Programmes By Date - Aigas Field Centre

This was my second visit to the Aigas Field Centre. I attended Aigas Wildlife in June 2015, and although the weather wasn't the best I had a wonderful week and fell in love with the location and people. As a keen photographer I returned in July 2016 to participate in the Photography Masterclass with Scottish nature photographer Laurie Campbell. The Field Centre itself is gorgeous. Guests stay in log cabins, all with ensuite shower (some with baths), each cabin also has a communal living area. They are pretty basic, but warm and very comfortable and to be honest, you won't spend a whole lot of time there! Meals are served in the main house, in the vaulted dining room. The moto is "nothing's too much trouble" and Lady Lucy Lister-Kaye will amend the menus to suit any diet. The food was delicious. Porridge for breakfast, lunch generally in the field, afternoon tea and a three course dinner. The grounds include a wonderful small loch in which live a few beavers (not easy to see though), there are pine martens, local ospreys, badgers, birds and insects. Guests can spend time in the Campbell Hide watching the pine martens or in the beaver hide which overlooks the loch so there's the chance to see any of the animals who use it. I'd highly recommend rising early to experience the sunrise over the loch - it's stunning. All trips are conducted in comfortable minibuses with a knowledgeable ranger armed with a scope on hand to point out significant wildlife and much more. On both my visits we went to a number of gorgeous local glens, and on Aigas Wildlife there's a visit to the West Coast and to the Cromarty for the Ecoventures dolphin trip (also highly recommended). For those interested in photographing wildlife, the masterclass was inspiring. Laurie Campbell is a great teacher, and leads by example - he never stops looking for the perfect photograph. We had the chance to photograph mountain hares, red deer, pine martens, dolphins, otters, common toads, insects and fauna. It was a small group so there was plenty of one-to-one time. In summary it is a superb way to spend a week - you'll learn loads from the rangers, meet some lovely people and experience the most beautiful scenery.
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kfjmiller71

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kfjmiller71

This was my second visit to the Aigas Field Centre. I attended Aigas Wildlife in June 2015, and although the weather wasn't the best I had a wonderful week and fell in love with the location and people. As a keen photographer I returned in July 2016 to participate in the Photography Masterclass with Scottish nature photographer Laurie Campbell. The Field Centre itself is gorgeous. Guests stay in log cabins, all with ensuite shower (some with baths), each cabin also has a communal living area. They are pretty basic, but warm and very comfortable and to be honest, you won't spend a whole lot of time there! Meals are served in the main house, in the vaulted dining room. The moto is "nothing's too much trouble" and Lady Lucy Lister-Kaye will amend the menus to suit any diet. The food was delicious. Porridge for breakfast, lunch generally in the field, afternoon tea and a three course dinner. The grounds include a wonderful small loch in which live a few beavers (not easy to see though), there are pine martens, local ospreys, badgers, birds and insects. Guests can spend time in the Campbell Hide watching the pine martens or in the beaver hide which overlooks the loch so there's the chance to see any of the animals who use it. I'd highly recommend rising early to experience the sunrise over the loch - it's stunning. All trips are conducted in comfortable minibuses with a knowledgeable ranger armed with a scope on hand to point out significant wildlife and much more. On both my visits we went to a number of gorgeous local glens, and on Aigas Wildlife there's a visit to the West Coast and to the Cromarty for the Ecoventures dolphin trip (also highly recommended). For those interested in photographing wildlife, the masterclass was inspiring. Laurie Campbell is a great teacher, and leads by example - he never stops looking for the perfect photograph. We had the chance to photograph mountain hares, red deer, pine martens, dolphins, otters, common toads, insects and fauna. It was a small group so there was plenty of one-to-one time. In summary it is a superb way to spend a week - you'll learn loads from the rangers, meet some lovely people and experience the most beautiful scenery.
This was an exceptional week of fun, laughter, creativity and wildlife. Tutored by the outstanding Jay Griffiths (wild: an elemental journey; pip,pip etc) with additional teaching and talks from the owner and author John Lister-Kaye (song of the rolling earth, nature child). The wit, patience, knowledge and sheer genius of the tutors made this a fantastic learning experience without feeling a sense of pressure. The wildlife seen was exceptional with pine marten, bottlenose dolphins, red deer, red squirrel, golden eagles, otters, stone chat all seen along with the beavers on the loch which are part of an introduction experiment. They're busy creating habitat patches of fallen birch and adding to the structure of the ecosystem. The group was mixed with couples and singles, male female and a wide mix of ages. Al had one thing in common a desrire to write about the natural world, all succeeded in improving their skills. Brilliant!
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Mckeedi

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Mckeedi

This was an exceptional week of fun, laughter, creativity and wildlife. Tutored by the outstanding Jay Griffiths (wild: an elemental journey; pip,pip etc) with additional teaching and talks from the owner and author John Lister-Kaye (song of the rolling earth, nature child). The wit, patience, knowledge and sheer genius of the tutors made this a fantastic learning experience without feeling a sense of pressure. The wildlife seen was exceptional with pine marten, bottlenose dolphins, red deer, red squirrel, golden eagles, otters, stone chat all seen along with the beavers on the loch which are part of an introduction experiment. They're busy creating habitat patches of fallen birch and adding to the structure of the ecosystem. The group was mixed with couples and singles, male female and a wide mix of ages. Al had one thing in common a desrire to write about the natural world, all succeeded in improving their skills. Brilliant!
This was my 4th stay at Aigas. The garden still looked stunning,Lady Lucy must spend loads of time here. My favourite place is the little bench overlooking the pond. This time I had booked a week with Nick Baker. It proved to be an excellent choice, Nick is very enthusiastic, offers a different look on wildlife and is very, very knowledgable. We did some tracking which was very exciting, visited a badger sett and even did some rock pooling. Amazing what you can find and what he can tell you about all the different species! His knowledge about bugs really added to the programme. My favourite bit is always the hide visits, this time I managed to get pine martens on 6 out of 7 nights which was amazing. I watched the sunrise from the loch every morning, heard the owls and buzzards calling, saw the bats go into their roosting place, there is so much this place offers. My lodge was very comfortable, the weather very unlike Scotland, we had 4 dry, warm days! Add the excellent food, the staff, the rangers and the guests and I can really say I had the perfect holiday. And the best part of it? I left knowing I had already booked another week for 2014.
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Cora B

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Cora B

This was my 4th stay at Aigas. The garden still looked stunning,Lady Lucy must spend loads of time here. My favourite place is the little bench overlooking the pond. This time I had booked a week with Nick Baker. It proved to be an excellent choice, Nick is very enthusiastic, offers a different look on wildlife and is very, very knowledgable. We did some tracking which was very exciting, visited a badger sett and even did some rock pooling. Amazing what you can find and what he can tell you about all the different species! His knowledge about bugs really added to the programme. My favourite bit is always the hide visits, this time I managed to get pine martens on 6 out of 7 nights which was amazing. I watched the sunrise from the loch every morning, heard the owls and buzzards calling, saw the bats go into their roosting place, there is so much this place offers. My lodge was very comfortable, the weather very unlike Scotland, we had 4 dry, warm days! Add the excellent food, the staff, the rangers and the guests and I can really say I had the perfect holiday. And the best part of it? I left knowing I had already booked another week for 2014.