Visiting the Abernethy forest in the Cairngorms national park which is home to some fascinating wildlife!

During a trip to the Cairngorms in February ‘25, one of the locations i visited was the small town of Nethy Bridge in the Strathspey area of the highlands. The Abernethy nature reserve holds some wonderful and rare wildlife including some species that are only seen in the Cairngorms such as Crested Tits - our first target!

After trying a couple of times to locate “cresties” at the RSPB reserve at Loch Garten - a place we have seen them twice before, we headed up to Nethy Bridge and a short walk into Dell Woods where a feeding station has been set up which is known to sometimes entice the Crested Tit down to feed. While we thought we had dodged the rain showers, we took a soaking on the way into the woods. There was sun, rain, rainbows, warmth and cold all within a few yards!

On the way into the woods I came across a common toad crossing the path, so a quick shot before it made it into the undergrowth on the other side! Once we located the bird feeding station and noting a nice abundance of woodland birds such as Blue tits, Great tits, Chaffinch and the odd Treecreeper, we stood and waited to see I a Crested tit would make an appearance. Luckily we did not have to wait too long!

A Crested Tit is a smart looking bird but a picture of one of a bird feeder is nothing great, I wanted to try capture natural looking shots with them on natural perches. I tried to conceal myself just behind a nearby tree and amazingly, a ‘Crestie’ seemed to come check me out! Landing in a tree close by for just a couple of seconds but just long enough for me to quickly grab a couple of shots!

Next on the agenda was Dipper. I had noticed while heading or the Crested Tits that the river Nethy had some nice fast flowing parts with large rocks sticking out - prime Dipper territory! They like to feed in the fast flowing waters, dipping under the water and picking off any invertebrates that come there way or hiding among the river bed. It didn’t take too long until one was spotted and after trying to get low down to the water edge to find a composition, another Dipper joined it! Surely a breeding pair getting ready for nesting season!

I was playing around with my settings, slowing the shutter speed right down to try and capture the motion of the water while trying to keep the bird in sharp focus - not easy when they are constantly bobbing up and down! I did not have a tripod so I wedged myself as best as I could against a tree and hand held at 1/15th of a second. Id love to have another go and try get a close portrait shot.

Another very rare bird we were hoping to spot was the Capercaillie, the worlds largest species of Grouse. These formidable Turkey sized birds roam the woodlands here but their numbers have plummeted to near extinction. It is advised that people do not go looking for them and risk disturbing them between April and August while the breeding season is active. Sadly a lot of dog walkers seem offended to be asked to keep their pets on a lead and bounding dogs just add to the many problems Capercaillies face.

Despite the size of a Capercaillie, they are extremely rare to spot. And indeed, despite a good walk around the forest for a few hours, we saw and heard no clues of any nearby. We did have another item on the agenda however in the form of an old abandoned car in the Boat of Garten woods. It took a little bit of finding but eventually there it was! An Opel Olympia from 1949, thought to be abandoned by foresters in the 50’s. It is literally in the middle of the trees, nowhere near any roads. A remarkable and intriguing sight and that had to be photographed! It was a shame not to find a Capercaillie but not surprising. Hopefully another chance will present itself before it is too late…

The Abernethy forest is vast and i only scratched the surface. There are plenty of other rare and wonderful species of wildlife here too that I would love to encounter and have a chance to photograph. It is home to 2 endemic species - the Scottish Crossbill, and the Scottish Wildcat. Whilst we did manage to see a group of Common Crossbill, the rarer Scottish species will have to wait until another time…

Abernethy

Tropical World