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| Coire an Lochain holding on to the snow |
A rather benign weather day in the Cairngorms. Hardly any breeze on the tops and mild. The tops were clear in the morning with a cloud later in the Strath. In the afternoon the cloud dropped to around 1000m on the tops and poor visibility with all the huge areas of snow still lingering on the plateau. If you're planning any days out make sure your navigation skills are up to scratch.
I was out photographing the Ptarmigan today. These birds of the high Scottish mountains are a real delight and a treasure. Sadly another one of our species that is in so much decline they are now on the Red List of rare and vulnerable birds.
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| Lovely morning |
Some fabulous cloudscapes this morning.
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| Cloud in Strathspey |
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| Great cloud layers |
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| Strathspey from the Northern Corries |
My first encounter with a Ptarmigan was high up on Cairn Lochan. Unfortunately the cloud and mist rolled in above 1000m by this point but it was still a fine time photographing this guy.
I walked over the Northern Corries route then headed down to another location that I often see Ptarmigan. I spotted a wonderful pair of these fascinating birds. Some light missle kept coming and going. Atmospheric photography I guess.
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| Coire an Lochain |
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| Visibility at 1050m |
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| Ptarmigan clues |
Some Atmospheric photography with the Ptarmigan.
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| Cairngorm plateau |
FRIDAY 15 APRIL
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| Lovely conditions for photography |
A top day photographing the mountain hares. Today Lars was over from Lichtenstein for the Easter holidays and on one of my Mountain Hare Photography workshops. Some great moments with many hares. A few of which were paired up. Really encouraging to see so many out today. Some lovely weather to go with it. We also saw Stonechat, Skylark and Wheatear on the hill plus Red Grouse.
The day was only marred slightly by some thoughtless, selfish group with their dog off a lead running a mock around the hillside, scaring off at least 4 hares. Completely out of control. When I told the guy to get it on a lead he couldn't even call his dog back to him, it was nowhere to be seen. The hills and mountains are not a playground for some wild mutt to run chasing our precious wildlife. Our wildlife are vulnerable and these hills are their home. They have a tough enough life without mindless dog owners coming along.
This time of year the ground nesting birds are arriving and it's actually an OFFENCE to disturb ground nesting birds. So keep your dog on a lead, better still take it to the park. There's actually a large sign at the carpark telling you to keep dogs on leads. For a reason.
Great day though and great company.
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| More sun afternoon |
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| Less snow, thawing on the high Cairngorms |
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| Some selfish dog owners need to read |
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| More tripod photography |
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| Hares loosing their winter coats |
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| Lichens & mosses |
TUESDAY 19 APRIL
Looking like we're in for a spell of nice weather this week.
I've been hanging out with some pretty chilled out Mountain Hares recently. This guy today I'm calling Rocky. For much of the 3 hrs I spent photographing him he was clambering about his bouldery Form looking for the choicest new grasses for eating. Then a bit of sunbathing and the usual scratching and yawning. What a character. Most of the hares where I regularly photograph are now into their Spring pelage. They've made it through another hard winter. It's always sad when the snows have gone and they've lost their winter coat. But of course the mountain hares are a joy all year round.
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| Northern Cairngorms this afternoon |
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| My kind of clouds |
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| Spring arrives |
The buds and leaves on the birch trees just coming out. Has Spring arrived?
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| High Four |
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| So laid back |
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| Yawn or laugh? |
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| Rock fan |
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