The Birds of Aigas
The Highlands are a great place to look for birds, and Aigas is no different! As a keen birder, I’m never far from my pair of binoculars when on site, working or just having a wander around. We are blessed…
Tag bird watching
Searching for Roosting Treecreepers
When all had gone quiet on the Aigas estate, I decided to have a wander round our five giant sequoia trees (Sequoiadendron giganteum) that we have on site, originally planted by the Gordon-Oswalds who built the Victorian part of the…
The Keys to the Kingdom
The Kingdom Hide, our loch-side hide which was built by Johnny Kingdom in 2007, is the perfect place to spend an evening wildlife watching. Nicknamed the ‘beaver hide’, there is so much more to see than just the beavers. Myself…
Swift and Sure
Over the last few weeks, we at Aigas have been keeping an eye on a swift (apus apus) nest that is in the attic of the main house. We’ve been doing so via a webcam situated above the nest. We’ve…
An eventful morning at Aigas
The morning was expected to be like any other – I had all of my normal jobs to do (with the addition of sorting through a moth trap that I had set the night before), however, it was to turn…
Waking up with Coileach Dubh
Our Aigas guests will be familiar with what we call the Early Morning Run (EMR). At the beginning of the season, we offer guests the opportunity to visit a black grouse (Lyrurus tetrix) lek and otters (Lutra lutra) later in…
The dolphin, the dipper, and the ‘dunno’
Last month our Walking and Wildlife group had excellent views of bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) surfacing and later an adult dipper (Cinclus cinclus) which was teaching its fledgling to swim along a stream. Towards the end of the day, a…
Aigas Ranger Training: Part 2
Over the last week we have done a lot of walking, wandering through local straths, glens, farms, forests and along the shore discovering Scotland’s spectacular array of wildlife and delving into its great history. Day 1 On Monday we explored…
The Big Garden Bird Watch
This weekend RSPB held their annual Big Garden Birdwatch. A nationwide wildlife (primarily bird) survey that is participated by half a million people. This year we got involved. Undeterred by the rain, our ranger team spread out across the estate,…
Three mammals, three facts
The pine marten, otter and red squirrel are three of the UK’s most iconic mammal species, and at Aigas we are lucky enough to see them all regularly. Here are three things to know about our amazing fauna friends. Red…
Two days, five ospreys
Last week I was lucky enough to see two ospreys perching by the Aigas Loch. It was 6am and the loch was very peaceful, just myself and one of our guests. We were able to watch the ospreys gliding and…
