Fishing Ospreys
Any visit to Speyside is not complete without time spent filming Ospreys as they catch trout in the numerous lochs. It is almost impossible to determine where they are going to fish and even if you guess which loch they will visit they are going to be a long way off your camera so the image you obtain will be quite small. There is a way around this but it may cost you more than one hundred pounds per day – two places stock trout in smaller lochs with permanent hides especially for the Osprey photographer.All this weeks photos were taken at one such place in Aviemore and in my view it was money well spent – there is no better experience than having an Osprey dive into the water less than thirty feet away and then rise holding an enormous trout. www.facebook.com/gordonyateswildlife
There is little doubt that the best place to see Red Squirrels is the Caledonian pine forests of Speyside. They are found in virtually every forest and thankfully do not have to compete with the more dominant Grey Squirrels. If you are going to visit Speyside then make sure you have a pocketful of Hazel nuts and you will soon bring Red Squirrels within camera range. www.facebook.com/gordonyateswildlife
No trip to Speyside is complete without time spent with its Ospreys – either when they are catching fish or better still when they are at their nest.One of the most magical days I have ever spent with wildlife was when I was in a hide overlooking the nest of a pair of Ospreys.I spent ten hours in the hide, twenty foot off the ground, and in that time the male brought fish an incredible nine times. The excitement generated when he arrived with his fish was hard to describe and I do not know who was more excited me or the female Osprey!! www.facebook.com/gordonyateswildlife
No trip to Speyside would be complete without time spent in the forests filming Crested Tits. They will readily come to feed on a bag of peanuts and the more severe the weather all the better for your photos. However, make sure you go before mid March because in most years by then Crested Tits thoughts turn to breeding and they head deep into the forests and are hard to find. www.facebook.com/gordonyateswildlife
If you are going to visit Speyside in winter then in addition to Ptarmigan you have to go in search of Mountain Hares. The good news is that you do not have to scale Cairngorm mountain to find the Hares, in fact a better option is the Findhorn valley, where you do not have to have crampons on your boots to reach your target. All this weeks photos were taken on my last visit to the Findhorn valley where, after a two hour trek, I came across an incredible twenty six Hares in the snow! Do I need to go again? Of course I do! www.facebook.com/gordonyateswildlife
In previous years the early part of the year has seen us heading up the slopes of Cairngorm in search of Ptarmigan. When the Funicular Railway was working it was relatively easy to reach the summit and I was once stood on top before 10.00am!! Those days are long gone with the railway out of action together with my injured knee! It is still the best place in Scotland to film Ptarmigan but beware – in winter the summit of Cairngorm is covered in ice and you will need crampons attached to your boots to avoid sliding down the mountain. I once slid twenty foot, together with the camera, and thought I had come away unscathed until I noticed later that the front element of my 300mm lens was chipped, effectively reducing its value by more than a grand! Photos from my last successful trip are in the Gallery. www.facebook.com/gordonyateswildlife