Sensational Cairngorms
You could spend all day in the Cairngorms and not see a single soul, but wildlife sightings will be many and varied
The wildlife sightings in this beautiful part of Scotland are many and varied, as Ed Hutchings finds to his delight
The Cairngorms National Park covers some 1,500 square miles and incorporates the Cairngorms massif, Britain’s largest mountain range and only sizeable plateau more than 2,500ft. It is the largest national park in Britain, more than twice the size of the Lake District, stretching from Aviemore in the north to the Angus Glens in the south and from Dalwhinnie in the west to Ballater and Royal Deeside in the east.
The park encompasses the highest landmass in
Britain – a broad mountain plateau, riven only by the deep valleys of the Lairig Ghru and Loch Avon, with an average altitude of more than a 1,000m and including five of the six highest summits in Britain. Indeed, there are more than 50 summits higher than 2,953ft in the park, as well as a quarter of Scotland’s native woodland and a quarter of Britain’s threatened species.
This wild mountain landscape of granite and heather has a subsub-Arctic climate and supports rare alpine tundra vegetation and high altitude bird species. Vegetation ranges from one of the largest tracts of ancient Caledonian pine and birch forest remaining in Scotland at Rothiemurchus, to su sub-Arctic tundra on the high plateau, where alpine flora such as Starry Saxifrage and the star-shaped pink flowers of Moss Campion peek out of the pink granite in the few months of summer that the ground is free of snow. Established in 2003, it was the second of two national parks established in Scotland, after Loch Lomond and The Trossachs in 2002.
Varied habitats
The vast majority of the national park is made up of the Grampian Mountains
– a massive upland area with diverse habitats, including forestry plantations, native coniferous woods, moorland and bog. It is important for breeding raptors such as Osprey, Hen Harrier, Merlin and Peregrine, as well as montane and forest species including Dotterel and Wood Sandpiper. Capercaillie, Black Grouse, Golden Eagle, Short- eared Owl and Scottish Crossbill are resident.
“Imagination is haunted by the swiftness of the creatures that live on the mountain – eagle and peregrine falcon, red deer and mountain hare. The reason for their swiftness is severely practical: food is so scarce up here that only those who can move swiftly over vast stretches of ground may hope to survive. The speed, the whorls and torrents of movement, are in plain fact the mountain’s own necessity. But their grace is not necessity.” Nan Shepherd, The Living Mountain (1977)
At the northern end of these mountains lies what is undoubtably the most renowned of all Caledonian forest within the park – Loch Garten and Abernethy Forest RSPB. Spring and summer holds nesting Osprey from April to August, as well as Crested Tit, Spotted Flycatcher, Redstart, Tree Pipit and crossbills. Views of lekking Capercaillie are possible from the Osprey Centre from April to mid-May.
On the loch, look out for Wigeon, Goldeneye and Common Sandpiper. In winter, Greylag and Pink-footed Geese roost on the loch, while Whooper Swan and various duck species are also found. Other notable wildlife includes Red Squirrel, Otter and Roe Deer, as well as a large variety of woodland plants and fungi. To the north, the Anagach Woods consist of a number of contiguous coniferous woodlands immediately adjacent to Grantown-onSpey. The woodlands are mainly naturally regenerated Scots Pine with Juniper over Bilberry, Cowberry and Heather. Small areas are predominantly birch species with occasional other broadleaves including Rowan and Aspen.
The woods contain significant areas of bog woodland, small areas of grassland and swamp with open water. They are situated on glacial landforms, creating an intricate small scale topography. Originally planted in 1766, plants raised from seed collected from the ancient Caledonian Forest remnant at Abernethy,
they self-seeded in the late 19th Century. The woods now closely resemble native pine woodland in character and support breeding Capercaillie and Crested Tit, while Scottish Crossbill is resident.
To the east lie the Cromdale Hills, a large upland block that straddles the boundary between the Grampian and Highland regions, supporting breeding waders and other upland birds. To their south- east, the Ladder Hills, a ridge of rolling moorlands with broad summits (some exceed 760 metres and are the most north- easterly of their altitude in Britain) to the north- east of the Cairngorms, support a wide range of breeding moorland species including Golden Plover, Dotterel, Dunlin and Raven.
Mountain animals and plants
They are a significant feeding area for raptors such as Golden Eagle, Hen Harrier, Merlin and Peregrine. Large populations of Red Grouse and Mountain Hare live on the hillsides alongside upland mammals including Roe and Red Deer. During winter, Snow Bunting can be seen at The Lecht, with Ptarmigan on the tops.
