, just as I got to the Lochan the skies suddenly cleared and blue skies overhead.

A beautiful end to the day with bright sunshine and snow on the ground. Temperatures are on the way up tomorrow but over the weekend they drop again with blizzards and gales forecast on the Cairngorms. Early next week should look good!