Scotland: Nature and Culture in the Highlands - May 2026
Dates: May 28–June 7, 2026
Leaders: Rick Wright & John Poyner
E-bird
Total Species: 96 birds
Click Here to view list.
Overall Summary
The Highlands of Scotland offer some of the most stunning landscapes anywhere, and some truly excellent birding. From our very comfortable base in Inverness’s finest hotel, we explored glens and moors, forests and tundra, firths and lochs, and the sheerest of sea cliffs in search of migrants and breeders. Two of everyone’s most desired species performed nicely. On Dava Moor, five male black grouse lingered on their lek, feeding, preening, and briefly dancing as we watched from a roadside pull-off. And a female red grouse at Lochindorb was accompanied by chicks; this is the only species endemic to Britain, and, like us, birders from around the world come to admire this handsome, non-white ptarmigan. In the high Cairngorms, we rode the speedy funicular to the treeless mountain heights, where we had almost grown discouraged when a female snow bunting, representing one of just sixty Scottish nesting pairs, suddenly appeared and fed on croissant crumbs nearly at our feet. Just as rare a breeder in Scotland is the Arctic loon; this year, we had the great good fortune to see an adult on the nest. And then, from scarcity to almost inconceivable abundance: we spent our last day on the seabird cliffs of Troup Head, surrounded by northern fulmars, common murres, black-legged kittiwakes, razorbills, and hundreds of northern gannets; even one of the local Atlantic puffins made an appearance.
Of course, no visitor to the Highlands would keep their ornithological blinders on to the exclusion of this region’s fascinatingly complex history. Our visit to Culloden, on an appropriately gray and misty day, took us across the battlefield where government troops killed some 1,500 adherents of the Jacobite cause; a morning at Fort George revealed even more of the intricacies of eighteenth-century politics, with a bonus visit to the dog cemetery. At Lochindorb, we admired the massive island castle of the “Wolf of Badenoch,” the ill-tempered warrior who spread fear and violence across the Highlands in the fourteenth century—a few days later, we would stand in awe of the huge ruins of Elgin Cathedral, just one of the structures and institutions viciously attacked by the Wolf during his bloody career. Just as imposing were the enormous remains of Urquhart Castle, its high stone walls and towers hugging the stony shore of Loch Ness (no, no “monster” this time). Our afternoon at the Highland Folk Museum, unfortunately, provided our one chance for another authentic Scottish experience: a pounding drizzle. But even so, our soggy walk took us to buildings, both original and reconstructed, that illuminated the rural past better than any guidebook ever could.
Here in the Highlands, the present is as captivating as the past, and the human residents are a big part of it, from our skilled drivers to the extremely helpful hotel staff and the friendly people we met on the trails and on the streets of Inverness. We ate very well indeed, we laughed a lot, and we all left resolved to return to this very special place.
Day-by-Day Summary
May 28 - Departures from US.
May 29 - Arrival in Inverness and private transfers to hotel. Welcome meeting followed by dinner in our Kingsmills Hotel.
May 30 - Departure 9:00 am. North Kessock Lifeboat Station. Udale Bay. Chanonry Point. Fairy Glen. Break at hotel. Checklist review 6:20 pm, dinner 6:45.
May 31 - Departure 9:00 am. Loch Garten. Private tour of Culloden Battlefield. Break at hotel. Checklist review 6:30 pm, dinner 6:45.
June 1 - Departure 9:00 am. Carr Bridge. Lochindorb. Anagach Woods. Nethybridge. Dinner 5:30 pm. Departure for badger blind 7:30 pm. At hotel 11:50.
June 2 - Departure 9:00 am. Cairngorm National Park funicular. Highland Folk Museum. Victorian Market, Inverness. dinner 6:00 pm.
June 3 - Departure 9:10 am. Aultulie. Loch Flemington. Nairn Harbor. Findhorn Bay. Cawdor Castle. Daviot Forest. Break at hotel. Checklist review 6:45, dinner 7:00 pm.
June 4 - Departure 5:45 am. Dava Moor. Return to hotel 8:25. Departure 11:00 am. Strathdearn 3:00–4:30 pm. Break at hotel. Checklist review 6:30, dinner 6:45.
June 5 - Departure 9:30 am. Fort George and guided tour. Antfalla Highland cows. Urquhart Castle. Break at hotel. Checklist review 6:30, dinner 6:45–9:10.
June 6 - Departure 9:00 am. Stroup Head. Break at hotel. Checklist review 7:30 pm, dinner 8:00.
June 7 - 8:30 am private transfer to Inverness Airport.
Wildlife Seen:
European badger
Pine marten
Red deer
Roe deer
Wood mouse
Bank vole
Brown hare
Mountain hare
European rabbit
Spotted wood (butterfly)
Red admiral (butterlly)
Cabbage white (butterfly)
Peacock butterfly (butterfly)