Date: Mon, 12 Jan 2004 12:16:53 -0800 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Marcus James Subject: Re: RFI: guided birding in Scotland (UK)? In-Reply-To: <88.10ffae9.2d340004@aol.com> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Thinking about this I suppose that the UK is most attractive to overseas birders for the relatively accessible seabird colonies & for wintering wildfowl. Late March is probably too early for the seabirds & certainly access to sites like the Isle of May near Edinburgh which are totally weather-dependent might pose a problem. Winter geese/swans & ducks will still be in evidence & if possible a visit to Islay(an Inner Hebridean island) would be well worthwhile -the ferry crossing should reveal auks & gannets whilst the island itself is great for Geese, Ducks & raptors. Failing this a visit to Caerlaverock/Mersehead on the Solway is well-worthwhile (a drive of c100 miles from Edinburgh on a freeway-style fast road). Speyside is also worth a trip but again March is not the best time though Capercaillie (the world's largest Grouse species) should be a possibility as should Black Grouse. I've no experience of the guide company that you mentioned in your post though I'm sure they are fine.Another option would be to consider Speyside Wildlife who may be able to put together a package that includes the Speyside region & one of the bigger islands such as Mull or Islay. See: www.speysidewildlife.co.uk I would also look at the website of Heatherlea though I'm not sure if they're active in March: www.heatherlea.co.uk I'll post any other relevant websites I find & hopefully posting this reply will stimulate others more in the know than me to respond to your request. Cheers, Steve Report Post | IP: Logged Posts: 291 Monday 12th January 2004, 13:51 Post #3 Fifebirder Registered User Joined: Sep 2003 Location: Fife I'd reiterate what Steve says and maybe add that there are good places for wildfowl and seabirds around the Lothian and Fife areas (Edinburgh is in Lothian and Fife is the area to the north on the other side of the Firth of Forth). Largo Bay (near Leven) is very good for seaduck, although I'd recommend Musselburgh (which is just a few miles east of Edinburgh) for good views of seaduck, grebes etc. Gannets should be getting back on Bass Rock in the Firth of Forth around then, although I don't know if boat trips from North Berwick will be running that early (well worth it if they are and the weather's okay). Boat trips to the Isle of May don't start up until (appropriately) May. Just to add a vote for Islay, I was there for a week in early April last year and saw eight species of goose, seven species of raptor (including Golden Eagles, Merlin, Peregrine and Hen Harrier), Chough, hundreds of Great-northern Divers (Common Loons) and various commoner seabirds (including Manx Shearwater from the ferry). The weather was very nice too. __________________ Andrew Report Post | IP: Logged Posts: 419 Monday 12th January 2004, 14:23 Post #4 Steve G Registered User Joined: Oct 2003 Location: FIFE Other internet resources to check out are: For Islay(pronounced Eye-lah): www.islaybirding.co.uk www.the-soc.fsnet.co.uk/islay-sites.htm For Mull: www.mullbirds.com www.isle-of-mull-wildlife-trips.co.uk For Edinburgh & Lothian: www.andrewsi.freeserve.co.uk/lothian-sites.htm Cheers, Steve --- Sarah Anderson wrote: > Hi everyone, > > Haven't posted here much but am a dedicated > "lurker". Am hoping you can give > me some advice. Am going to be in Great Britain in > late March and while the > entire trip is not birding-focused I am planning to > get a couple of days in > Scotland and I'm thinking about hiring a guide in > order to make the most of the > short time I'll have available there. Do any of you > have any recommendations > of guiding services to go with (or to stay away > from!)? I've been in touch > with one outfit called "Grampian & Cairngorms > Wildlife Services" - do any of you > have any experience with them or know anything about > them? Also, do you have > any recommendations for places in and/or near > Edinburgh to do some > "self-guided" birding? We won't have a car so we're > a bit limited. And has anyone been > to the Scottish Seabird Centre? Do you recommend > going there? Finally, the > other part of our trip will be spent mostly in > London. Do you have any > recommendations for birding in or around that area? > Last year I did pretty well in > Hyde Park when I went last year but that was my > first attempt to bird in > England so everything was new! :-) > > You can respond to me via email at > BirdNerd3@aol.com. Thanks VERY much in > advance for any advice you can give me! > > Sarah > Cabin John, MD > > ======================================================================= > To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to > listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: > signoff mdosprey > ======================================================================= __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! 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