Birding Ecosse
Based in the stunning coastal location of Moray in the Scottish Highlands, Birding Ecosse offers a great way to get outdoors and spot some of your favourite bird species. Offering an enjoyable and welcoming experience, soak up the stunning scenery, get chatting to your friendly and knowledgeable tour guide and learn a thing or two about the history of the local area along the way. Choose from a variety of tours on offer, including The Big Day Tour, Highland Birds, or The Moray Coast. You never know, you may spot species you never knew existed!
You’ll be picked up and dropped off at your accommodation, with all transport and guiding included, plus light refreshments throughout the day. All you need to bring is a tasty packed lunch and your sense of adventure.
Start/End Point: starting on the Moray coast and finishing in the Monadhliath mountains
Season/Months: year-round – winter is from October to April and summer is May to September
Location: Scottish Highlands (based in Moray)
Price: from £140
Length of Tour: day trips, mid-week breaks and long weekends
Highland Wildlife and Birdwatching Safaris
Located in the magnificent Cairngorms National Park, Highland Wildlife & Birdwatching Safaris is the perfect way for you and the family to explore the outdoors. They’re flexible with their tours, so choose from a 4-hour tour to a full-day tour. Have something specific in mind? They can customise a bespoke tour for you. Venture on a guided wildlife excursion with an experienced local nature watcher in a luxury 4X4 Land Rover Discovery to see a range of special birds and animals in the heart of this beautiful National Park.
The meeting point is Aviemore Train or Bus Station. If you're staying locally, pick up from your accommodation can be arranged. Make sure you bring a packed lunch and snacks for the day!
Start/end point: Aviemore, Cairngorms National Park
Season/months: open all year
Location: Aviemore
Price: varies on tour and number of people
Length of tour: 4 hours or full-day (12 hours)
The Shetland Isles
Head north to glorious Shetland where you can spend a week hopping around the islands on a birdwatching trip. Birdlife on Shetland is plentiful, and a boat trip out to the Isle of Mousa means you can see hundreds of European Storm Petrels, which return ashore to their nests as darkness falls. This is a trip to remember with options including coastal walks on the stunning St Ninian’s Isle, a bird watching cruise to Noss National Nature Reserve and visiting the Isle of Fetlar. Join your knowledgeable and experienced guide as you explore the remarkable archipelago of Shetland, with hundreds of fascinating sites, history, spectacular wildlife and a vibrant culture to uncover along the way.
The tour also includes your accommodation, transport, meals and transfers, so all the organisation and planning is done for you!
Start/end point: Sumburgh Hotel
Season/months: June
Location: Mainland Shetland
Price: £1,995
Length of tour: 7 nights
Heatherlea Birdwatching Trips
The Highlands are a vast and magnificent area of Scotland, and Strathspey definitely lives up to those qualities. Located just north of Aviemore, this corner of Scotland is perfect for birdwatching. Join a minibus day or multi-day tour with Heatherlea Birdwatching and you’ll be in the capable and experienced hands of their tour guides, who will show you all the wildlife gems that make the area so special and the best locations to spot them in.
Enjoy a pre-organised tour, or hire a guide to travel in your own transport to look for specific species or visit particular places.
Start/end point: all trips begin and end at The Mountview Hotel, Nethybridge
Season/months: open all year
Location: Strathspey
Price: varies on tour
Length of tour: day tours or week tours