Autumn in Scotland 2025

This autumn Bob and I returned to the Highands, two years after our last trip to the area. With his son Matt and fiancée Emily now living there, it was a great opportunity to see them, enjoy some wildlife watching and spend time out in nature. The weather forecast for our time away was less than ideal, but we were determined to make the most of our visit, even if that meant wearing waterproofs most days!

We stayed in two different self-catered accommodation in the Aigas Valley near where Matt and Emily live, on the west side of Loch Ness. It was lovely staying somewhere new and very picturesque, especially during the autumn. The only downside about the holiday was that I managed to hurt my back the day before leaving. It was very frustrating, but I didn't want it to ruin the holiday, so I tried to focus more on enjoying the experience of where we were and not worrying too much about the photography. That being said, I did use my camera on the first morning as a little test.

On that first day, and on two subsequent days, we explored Glen Affric. It looked beautiful with the autumn colours (top and below). On every visit, we stopped at Dog Falls, where the picturesque River Affric tumbles and cascades over the rocks. For a stretch, a path runs alongside it, providing us with plenty of opportunities to stop and look out for any Dippers. As luck would have it, I did spot one very early on. It flew across the river to the far side and proceeded to bob up and down, periodically diping its head into the water looking for food. It was wonderful to have some time watching it, and keeping up with it as it worked its way down river. But eventually, it flew off and we lost sight of it. Unfortunately, it was to be our only Dipper sighting the whole time we were in these parts and none of the photos were worth keeping.

Unfortunately, my back was worse after that first morning, so I refrained from using the camera for the rest of the week. Occasionally, I'd borrow Bob's camera if I felt particularly inspired or I'd simply use my phone. The plan was to walk up some mountains in the second week, so it was important to not strain my back as much as possible before then. It would be so disappointing if I couldn't manage to photograph the Mountain Hares and Ptarmigan, which we both wanted to see so much.

The first place we stayed was a fabulous cottage overlooking the River Beauly (which originates from the River Affric). When we arrived, there was a freshly baked loaf of bread to welcome us - a lovely touch! It was our favourite of the three places we stayed and I'm sure we'll be staying there again in the future. We ate our meals overlooking this wonderful view each day, and one day the late afternoon sun cast a soft warm light over the valley. It was beautiful.

After a few days of cloudier weather, it was lovely to see the sunshine. After our day out, we walked down to the river just below our cottage and enjoyed the stillness and lovely reflections.

It was great being able to spend some evenings during our stay with Matt and Emily. He also had a day off whilst we were there, so he took us to a fabulous remote spot, Strathconon. Located in the Highlands north of where we were staying, we went there to look for birds of prey. We were lucky enough to see a couple of Golden Eagles high up overhead and later, further on, a White Tailed Eagle too.

The following day, we drove to Dores so we could visit Loch Ness.

Aside from taking the obligatory photos of the loch, we walked along the beach and enjoyed a nice long woodland walk at Tor Point. There were several fungi to see and try to identify - with varying degrees of success! The Yellow Staghorn was one of my favourites.

From Dores, we followed the road south along the east side of Loch Ness towards Falls of Foyers. We parked the car there and walked down to the waterfall. It was somewhat disappointing, with a distinct lack of water plummeting from its heights. This was the furthest I'd driven along this side, so I was glad we ventured further. The road travelled inland, and higher, the further south we went. Eventually, it brought us to the Suidhe Viewpoint, which I'd heard was one worth stopping for. This stop didn't disappoint.

To one side of the road was this stunning rugged landscape. Using my binoculars, I was able to spot some Red Deer roaming the slopes. However, our walk took us in the other direction.

There was a path for us to follow, heading west. The other people ahead of us stopped at the first lookout overlooking Loch Tarff and didn't venture any further. We decided to keep walking and I'm so glad we did, as it was worth the effort. The view was stunning. This photo doesn't really do it justice because the sun was facing us and I only used my phone.

Loch Tarff is about 300m above sea level. Beyond the loch and the dark mountains the other side of it was Loch Ness. However, you can't see it because it's a 250m-drop down below.

Bob took this one of me sitting at Suidhe Viewpoint.

The following day we enjoyed visiting the Aigas Field Centre, which Emily was able to arrange for us (she used to work there). Two very knowledgable guides showed us around and talked about the running of the centre and the history behind it. One of the highlights was being able to see a Wildcat from a hide that overlooked an enclosure. The centre is part of a breeding programme to help boost the wild population, which is great news since there are so few pure Wildcats left in the wild. Some estimates suggest the number is between 100 and 300, but others  think it could be less than 50, because of hybridization with domestic cats.

The male we saw (below) is no longer a part of that programme as he's too old. However, he did a good job acting as ambassador for the species, giving us wonderful opportunities to see it move about.

