Loch Garten, Abernethy Forest

A pleasant drive up from Perth to the Cairngorns was rounded off by another exceptional scone at the 1896 Gallery in Boat of Garten.

From there we walked to the RSPB site at Boat of Garten to see the Ospreys. We were in luck, the two resident birds were flying around and perching on the nest and nearby trees seeing off intruder Ospreys who were trying to grab their best site.

Unfortunately the birds have not bred this early owing to an earlier intruding male destroying the clutch of three eggs in his attemp to gain dominance. He failed apparently, but it was too late for the resident pair to start again.

A lovely walk in and around the ancient Caledonian forest, so beautiful, but so fragile. This forest used to cover 70% of Scotland, now only 1% remains.

We didn't see any red squirrels at the centre, but caught glimpses of them in the canopy as we were walking. Lots of small birds on the feeders too.

This shot was taken on the way back to the car, in the quiet of the late afternoon. Despite there being lots of people at the centre we didn't see anyone else on the walk.