On thursday, we ( Claire, Dave and I ) went up a great big hill in search of some high level stuff. Unfortunately, we missed our main quarry, which was Dotterel, but had a great day all the same. It was a lovely hot day, with barely a cloud in the sky, and the views were absolutely stunning. The long and reasonably arduous climb produced the mid level goodies, like Red grouse and Ring ouzel, and up on the top, despite the very small numbers of birds, we still got Raven, ( feeding young ), Golden plover, and, thanks to Claires eagle eyes, cracking views of a female Ptarmigan. The Ptarmigan, full of faith in its camouflage, sat tight while Claire got within a few yards, and posed for some great pictures.
We came down in time for a great lunch at the Hungry Highlander, in Braemar ( great food, crappy name!) and even got back to town in time for the England game!
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