SBBO Spring Birding Holiday to Scotland 2027
This is an exciting week-long holiday to the Scottish Highlands and a number of excellent coastal habitats looking for birds and mammals. We should enjoy some wonderful scenery, excellent accommodation and good food throughout.
Ticket Price: £1495 plus Train Fare (expected to be c£325-£395pp) based on sharing in a twin or double room. Single supplement £150 (TICKETS WILL BE AVAILABLE FROM 15TH APRIL 2026 - see SBBOT Box Office in right column)
Payment Information : a deposit of £350 is required now to book your place.
Note- there are limited places and so please book early to avoid disappointment. The balance will be due no later than eight weeks before i.e, before 5th March 2027.
Please note deposits and train fares are non refundable unless the trip is cancelled by SBBO. Bookings will be exclusive to SBBO members until 30th June 2026.
Start and Finish times will be included in the pre-tour information letter.
PLANNED ITINERARY
Day 1 Friday 30th April 2027
We begin our adventure meeting at Kings Cross Station London at 6pm where we can have dinner before boarding the overnight sleeper train to Inverness mid evening. The train should depart at 9.10pm (tbc). We aim to secure a variety of cabins so that we all have a comfortable overnight journey.
PLEASE NOTE: there is usually a great deal of demand for Sleeper Cabins on this train and so we shall need to book by the end of April/ early May 2026. As such, we shall request payment for the train fares as soon as we have secured our reservation (expected to be by the end of April / first week in May 2026)
Day 2 Saturday 1st May 2027
We should awake to beautiful moorland scenery with fast flowing streams. We eat breakfast on the train before arriving at around 08.45 am. After collecting our large minibus, we meet our local guide for a day exploring a number of estuaries, nature reserves and rocky coastlands. Our guide will have a second minibus and so we will spread out for extra comfort! Our targets for the day will be sea ducks and divers including Eider, Long- tailed Duck, Red- breasted Merganser, Common and Velvet Scoter and Red-throated and Great Northern Diver. We should hopefully encounter a number of wading birds, Hooded Crow, Osprey and Red Kite as well as a colony of Tree Sparrows! Red Squirrel are often seen at one of the reserves. Please bring your RSPB membership card if you have one. We end our day at the Banff Springs Hotel where we stay one night for DB&B.
Day 2 Sunday 2nd May 2027
An early start with breakfast before we make the short drive to McDuff Harbour where we meet our Skipper with his boat for a morning boat trip (weather permitting). We should have an excellent chance of seeing Puffin, Black Guillemot, Razorbill, Guillemot, Shag and lots of sea ducks and Divers in their spring breeding plumage. If we are lucky we may see one or two White-billed Divers. Rock Pipits are common here. After returning we eat lunch and then start our journey south towards the highlands. We will stop at one or two sites on the way to look for Moorland species which may include breeding Common Gull, Oystercatcher, Cuckoo, Curlew, Golden Plover and possible Red Grouse. Later that afternoon we should arrive at our hotel; the famous Grant Arms in Granton-on-Spey for a five night stay. We will have time to check-in and rest before our dinner in the evening. Each night we will do a sightings log and briefly for the next day.
Day 3 Monday 3rd May 2027
We start with an early breakfast before heading straight to one of the best sites for both Black and Red Grouse! We shall scan at this stop for a while and may also see Northern Wheatear, Curlew, Short-eared Owl, Cuckoo, Meadow Pipit and Hen Harrier. We continue to a remote loch amongst beautiful rolling moorland scenery and hope to see Black- throated Divers, Raven, Common Sandpipers, Red Grouse and Eurasian Teal and Goldeneye. Our plan is to spend the rest of the morning at the Fyndhorn Valley. This is remote and spectacular and we should have good chances of finding Golden Eagle, White-tailed Eagle, Red Kite, Dipper, Grey Wagtail, Northern Wheatear and Golden Plover. After lunch we make a short stop at a site for Dipper and Goosander as well as a very pleasant Tea shop! We will then head back to our hotel for a well earned rest before dinner.
