The West Highland Line

You can really go to the west coast without doing the Fort William & Mallaig line which is regarded as one of the best rail routes in the world so as luck would have the day we booked was quite a bright day and fully sold out heading along side the main road for quite a bit with beautiful mountain and loch views on both sides before we go over the Glenfinnan Viaduct with a view over Loch Shiel and a brief stop at the station before carrying on to Mallaig a charming village port and a main ferry terminal to skye and beyond. You don't like in the village but being by the sea fish and chips was a well deserved option before heading back down the line.

Jacobite steam train

Some of the views

Loch Shiel

Train going through the land

Then to end the day headed to Neptune's staircase and had a nice walk along part of the Caledonian Canal with some wonderful mountain views a great way to end the day.

Caledonian Canal

 

 

The Black Isle

Back to the 2nd week of scotland where we had a charming Red Squirrel in the place where we where staying though in the rain then headed to the Black Isle first of all explored the lovely little village of Cromarty before a nice lunch in the Hotel in the village before a nice walk further down the coast at Rosemarkie in the Fairy Glen which is a nice little wooded glen walk with a few waterfalls some of the most impressive of the hoilday with a good number of birds with Dippers and Grey Wagtails collecting food for the young nearby and a few warblers with Chiff-chaff, Willow Warbler and Blackcap all around and a bonus Treecreeper feeding in the woods.

Red Squirrel feeding in Garden

Then walked along Rosemarkie beach by which point the sun had come out which was great to walk on the edge of the Moray Firth and watch the Gannets fishing and the odd Yellowhammer sing before we headed the day at Chanonry Point with the Dolphins showing well though so fast and with the Common, Sandwich and Artic Terns overheard and getting chased down by Greater and Artic Skua a wonderful end to the day.

Greywagtail by the waterfall

Treecreeper in the wood

Moray Firth along Rosemarkie beach

Artic Skua

Common Tern

Dolpins mainly showing their Fins

Sunset at Chanonry Point

Start of the summer butterflies

With the weather semi reasonable on thursday had a nice walk around Bricket Wood Common quite a few flowers around with a good group of Common Spotted Orchids in the middle of the Common and some nice water flowers in the pond. In the Wood had a Painted Lady and a rather big Hornet and most suprising was the Grey Wagtail feeding on the puddle in the woods. The main insect activity was on the common where had at least 6 Brimstones with one pair dancing along with Large Skippers and a few Meadow Browns and nice collection of Broad-bodied Chasers.

Common Spotted Orchid

Grasses on the common

Large Skipper

Brimstone Feeding

Broad-bodied Chaser

Orchid Fest

Went down to Aston Clinton Ragpits on sunday cloudy but not too windy and hundreds of orchid across the field mainly Chalk Fragrant-Orchids and Common Spotted Orchids but quite a few
Butterfly Orchards as well. Under the Reptile traps around the site had two Slow Worms (not together) and out in the main field a few Common Blues and Common Carpet Moths and quite a few Chafer Beetles of some kind.

Orchid Fields

Chalk Fragrant-Orchids

 

Common Spotted Orchid

Butterfly Orchid

Common Blue Butterfly

Slow Worm

Chafer Beetle

Loch Laggan and the Nevis Range

Another fine day up in the highland on the last day of the first week we headed to Loch Laggan with a lovely walk around the western shore with some beautiful and the biggest herd to date of Red Deer with at least 80 animals. Lots of birds around with a pair of Red-breasted Merganser out on one ofthe small lochs, Oystercatcher, Meadow Pipit, Lapwing and Common Sandpiper by the loch edge and in the woodland edge lots of Willow Warbler and a few tree Pipits singing in the trees and even a bonus Green Hairstreak by the carpark.

Views along by Loch Laggan

 

The Loch itself

Willow Warbler

Pair of Mergansers

Meadow Pipit

Then stopped at the Commando Momument area which is dedicated to the men of the original British Commando Forces raised during World War II and also gives great views of the nevis range.

The Nevis Range

The Commando Momument

Then headed up to the Nevis range where we went on the gondola up to Aonach Mor where we had lovely walk up to one of the viewpoints giving some great views of the area and even had the bonus of my first Wheatears of the year.

Gondolas

Views from Aonach Mor

Ben Nevis