Since the weather was wet mostly, we ended up spending the majority of the day sitting in a hide watching birds and mammals. We were wearing plenty of layers, had our lunch with us and hot drinks to keep us warm, we were pretty comfortable and happy. I decided it was a good opportunity to use my camera again, whilst sitting down, and see how my back would manage. As it was, not too badly.  Funnily enough, when I was busy photographing the wildlife I didn't notice any pain or discomfort. That came later! But, it was worth it. I loved our day in the hide.

Aside from the usual birds coming in to the feeders, such as Coal Tits, Blue Tits, Great Tits and Chaffinch, we also saw a Siskin and Great Spotted Woodpecker. I was particularly thrilled to see this Bank Vole, scurrying around under the feeders, darting off at the slightest hint of a predator.

Of course, it was the Red Squirrels I was eager to see and they didn't disappoint. We didn't have to wait long before the first one appeared on top of the dry stone wall. It reappeared regularly along with two others. This one was a juvenile (no ear tufts).

One time, I spotted another maturer squirrel - you can see the longer ear tufts clearly - as it scampered down a thin branch further away. There's something about this photo I really love. It's the drooping branches and the lichen covering some of them, which creates a really unusual scene.

There's definitely a hierarchy amongst the squirrels and the older one (right) was often chasing off the younger ones. The tree next to our hide was a popular one for this. They moved with lightening speed up, down and around the tree. Then all of a sudden they stopped. Quickly, I took a few photos before they disappeared from view again. Another time, I was lucky enough to capture the action on video, when two were on a tree a little further away from the hide.

Whilst it was raining where we were that day, it was snowing higher up. On the following afternoon, we were able to see the snow-capped mountains above Glen Affric whilst enjoying a lovely walk on the south side. We had cloud, rain and sunshine and as a result, we saw lots of rainbows. This became a bit of a theme for our holiday.

By this stage in our trip we'd moved to our second accommodation, still in the same general area, but it was a bijou log cabin nestled in a woodland in a quiet remote spot. It was lovely, though a little cramped with all our belongings. The main draw for me was the hope of seeing a Pine Marten, and when we had arrived, we set up our camera traps just in case any wildlife came near.

On the Saturday evening, at the end of our first week, we enjoyed a delicious curry in Inverness with Matt and Emily for his birthday. After dropping them home, we headed back to where we were staying, driving along a narrow winding country road. Suddenly, we spotted a Badger crossing the road right in front of us (a safe distance away). It was a welcome sight that made us both smile.

Later, when we were both fast asleep, in the middle of the night we were both woken by the sound of tiny feet scampering outside. I really hoped it was a Pine Marten. Bob and I lay there quietly listening, really excited about the possibility. It went silent for a short while and then we heard movement again. Bob thought it might even have been a Badger. It was difficult to tell. You can imagine our excitement the next morning when we retrieved the memory cards from the cameras. I put the first one into my laptop and eagerly we opened the files that had caught something on camera. It was a domestic cat! We were so disappointed!

On our final day in this area, we visited the impressive Rogie Falls.

One of the highlights of the day was at the start of the walk, when we spotted a mixed flock of birds right beside the path. There were mainly Coal Tits and Chaffinch busy feeding in the trees, not bothered by us in the least. A few Coal Tits came really close to us, which was amazing. They were eating these rather bizarre looking yellow galls that were sticking up off the leaves. If I hadn't stopped to photograph the birds, I doubt I would have noticed the galls.

Since it was yet another dull and wet day on and off, we crossed over the bridge and decided the best thing to do was take a walk in the forest. We could look for fungi and whatever else we could see. The highlight in terms of the fungi was the Orange Peel Fungus that we spotted quite near the end of the walk. It's the best example of this specific species I've seen before, so I was quite pleased with the find.

I saw more rainbows during this two-week holiday than I've probably seen over the last 20 years! We even saw some complete ones, though they were difficult to photograph.

From the Aigas Valley we headed east to Braemar, on the east side of Cairngorms National Park. But, before we reached our final self-catering accommodation, we detoured to Findhorn Valley, a place I've visited now several times. It used to be a good area to see Mountain Hares, but sadly not so much any more. Undeterred, we wanted to give it a shot. The familiarity of the place made life a bit easier as we knew what to expect. Perhaps a little surprisingly, we spotted someone already up on the slopes on one side of the valley when we arrived. So, we decided to give them space and head up on the other side.

This was my first big test for my back, carrying my camera again and as little else as possible. Just some food for lunch. Taking it nice and slowly was the aim for me, and that seemed to work. It was also necessary as we had to keep looking all around to see if there were any long ears twitching or sticking up. Sadly, we weren't having any luck. In fact, we hardly saw any wildlife at all. We did manage to spot two groups of Red Deer on another slope. They're so nervous of humans, despite the fact we were far away, they all ran in the opposite direction, which wasn't surprising!