Day 4 Tuesday 4th May 2027
After breakfast we drive to Loch Garten RSPB Reserve where we will spend the morning exploring and walking the various trails. We will check out the visitors centre and hopefully see more Red Squirrels. We should encounter Tree Pipit, Coal Tit, Cuckoo, Common Redstart, Siskin, Spotted Flycatcher and Crested Tit (with a little luck). We will also be looking for both Scottish and Common Crossbill. After our picnic lunch, we will head to a small private Nature Reserve where we hope to see Slavonian Grebes in their fine breeding plumage. There should be plenty of birds to look at here as we listen to the constant song of Willow Warblers. We return early at mid afternoon to our hotel for a break and then instead of dinner we will have High Tea! This is because we will be leaving early evening to drive to a Wildlife Hide which is exclusively for our group. Typically we will watch from 8pm -11pm and hope to see various mammals including Badger and with some luck a Pine Marten. Also Tawny Owls can be heard and sometimes be seen.
Day 5 Wednesday 5th May 2027
A return to the early breakfast! Then we drive directly to Aviemore to visit a small woodland reserve which has breeding Pied and Spotted Flycatchers and Tree Pipits. We shall walk the trails for an hour and if we are lucky we may come across a singing Wood Warbler. We will make a prompt departure and head directly up to Cairngorm Mountain keeping a look out for Mountain Hare on the way! Once parked we will scan the car park for Snow Buntings and then board the Funicular Train to the top ( tickets are included in the trip price). At the top there are two main viewing areas as well as an excellent cafe and restaurant! We will spend time here scanning for Ptarmigan, Ring Ouzel, Snow Buntings, Red Grouse and the occasionally Golden Eagle. If weather permits we may have an opportunity to join a Mountain Guide for a short walk to the summit where there is a chance of seeing Dotterel. This is a rocky and upward path and so for those who do not fancy it, you can enjoy the views from the nice warm cafe and restaurant! We return to our minibus early afternoon and then make a final excursion for the day to Loch Insh RSPB Reserve. Here we hope to see breeding Ospreys, along with various freshwater ducks, gulls and geese. We head back to our hotel for a rest and dinner.
Day 6 Thursday 6th May 2027
After breakfast we meet our local guide again with the extra minibus! We have an exciting day planned with a trip to the Black Isle. Our main targets will be Otter and Bottlenose Dolphins and with a small chance of other cetaceans like Minke Whale. We will also visit sites for returning waders and gulls - in some years White-winged Gulls are still present. If we have not yet connected with Crested Tit, we may make a short detour to a favoured site. This should be a fun day and will add several species not seen elsewhere on our holiday. We return late afternoon for our final dinner at the hotel.
Day 7 Friday 7th May 2027
After breakfast we check out and then drive a short way to a local forest to spend a couple of hours walking the beautiful trails. Here we have a chance to find any missing species such as Crossbills, Treecreeper, Siskin, Woodpeckers, Flycatchers etc. We will then start our journey north towards Inverness. We will aim stop at a few birding sites during the day depending on any species that we may have missed and of course take our usual lunch break!
We will arrive back at Inverness around 4.30 pm and return our Minibus, before making our way to a restaurant for a final dinner. We plan to board the sleeper Train at 7..30pm In time for the departure at 8.15pm (to be confirmed)
Please be aware that the precise itinerary on some days may change due to weather conditions and recent bird locations.
What is and isn’t included?
The cost of the trip includes all accommodation, dinners, bed and breakfast, guiding and transport throughout in a comfortable minibus, with the exception of dinner at Kings Cross before we board the train to start our holiday. Drinking water will be provided on the minibus. Please note that packed lunches are also included (typically a sandwich, snack bar, crisps and some fruit). We will always stop for a lunch break. As noted the trip price excludes the cost of the sleeper train tickets. Drinks with meals and all items of a personal nature are NOT included.