Since 17 December we have had about 6.5 ft of snow in Nethy Bridge. More than most of us in the village have ever seen, and certainly more than Heatherlea has experienced since we began running holidays in 1991. During our Mountview birding weeks we have spent a total of three days during all that [...]

Our 2010 brochure was posted late last week, and guess what? Some holidays are full, and we’ve already got some new ones coming out which missed the deadline. Always happens, the thing is going obsolete before we’ve even posted it. Frustrating, but what the heck.
One cracker recently offered which we really had to accept was [...]

Just back in the office after a thoroughly relaxing holiday in the Danube delta area of Romania. In my usual selfless manner I went along to experience the trip so that I could tell Heatherlea clients all about it, and enjoyed a really great time.
The houseboat part of the holiday is the most spectacular, and [...]

What a great day on Thursday (19 March) on our Highland Winter Birding holiday. We have been watching favoured waters here for some weeks, and finally got our reward - a lovely White-billed Diver! With over forty Great Northerns and a few Black-throats too, it was very much a day for divers, in varying plumages. [...]

The 2009 Heatherlea Birdrace began at 0630 hrs on Sunday 1 March, with three teams whizzing off in different directions to see how many birds they could find in a single day. Before the event, a score of 80 – 90 was considered to be a good target, and although this is a low total [...]

Wednesday 11 Feb
With thick snow still lying we spend most of the morning searching for Caper along local roads. Access is extremely difficult because of the snow making the search more limited. We don’t manage to locate any birds in these extreme conditions, but the forest is breathtaking with trees laden with snow, looking more [...]

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The Highland landscape is wonderful this week, the snow is deep and crisp, the forests are a frozen tableau, and clear, sunny days provide a calm and peaceful setting for our first holiday week of 2009. Wildlife, not surprisingly, is less active in sub-zero temperatures, but we know where to look, and our guests are [...]

Last & First Birds of the Year
The Last of the Old Year
We had two days local birding with stunning scenery in a frosty landscape before we bade farewell to 2008. With overnight temperatures falling to –15C and creeping up to about –4C by midday we didn’t venture too far from the relative warmth of [...]