The lower slopes of dry heather heath are a particularly fine example of a nationally threatened semi-natural vegetation type. Higher up are mountain plants such as Chickweed Wintergreen, Dwarf Cornel, Bog Bilberry and Cloudberry. To the east, on the edge of the national park, Bluemill is a small area of moorland and acid grassland that supports a Common Gull colony.
To the south the Muir of Dinnet NNR consists of two large lochs and associated heath, woodland and mire habitats that exhibit a classic vegetational succession from open water to fen. These habitats support a diverse assemblage of breeding birds and some 80 species have been recorded breeding within the site.
The lochs are important refuges for passage and wintering wildfowl, particularly Icelandic Greylag Geese. This assemblage regularly includes species such as Mute Swan, Little and Great Crested Grebes, Water Rail, Spotted Crake and Sedge Warbler, along with Wigeon, Goldeneye and Goosander.
In addition, the lochs are also an important feeding site for Osprey, which nest elsewhere on Deeside. Woodland breeding birds include Capercaillie, Black Grouse, Sparrowhawk, Buzzard and Scottish Crossbill. Other migrants include Pink-footed Goose, Whooper Swan, Wigeon, Mallard and Goldeneye.
To the west, Coilacriech, a wooded valley side along the River Dee to the west of Ballater, comprises mainly self-sown coniferous forest of native stock with small open areas and scree. Further west, the Upper Deeside Plantations cover the valley sides with coniferous forest to the north of the River Dee at Braemar opposite the Ballochbuie Forest. Both sites hold Scottish Crossbill.
South-west of the Grampians, the Drumochter Hills include the rounded summits on either side of the Drumochter pass and several plateaus, which are divided by steep-sided stream gullies.
These hills are ornithologically important. This is largely a result of the site’s extensive lichen rich heath and other montane habitats, consisting of grassland and high altitude blanket mires, which provide suitable habitat for a number of Arctic species such as Ptarmigan, Dotterel and Snow Bunting, including upland species such as Wigeon, Golden Eagle, Golden Plover, Dunlin, Merlin, Peregrine and Ring Ouzel.
This combination of Arctic and upland species is found at few other localities in Britain. To the north lie the Monadhliath Mountains, a large area of high altitude plateau, with steep-sided gullies and large cliff fringed corries.
Species poor lochs punctuate the plateau, which supports continental and oceanic heaths rich in lichens. The mountains support a suite of breeding upland birds, including Red Grouse, several species of raptor, Golden Plover, Dotterel (a breeding population of national importance), Dunlin, Ring Ouzel, Stonechat, Wheatear, Dipper and Meadow Pipit.
To the east, the Insh Marshes RSPB form the largest single unit floodplain mire of the poor fen type in Britain – more than a thousand hectares of marshes, woodland, river and open water. They are also the most northerly, the site lying within the flat valley floor of the River Spey between Kincraig and Kingussie.
The reserve supports diverse breeding and wintering bird assemblages. Spring and summer brings wildfowl (including Wigeon and Goldeneye), Osprey, waders (Lapwing, Curlew, Snipe and Redshank), Wood Warbler, Redstart and Tree Pipit.
Wintering birds include Greylag Goose, Whooper Swan, Wigeon, Teal and other wildfowl, as well as Hen Harrier. Scottish Crossbill are resident. Other wildlife includes Black Darter along the Invertromie Trail, plus Northern Brown Argus. Look out for five species of orchid in Tromie Meadow, plus Roe Deer.
To the north, the principal stands of the remnant Caledonian Forest of Kinveachy lie southwest of Carrbridge on either side of the River Dulnain.
The stocking is irregular, with dense stands of mature woodland separated by open moorland with scattered trees. Broadleaved woodland, Juniper scrub, wet heathland and fen also occur within the extensive forest which supports a characteristic pinewood breeding bird assemblage, including Capercaillie, Crested Tit and Scottish Crossbill.
Breeding site
To the east, the small spring-fed
Loch Vaa, moderately rich in nutrients, is about 500m in diameter and surrounded by deciduous woodland and Scots Pine plantations. It is important as a breeding site for two nationally rare bird species – Goldeneye and Slavonian Grebe – though numbers of these may vary between years. Scottish Crossbill is resident in the woodlands.
The Cairngorms may well be Britain’s last wilderness. One may walk all day and see no one. May it long remain so.