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LATEST news1 January HEATHERLEA BLOG The new Heatherlea blog is up and running, please travel to our home page and click the link. We will occasionally update this 'Latest News' page, but the blog gives more options and you can reply and ask questions too, so our efforts will mainly be there. Hope you like it! 18 December Great News from Kenya! Back in November 2007 we enjoyed a great holiday in Kenya, remembered as the 'White Hippo Adventure' by those who took part. During our visit to Lake Baringo, we met Julius and Cliff, two top-notch local birders who run a guiding service with all earnings going to their community. We were all struck by the ability of these two local experts, and the enthusiasm of the community for wildlife as a source of tourist income. We were surrounded by children, who knelt barefoot in the dusty scrub while Julius showed them the African Scops Owl in his battered field guide, to confirm the views they had enjoyed through Kevin's scope. What was missing though was optical equipment. Julius and Cliff had two pairs of broken bins, each with just a tiny part of one lens working.
12 December Have a great Christmas, see you in the New Year! A genuine and heartfelt Christmas wish and thank you to all our customers, not least those who have chosen Heatherlea for 2009 or are planning to do so. In these difficult times, we are working hard to ensure our holidays offer the same value next year as in those gone by, and our key team are already in place. Our excellent chefs Lee and Graeme will be here again, and familiar faces around the Lounge, Dining Room and Bar areas will be Tina, Fiona, Lucka and Christine. Long-serving (suffering!) Head Cook Margaret will be on hand early in the morning, and Amanda, Emma and Isabel will be keeping Kevin in order in the office. Caryl is already making jams and jellies, and also organising a refit of part of the public area. Our guides are picking their favourite holidays, and Ian, Jonny, John, Josef, Dave and Mike are all excited about next year's birding and wildlife prospects. Altogether there are over twenty of us in Scotland alone, here to help you enjoy a fantastic experience in the Highlands. Our forward bookings already guarantee that every week will be running, and we can't wait for our 19th great birding season to begin.
Heatherlea Christmas Party
27 November New holidays and special offers Two great new holidays from Heatherlea in 2009 are now available and already filling fast. Click the link on our home page to find out more! NATURAL HISTORY of NORTHERN SCOTLAND - another itinerary we have been promising for years, to see the birds, mammals, insects and flora of the Highlands in one great week. Many rarities and much sought-after species are included in our itinerary, please take a look.
12 September AA visits Mountview Hotel STRONG AA ENDORSEMENT FOR MOUNTVIEW HOTELEarly in September we received our regular visit from the AA Inspector. The Mountview passed with flying colours, both for Hotel accommodation and for good food. The official report says; 'This was a most enjoyable visit and obvious strengths include attentive service and genuine hospitality. The impressive merit score of 78% shows the hotel has the potential for a grade of three stars'. Our Restaurant food is confirmed yet again at ‘two rosette’ standard, a high grade enjoyed by very few places in Speyside. The same chefs cook for all our birdwatchers too! We take this independent assessment very seriously. Anyone can make claims for their accommodation and food, but VisitScotland and the AA are two senior bodies who assess Heatherlea in a proper, unbiased manner. This independent view from industry experts is worth a lot more, we suggest, than the opinion of the person offering the service. We have never met anyone who doesn’t care about these things when they arrive for their holiday! We are also pleased that our wildlife experience in the Heatherlea minibus has FOUR STARS from VisitScotland. All these standards are readily available to every holiday operator, so please compare Heatherlea to anyone, and let us know if you find a comparable holiday at a higher standard – we want to improve further. Two of our popular front of house team have retired after years of loyal and hard working service. We held a celebration BBQ party, with presentations and speeches, toasts were made and poetry was read. Morag wrote ‘How can I thank you for such a lovely party last night? It was a very happy evening and I very much appreciate all the work involved. I will remember my happy days with you all at The Mountview, and may you, the team, keep going together as you do have something special!’ Things continue as normal at Mountview, as we welcome back Lucka (wife of Heatherlea guide John Poyner) as Supervisor, and Renata after the birth of baby Emilia, to our enthusiastic and capable team. Morag and Renata are pictured here.
20 August ANOTHER GREAT BIRDFAIR, THANKS FOR COMING!
It was great to see so many of you at the recent British Birdwatching Fair in Rutland, thanks to all those who came to our stand for a chat. By Sunday afternoon we were very tired but very happy, thanks again for the many nice things that were said, and for booking so many holidays at the event. Kevin's talks again drew great crowds, and Heatherlea continue to contribute in more ways than one with sponsorship of the Lecture Marquee and by donating a holiday into the Birdfair Auction. This is a great fun event which does a lot of good for important conservation causes: we are delighted to support the British Birdwatching Fair!
13 August 2009 BROCHURE Our 2009 brochure is now available to download from our website. Packed full of new holidays and old favourites - visit the homepage to download a copy now! Use the enquiry form on this site to get more information, including a comprehensive EXTRA PACK for overseas and GO FURTHER! itineraries. We are always available on 01479 821248 - please just ring!