After a lunch stop and four hours of searching, we were feeling rather despondent. The person on the other side had left by the time we reached the bottom and we could have given up by then. It was about 3pm and I had wanted to be on the road heading east by then. But, I had the sneaky suspicion the other side might be worth a look. After all, the other person looked as though they'd found at least one hare, if not more. I made the suggestion of trying it and Bob was really pleased because he wanted to look too. I think he hadn't suggested it, in case I wasn't feeling up to it.

So, despite feeling a bit weary and it being quite late in the afternoon, we ventured up. It was just as well we did, as we finally spotted a Mountain Hare. It was nestled in amongst the heather, hunkered down low. The grass was making it difficult to get a clear view of it, but we managed to move around into a better position to take some lovely photographs. We were thrilled, especially as we were able to leave it exactly where we'd found it. If we didn't find any others, we could possibly return this hare again.

But, as luck would have it, we walked over a ridge and on the other side we saw another, even more amenable hare. It was aware of our presence the whole time. At first, it seemed a little restless and it moved a bit, but not far away. But then after a while, it settled down and started to preen itself for quite some time, a sure sign it was not feeling threatened. It was lovely to watch, especially that moment when it suddenly has a shake. I managed to film it, but it wasn't easy keeping the camera still, so apologies for the camera shake!

That final hour made all the difference to our day and we both thoroughly enjoyed it. The only downside was we left Findhorn much later than planned, and were driving to our next accommodation in Braemar in the dark. That meant we couldn't enjoy the lovely drive through the mountains that I'd been looking forward to. But, we'll do it another time, I'm sure.

Our final self-catering cabin was much more modern and reasonably well equipped and spacious, though we did keep hitting our head on the sloped ceiling in the bedroom! But aside from that, it met our needs well and was our base for exploring Glenshee for our last two days. Not only were we hoping to see more Mountain Hares, but also Ptarmigan. We'd last visited the area two years before, virtually to the day, with some pretty horrendous weather back then (Autumn Tour of Scotland: Part 2). It was marginally better this time around, but still quite windy, cloudy and a few wet spells on the first day.

Having survived the previous day without too much trouble with my back, I was semi-optimistic about tackling Glenshee, which was higher - over 900m. However, the walk would be steeper. Any hopes I'd had about taking the ski lift up vanished when we arrived as it wasn't operating. It was too windy. So, once more, I had to take it nice and slowly walk up. It was a tougher walk, but not too bad. Certainly spotting some hares on the way up helped me take my mind off my back and give me a welcome break. The first one I saw hiding amongst the rocks. It takes a while to get your eye in. See if you can spot the hare!

Once we reached the top, we spent more time exploring the leeward side of the peak. I was sure the wildlife would want to be sheltered from the wind as much as I did. We started seeing more hares pretty quickly, but they were also seeing us and running off in the opposite direction. They certainly were more skittish than the two we'd seen the previous day. But Glenshee is a popular walking area in the summer, and ski resort in the winter, so the wildlife must be more wary.

One time I tried to approach a hare on my own, whilst Bob held back. I took it slowly, but all the same, the hare ran away, going up the hill several metres. But then something unexpected happened, it started hopping back down the slope closer towards me. When it stopped, we looked at each other. It was a lovely moment. You can see how it's gradually moulting into its white winter pelage.

Even in this stage when they're mid way through their moult, the hares are still so well camoflaged against the rocks. But when the snow covers the whole landscape, any hares that haven't fullen moulted will stand out and be at risk from the predators that patrol the skies above.

Whilst we were seeing plenty of hares, the Ptarmigan were more elusive. We spent most of our time exploring all the rocky areas, as that would be their hiding spot. But, they were so good at hiding, we didn't usually see them before they heard or saw us coming. That day we only saw one, as its head popped up above the line of rocks. It was a fleeting glance before it took flight and disappeared out of sight. It was disappointing and frustrating. As careful and as quiet as we tried to be, we didn't have succes with them. Oh well! Perhaps we'd have better luck the following day.

The next day, our final full day in Scotland, we had the usual mix of sunshine, rain and rainbows we'd become accustomed to on this trip. For me, the real bonus was the fact the wind had died down, which meant the chairlift was working and taking people up the mountain. After two long days traipsing up mountains, I was eager to take advantage of it. I wanted to make more of the time looking for the wildlife, than walking uphill again. I wouldn't have minded so much if I'd been at full fitness.

As we slowly ascended the mountain in relative luxury, it was interesting to notice where we'd been walking the day before. It looked quite steep, though it hadn't felt like it at the time. Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera at the ready whilst sitting on the lift. We saw a hare sitting right out in the open below us. It would have made quite a nice photo.

