I'm up here in the Highlands for the best part of a fortnight, as is happily often the case at this time of year, for kind of a double-header based here at the Grant Arms hotel in Grantown-on-Spey: firstly for the hotel's Seaduck Week, and then for our School of Birding (more of that follow).
So, Seaduck week - I think my sixth or seventh? - is a themed birding week with an emphasis on, well, take a shot.... which is just fine with me, being infatuated with them generally, and spoiled for them up here on the Moray coast - it's no accident that I've spent much of my downtime basically sat next to displaying Eiders and Long-tailed Ducks for hours on end, which is effectively peak mindfulness as far as I'm concerned.
To kick off the week I gave a talk about Seaducks of Britain and Europe, followed by a couple of coastal excursions for our guests (along with others led by local guides). It's been a mixed few days weather-wise, with sleety showers, plunging temperatures and strong winds from the north - not ideal for observing purposes, but perfect for creating dramatic skies (and it is Northern Scotland in November, after all).
And it's been excellent, as always up here. Great views, and numbers, of Velvet and Common Scoters, Common Eiders, Long-tailed Ducks, plus Red-breasted Mergansers, Slavonian Grebes, Red-throated, Black-throated and Great Northern Divers, plus lots of gulls, auks, waders and more to enjoy on the coast.
If I'm honest, the aforementioned sessions alongside displaying and often comically hormonal (and vociferous) Long-tailed Ducks and Eiders is a singular joy that would pull me up here anyway, and so to share such things and much more with guests is a privilege. It's been a fine few days which will continue over the weekend, when the weathr is due to settle - watch this space for more.
