Wildlife in Bloom

During August, The Highlands puts on its final floral display of the year as the moors and forest clearings come alive with purple flowering heather. This vibrant show of colour provides the perfect backdrop to photograph several wildlife species and an opportunity to capture them in their bright summer garb. Our target species will be Red Squirrel, Mountain Hare and Red Grouse amidst beautiful purple heather.

Our day will begin with red squirrels at a long-established feeding station in a pine forest setting, aiming to capture a range of images of these photogenic mammals running, jumping and posing amongst the heather. We will use a permanent wooden hide that is sunk into the ground to provide low level shots with colourful foregrounds and backgrounds. The squirrels (6 or more are typical) make regular visits to collect and feed on hazelnuts placed on photogenic stumps and logs. The light levels at this time of year should be good allowing you to use fast shutter speeds to capture high action shots of the squirrels running and jumping. The set-up can be arranged in advance to try to capture specific shots so if you have a picture in mind that you’d like to try to secure then I can arrange the set-up accordingly before your visit.

Following several hours of squirrel photography they'll be a break for lunch (approx.2 hours) before heading out onto the moors in search of Red Grouse. These denizens of the heather moors will have broods of chicks at this time of year and can often be found in family parties. We will work from the vehicle along a quiet stretch of road that bisects excellent grouse habitat looking for birds in close proximity for photography.

We’ll then move onto Mountain Hares to coincide with when the animals become more active in the late afternoon. This is a great time of the day as the low sunlight of evening really brings the hares and the heather to life. We will look for both adult hares and leverets, some of which will be well grown. These youngsters can sometime be very confiding allowing for cracking close-up images. Depending on conditions and the whereabouts of hares we can photograph from the vehicle uisng this as a mobile hide which can lead to some very close encounters. Alternatively, we may work on foot aiming to photograph the animals as they move around the moor and feed. Patience and a slow approach is often required to get close to the hares and so this is an ideal opportunity to improve your stalking skills. We’ll spend the late afternoon / early evening targetting hares, finsihing the session around 7pm.

Transport

Unfortunately, I am not able to provide transport to or from locations as part of this service.

Times

Typically 0800 until 1900 with approx 8 hours of photography in the field subject to weather conditions on the day.

Recommended Camera Gear

• Digital SLR camera body
• Telephoto lenses. 100-400mm range for squirrels. 500/600mm suitable for other species
• Solid tripod or monopod
• Bean bag for working from vehicle and / or hide

Other Recommended Gear

• Layered clothing - base layer, warm layer, waterproof jacket / overtrousers
• Summer hiking boots
• Insect repellent / midge net / thin gloves
• Food and drink

Price includes

• Full guiding service from meeting point (near Carrbridge)
• Photographic advice in the field
• Use of photographic hides

What’s not included

• Transport
• Meals / drinks
• Accommodation 
• Any other items of a personal nature