Cairngorm Birding ... Snow Bunting ... Scottish Crossbill ... lots of Goldeneye

Walking through the mist high up on the Cairngorm plateau not far from Ben Macdui and the sound of singing Snow Buntings came through the still air ... with visibility at around 100m there was nothing in sight ... then as the cloud cleared a little a male Snow Bunting cut a ghostly figure perched on a flat boulder and performing occasional low song flights ending in a little glide back down ...

... and just a moment later the air cleared to reveal this smart bird ...

... before more cloud piled in to close down visibility again ...

Goldeneye were present on almost all the water bodies we looked at ... the River Spey, small and large Lochs ...

... these young juveniles were on a small Loch who's water level was severely down ...

... and two adult females consorted regularly in a quiet spot along the shore of Loch Morlich where we stayed ...

... the all dark bills indicating non-breeding state ...

The low woodlands were teeming with Siskins and Crested Tits were widespread ...

In the Abernethy Forest in a small stand of scots pines a group of crossbills including adults and juveniles fed while constantly giving 'excitement calls ' ... largely hidden in the thick foliage they showed occasionally through the gaps ...

... the head shape was not the typical domed shape of Common Crossbill, rather the crown was flattish ...

... the bill shape was robust, rather elongated but not that of Parrot Crossbill ...

... the sonograms confirmed their identity as Scottish Crossbills ...