Where can you see Capercaillie, Black Grouse, Slavonian Grebes, Mountain Hare, Osprey, Ptarmigan, Ring Ouzel and Red Deer in one day?

Right here in the Cairngorms with the Bird Watching and Wildlife Club and Wild Caledonia!

"The best day out ever," (according to guest David Donald) also included a lunch in a remote estate bothy and a nocturnal encounter with a Tawny Owl, on a long but unforgettable crusade for the 'Speyside Specialities'. Everyone involved said they wanted to come again - and you can come too!

We're offering this event again in on 19-20 June and 17-18 July, 2009. For more details and to join in the fun contact Wild Caledonia on 07887 883117.

There's definitely something in the air today. Call it the melted ice and snow, or possibly the skeins of Icelandic Greylag Geese who have suddenly departed the Strath, but either way, it's starting - just starting - to feel a bit like Spring.

The woods and forests are really coming alive with birds, and birdsong. Great Spotted Woodpeckers are busily drumming away in Anagach and it is noticeable over the last few days how many Common Toads have emerged from their winter hibernation. Is this related to the increased sightings of Barn Owls on the highland estate where I live?

Whatever, the reason, owls of all kinds are being seen more regularly, like the Tawny Owl I photographed on the way home from work, or the Short-eared Owl spied from my car on a day visit to RSPB Loch of Strathbeg before I had even parked my car!

With large numbers of Gannets already massing at Troup Head and roding Woodcock emerging from the woods at dusk, is it possible that Spring has sprung?