Once more, we patrolled the leeward side of the mountain and started seeing the hares fairly quickly, hunkering down when the rain came. But the showers were mostly short lived and followed by sunshine. We were just walking across a set of rocks to approach a hare, when we unintentionally disturbed two Ptarmigan. This time we saw roughly where they landed, so it would give us a better opportunity to find them again.

Thankfully, not only did we find them, but they didn't immediately fly off again. We had a wonderful 20 minutes or so watching them as they sat down in the heather. We stayed in view of them and ever so gradually edged a little closer.

Eventually, when they were ready, they stood up. One started eating for a bit.

Just like the Mountain Hares, the Ptarmigan were starting to moult into their white winter plumage. I'm yet to see a pure white one, but one day I hope to see that, though with the snow, it makes it even harder to spot them.

Shortly afterwards, they flew off and we didn't have another good opportunity to photograph them again.

By this time, we were ready to have something to eat. We stopped to have our lunch at the top of an area of rocks overlooking the valley. There appeared to be quite a few hares hiding amongst these rocks and some scarpered soon after we turned up. However, there was one I spotted that stayed put. Later, when we walked down lower, we also saw a Red Grouse hiding behind a rock near the hare.

After lunch, the hares became our focus once more, since we'd lost sight of the Ptarmigan. There were quite a few in close proximity to each other. In fact, there were three quite close together all showing different stages of moulting. The one on the left has barely started to change colour, and the one closest to it was part way through the moult. But just to the left of them was a third one, almost entirely white.

While I was photographing them and edging a bit closer, Bob patiently waited higher up at first and then started to explore a little around where he was. Unbeknown to him, the two Ptarmigan had been hiding in the rocks nearby, and one flew off when he came close. He tried to spot the second one, but without success. Once I rejoined him, he told me what had happened and together we walked slowly around trying to find the one hiding in the rocks still. We almost missed seeing it, because it was so well camouflaged, but eventually we did.

By then we were ready to call it a day and head back down the mountain. It had been a wonderful day exploring and we were so pleased we'd had better luck with the Ptarmigan. With our goal accomplished we could leave Scotland happy.

The next day we had the long drive south, as far as WWT Martin Mere - our usual mid-way stop. But, before embarking on that journey, we decided to take advantage of the nice sunny morning and enjoy a walk along the river just outside Braemar. It was a very scenic spot near the old stone bridge and we were eager to see if we could spot some Dippers, having not seen any since the first day.

Finally we were lucky! We saw at least 3 Dippers over several hours. I even saw two flying together at one time, which was wonderful to see and they both briefly landed on posts on the other side of the river. Sadly, I struggled to get a decent close up photo of any of them, but was happy to see these lovely birds. I also saw a Kingfisher fly up into a tree, but I didn't have my camera with me at that point. With Red Grouse calling out on the hills nearby, tucked away in the Heather, some Red Deer grazing on another slope above us, and a Golden Eagle fly-by once, we really enjoyed our final morning before leaving.

We allowed some time to explore Martin Mere the following day and ended up staying longer than anticipated. It certainly was more appealing than being stuck in traffic. Just like during the rest of our trip, the weather was a bit mixed, but brightened up for a while towards the latter part of the day.

I was pleased to have a nice view of a Cattle Egret and a couple of Kestrels perched on the post really close to our hide, which was lovely.  There were Marsh Harriers flying overhead and we even saw a Bittern in the rain, walking into the reeds. No one in the hide had even noticed it crossing the field from one area of reeds to the other. It was only at the last moment we spotted it. Probably the most frustrating part of that day was seeing a Stoat moving about near the gates a short distance in front of the hide. I saw it, which was wonderful, but I didn't have a seat/window spot to photograph it at that stage, so it's just a fleeting memory. Bob missed seeing it altogether, which was a real shame. Hopefully next time we're there we'll have more luck with the Stoat.

Despite having a bad back for most of the holiday, I didn't want to let it ruin things for our time up in Scotland. Even though I took far fewer photos, which actually was a good thing as it meant fewer photos to sort afterwards, I was still able to enjoy all our wonderful walks and admire the picturesque scenery, do some bird watching and take it easy. After all, it was a holiday! Taking it more slowly in the first half of the week certainly meant I was able to do more towards the end of the trip and our three days up the mountains looking for Mountain Hares and Ptarmigan were fabulous! I guess it's not everyone's idea of a holiday, but for Bob and I, we were in our element and loving every minute of it. We always have a wonderful time in Scotland and I know it won't be long before we'll be back up there again. Already, I'm looking forward to when that might be!

To see my favourite photos from the trip click here.