Birdwatching on the Black Isle can be rewarding at any time of year. We keep the bird feeders around the lodges stocked up, and we get lots of common species such as blue tits, chaffinches and robins – look out for siskins joining them, and if you are very lucky maybe a tree sparrow could be spotted which are scarce in the Highlands.
A spring walk in the forest around Flowerburn, Callachy Hill can be good for birdwatchers wanting to catch a glimpse of the crested tit. Early morning is best so that you can listen out for them singing. Mixed flocks of tits andfinches are often seen in the woods, and it is always worth checking these for cresties too. Another nice walk is the nearby Fairy Glen which is best accessed from the car park near Rosemarkie. The glen is good for dippers, and sometimes spotted flycatchers breed here. A walk along the beach at Rosemarkie is always worthwhile, looking for rock pipits, and divers, grebes and seaduck on the sea.
If you want to catch up with some of the other Highland specialities, Flowerburn is just over an hour’s drive away from Strathspey for a day out to RSPB Loch Garten Osprey Centre or a visit to RSPB Loch Ruthven to see breeding Slavonian grebes at their UK stronghold (this species only breeds in the UK within a 30 mile radius of Inverness!). The Osprey Centre is also open early mornings in the spring for the possibility of seeing capercaillie, and a walk around the native pinewoods there is good for spotting crested tits and crossbills.
Ospreys can also be seen closer to Flowerburn in the spring and summer around the Black Isle. For your best chance of seeing one, try visiting the RSPB hide at Udale Bay where ospreys hunt for flat fish in the shallow waters of the bay. This is also a good place to waders and ducks all year round, particularly in the winter when thousands of birds are in the bay, but there is always something to see here and it can be a good place in May / June to see passage migrant waders as well as local breeders.
The Black Isle is a fantastic place for red kites, we often get them passing over the surrounding farmland here at Flowerburn and there is regular daily feeding at the Tollie Red Kites centre near Dingwall but you can often see them just by driving the back roads around the Black Isle.
Spring and Autumn are peak times for the migration of thousands of pink-footed and Icelandic breeding greylag geese. The geese come from Iceland to Britain to spend the winter, and the Black Isle is a good place to see them. Depending on the weather conditions, there can be some really big flocks around feeding up before the long flightback to their breeding grounds.