Back to the beginning of the year
Just as the storm Malik arrives in Scotland and Northern England on 29th January 2022, I’m packing to leave for my yearly trip to Scotland. Heading up the east coast planing on stopping at Northumberland overnight.
Gusts of 60 to 70Kt (69 to 81mph) were recorded widely across stations in Scotland and north-east England. The highest gusts were 81Kt (93mph) at Brizlee Wood (Northumberland),
I was thinking of staying at Bamburgh Castle for the night, but with the second storm Corrie on it’s way I thought it would be better to find somewhere more sheltered. I opted for a campsite and sat out the storm.
The weather when I first got to Bamburgh castle wasn’t too bad and in-between the dark skies I managed a quick snap of the castle. It’s a brilliant place to photograph and I could easily of stayed a couple of days but the mountains were calling.
Bamburgh castle
The following day I headed for the Cairngorms, you could see the devastation from the storms, so many trees blown over and property damaged, very sad.
I would normally be wild camping and my first stop would have been my favorite place Findhorn Valley, where I go to see the Mountain Hares. Instead, I was staying with a good friend Simon Withyman, but with time on my hands, I decided to still pay it a visit.
There was a little sprinkle of snow and Max was getting excited, me too.
Max knows where we are going
The single track to the hares
The following day I set off to Findhorn again to find the Mountain Hares and was a bit shocked, there was very few hares around not just because of the lack of snow but very low numbers.
I climb to the top about 700mts and the views are amazing. It’s such a lovely place even without the snow. The snow will be back soon and so will I.
Views looking down to the Strathdearn valley
A new location for the hares and a big climb up, up and up 850mts some days I was knee high in snow. Now I know it doesn’t sound that bad, but I assure you it wasn’t easy. Check out some of the videos. It was taking me an hour and a half to get just to where the hares possibly were. There weren’t that many hares about and I was limited to time because of max, so finding them quickly wasn’t easy. I did manage to find a few.
The start of a 850 meters walk up the mountain
A couple of hares high up in the Cairngorms above Aviemore
I managed a few trips up in all weathers and only got to see a few hares. Some days it was so windy and no visibility making it very difficult. But the rewards make you forget the pain of getting there.
A windy day up the hill
Views on the way up to the hares
Weather conditions on the hill while searching for hares
I did visit Findhorn Valley again a couple of times, and was lucky to find a few hares while there. I had all sorts of weather, rain, snow and rainbows
It’s a lot easier walk to get to them. Sadly there wasn’t that much snow.
Findhorn Valley
While in the Cairngorms it’s always worthwhile photographing the Snow Buntings. The Snow Bunting is a sparrow-sized bird that breeds in the Arctic, and winters in the UK, with striking 'snowy' plumages.
These images of the Snow Buntings were taken in the Aviemore ski resort car park.
Next Stop the North West Coast