Scotland trip report

I recently returned from my winter wildlife trip to Scotland, in particular mountain hares and highland stags and another crack at the Ptarmigans

But it didnt come easy and without disappointment !

My timing was as good as normal to arrive on the eve of storm Braun hitting scotland with high winds and heavy rains.

The plan for Ptarmigans didnt go exactly to plan and despite several attempts to get up the mountains, the weather was against me and had to be abandoned and a new plan is in the works for them in 2026.

It has been one bird i have wanted to photograph and film for quite some time and despite a few trips, it hasnt quite panned out but with perseverance it will be a magic moment.

Positive note is that a few areas have been identified for where they are for future attempts.

So my attention turned towards mountian hares and red stags and a guest apperance of highland coos !

One of my favourite areas in scotland is a picuresque valley where the mountain hares spend their days on the slopes overlooking the valley and also watching out for eagles from above !

A mountain hare’s view.

The temperature wasn’t too bad as we made our way up the slopes as the winds were whipping through around 95mph and the rain came in waves of heavy and icy downpours and looking out over the valley below, you could see the rain being swept along in that curtain type manner.

The upgrade in outdoor gear held up extremly well and my mountian equipment gortex jacket held the rain out and my under jacket was still dry when i got back to the van, so very happy with my decision to upgrade my winter gear over the summer and would recommend to all in investing in the best quality gear you can.

My friend Ian and i identified the only visable hare on the hill and made our way slowly towards it, utilising good field craft and moving at a extreme slow pace so the hare is comfortable with the approach and doesn’t feel threatened by our presence.

There is a theory that the hares are accomodating of humans as this means they can relax and are safe from predation by eagles whilst we are near.

It is always a surreal experience to enjoy just sitting with a wild mountian hare as it sleeps and eats or when it’s having a good stretch and to shake off the rain, which i was happy to capture a few images as i missed the first shake as was admiring the landscape and watching how the light changed , little tip if you want to learn about light in photography then come to scotland, it be a great teacher !

We sat with this particular hare for a good 3 hours in the stormy weather but i managed some images of the hares coat with good detail of the texture of the fur drenched with rain and after i captured a print worthy shot of the hare sat in his form surrounded by the landscape in black and while i felt i couldn’t better this and decided to make it the final shot of the day and we headed for the shelter of the van and a hot cuppa was calling our names.

We decided on moving to another location to another part of the hill but as soon as we stepped above the ridge we were hit with the full force of the winds sweeping down the valley, sadly tho we didn’t find another hare and decided to head down the hill along the river to see if we could spot a dipper but sadly with the wind so strong the river was charging through and quite angry so we headed for the shelter of the van and a hot cuppa that was calling our names.

In the van i contemplated my encounters with the hares so far and can now say i have been with hares in arctic contritions, where they are full white, storms, when they are halfway through their coat changing from brown to white, i just need to head back in summer months when they are in their full brown coats. I am envious of my friend who gets to be out here anytime he wants, to be able to just jump in the van and head out but i can also kind of do the same as staying with him and his wife will make it far easier to make trips up in the coming year without the logistics of arranging accomodation.

We decided to move location and turn our attension towards the stags

The following few days were spent attempting to get to the plateaus of the cairngorms but only getting halfway up befoew the rain and heavy mists rolled over the peaks making it slightly dangerous to continue and also finding out i have a slight knee issue that will need addressing in the nexr few months, the joys of getting older !

I didnt get much chance or sightings of red grouse and when i did it was the spooked flight of grouse disappearing form the saftey of their heather surroundings. The red stags were a bit more of a success and a few good shots were captured and then i could relax and try some new ideas and compositions, i managed to get a really pleasing image of a stag on a ridgeline with the background washed out by rain capturing the harsh nature of the land and how the stags survive.

The stag standing on the brow of a hill with the scottish landscape of heather and pine tree background makes a stunning image and really captures the beauty of the enviroment the stags live in and to be there as they come down off the mountains provides a great time to be there with a camera.

One from the back of the camera.

A little bonus happened as we wound our way out of the glen, along the small road we encountered a small heard of beautiful female highland coos that had just been put out to graze, so a quick stop and some gorgeous images later we were heading home as the light was fading fast and darkness crept in.

Sometimes in photography all well made plans don’t happen but something comes along to replace it that was totally unplanned but make for some amazing wildlife images that put a smile on your face and the highland coos in the fading light was just such a moment.

Until next time

See you out there !