Black Isle Birding
Welcome to Black Isle Birding, one of Scotland’s premier birding companies specialising in the Scottish Highlands, Aberdeenshire, Dumfries and Galloway, Islay, Shetland and the Western Isles. We offer you the following services:
- Accommodation at Cygnus House on a full-board basis using locally produced meat, fish and vegetables. Complimentary drinks and wine at the table
- Excellent location on the Black Isle overlooking the Cromarty Firth and Udale Bay
- No single room supplement at Cygnus House
- Wi-fi access in all rooms
- Visits to areas of the extreme north and islands for birds and other wildlife
- Complimentary travel by 9-seat minibus with individual seats and seatbelts
- Small group size with one leader
- One of Scotland’s top birding guides with up-to-date knowledge of where to find and show you the country’s birds
- Complimentary pick-up from Inverness Airport or Inverness railway station.
Flights to Inverness area available from Amsterdam, Belfast, Birmingham, Bristol, Dublin, London Heathrow, London Gatwick, London Luton and Manchester. If using Logan Air, many flights are via Manchester to Inverness.
Day trips, private tours and RSPB groups are also catered for. Please contact us for details.
Cygnus House, our base, is situated on the Black Isle, north of Inverness, the capital of the Highlands. Inverness has good air, rail and road connections with the rest of Britain and Ireland. When we collect you from the airport or railway station, we make the short journey across the Kessock Bridge and onto the rolling farmland and forests of the Black Isle to Cygnus House. This gives you a feel of the area and scenery and the idyllic surroundings where we live. Our home is located next to Udale Bay RSPB reserve and is surrounded by a variety of habitats including rough grassland, saltmarsh, woodland, farm land, estuarine mud and river and eco-friendly gardens. This combination of habitats ensures a healthy birdlife throughout the year. In the garden and adjacent area we have recorded over 158 species of bird to date, with the most unusual species being Snow and Greenland White-fronted Geese, American Wigeon, Eurasian Hobby, Common Quail, Glaucous and Little Gulls, Pomarine Skua, Red-rumped Swallow, Blue-headed Wagtail, Marsh Warbler, Hawfinch and the Northern races of Eurasian Bullfinch and Lesser Redpoll. From early April until the end of September, Ospreys regularly fly over the house to fish in the Cromarty Firth. Numerous bird feeders attract a variety of species throughout the year including Great Spotted Woodpecker, Tree Sparrow, Eurasian Siskin, tits, Brambling, Reed Bunting and Yellowhammer. The winter months bring Bohemian Waxwing, Fieldfare, Redwing and Mistle Thrush. Mammals using the garden on a regular basis include Pine Marten, Badger and Roe Deer
Our base is ideally situated for visiting the remote and beautiful counties of Caithness and Sutherland, Wester and Easter Ross, Speyside, Moray Firth coast and the mountains and forests of Cairngorm and Speyside.
Our Scottish programme also includes tours to the Western Isles, Caithness, Dumfries and Galloway, Islay, and Shetland, many of which can be combined with your stay at Cygnus House.
Holidays
Dumfries and Galloway with Northumberland pdf
Isle of Islay pdf
Scottish Highlands and Caithness pdf
Scottish Highlands – spring pdf
Scottish Highlands – autumn pdf
Shetland – autumn migration pdf
Western Isles – Springtime on the islands pdf
Western Isles – Autumn migrants on the edge of Europe pdf