26 May Heatherlea Guide and his unusual house guests on BBC TV!
23 May 2008 Brochure time is here again! The Heatherlea Brochure for 2009 is packed full of new holidays. If anything takes your fancy, just contact us and we will give you the very latest detail. In the meantime, here are a few of the 'People Pictures' we have taken in the last month or so which might make it into the brochure, so you can see a little of what's in store here at Heatherlea!
18 April 2008 It's been a busy old spring so far here at Heatherlea, we have been birding Scotland since early February, and overseas we are in full swing too. Here are just a few of the wonders we have seen this year so far - our thanks to Heatherlea's guides for these images.
14 February 2008 Scotland with Heatherlea - what a cracking birding destination!
14 February 2008 Heatherlea Sponsors British Birdwatching Fair (again!) JOIN US 28 June - 5 July and help us to save endangered species! Heatherlea are once again proud to be a sponsor of the British Birdwatching Fair in 2008. We will again be sponsoring one of the Lecture Marquees, and hosting talks on each day - more details coming soon! As an extra way of helping, we are pleased to make a donation to the Birdfair of 10% from each holiday we sell for week commencing 28 June. This means that you can contribute to the efforts of the British Birdwatching Fair, and it won't cost you a penny! Heatherlea will fund the entire donation from your holiday price. Please take a look at our Eagles, Divers and Dotterel page for full details, the link is below. This year's 'good cause' is endangered species around the globe, and we are delighted to contribute in this way. So if you don't have anything else happening that week, why not join us? You will have a great holiday secure in the knowledge that you are also helping a very worthy cause.
22 January 2008 SCOTLAND and HEATHERLEA We have been incredibly busy over the last few weeks talking to many of you about holidays here in Scotland. Bookings are flooding in, and we thought it worth pointing out a few of the things we are saying to our guests; Heatherlea means tremendous quality and value - if you want to bird Scotland this is the way to do it! Just check our great holidays, look at our hotel and facilities, then get in touch by email or phone - your fantastic Scottish birding week is just minutes away!
6 January 2008 HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM HEATHERLEA
20 December SCOTLAND - number one for British Birders Scotland is the number one birding destination for British birders, and Heatherlea have more birding holidays here than anyone else. Our guiding skills are legendary, and our own 3-star hotel is a fabulous base for a great holiday.
16 October Looking forward to YELLOWSTONE and GRAND TETON Checking around, it seems that many alternative itineraries don't explore the Grand Teton range the way this holiday does; it really is a dual holiday including the geothermics of Yellowstone AND the delights of the Teton range. Another key element is the visit to some key wildlife refuges very much away from the throngs of tourists encountered at major sites.
27 August Pine Martens on our 'Highlands and Mull' holiday Many of you join our 'Top 30' holiday in summer with Pine Marten high on your wish list, and this year I think we are right in saying that every single guest on every week has seen the animals. Because the martens have been so obliging, we have been able to extend our viewing into the next holiday 'Highlands and Mull' also. We are not charging a fee for this additional evening excursion, we prefer to add value to your holiday instead. These cracking pics were taken last Monday 20 August by Heatherlea guest David Blurton, to whom we send our thanks.
Pine martens tend to move around, and can easily desert a particular site. Their natural tendency as top predator is to move on, and even regularly baited sites can suddenly be without martens. Because we have local contacts where the martens are most populous in Scotland, we have been able to track them consistently all through 2007, and we are delighted to include Pine Marten watching for free in late August. You can book with us now for holidays in November 2007 and most months in 2008 beginning February to see these gorgeous creatures, just call us on 01479 821248 or visit our Scottish pages on this site for details.
22 August MIKE HAVING FUN IN THE HIGHLANDS ‘After a hugely successful Top 30 season, the new Highlands and Mull holiday began on Saturday 18th August, and within the first 3 days guests had seen close-up Parrot Crossbills destroying pine cones, both Red and Black-throated Divers and Slavonian Grebe in summer plumage, great prolonged views of Otter and Pine Marten and a final count of 8 WT Eagles and at least 6 Goldies in the clear blue skies overhead on the fabulous West coast. The piece de resistance was a trio of second-year Sea Eagles flying in a line about 100 feet above, giving the perfect view of their imposing shape and plumage details. With migration underway, the remaining days will be spent along the coasts looking at skuas and waders, and in our private estate enjoying autumn Capercaillie, which have proved to be very obliging of late.’
22 August JUST BACK FROM THE BIRDFAIR
Another great Birdfair, and we managed to speak to hundreds of you, not least at Kevin's talks which were attended by over 320 people. Our first year as sponsors of the Lecture Marquee was a great success, and we will be pleased to repeat this contribution next year. Our donation of a holiday with Heatherlea here in the Highlands again raised many bids, eventually producing the second highest amount to birdfair funds of any Lot in the auction. Thanks to everyone who took part. We also donated a holiday to Wild Scotland, and saw dozens of people collecting stamps at the various Scottish stands around the exhibition including our own. Congratulations to the winners! Another feature of the Birdfair is the wonderful range of exhibitors, and we chatted to friends from Trinidad and Costa Rica to Spain and Finland. A great experience! Above all it was lovely to see so many of you, our valued guests, our only regret being that the event was so busy we couldn't speak to everyone for as long as we wished. On the final day the heavens opened, though no-one was downhearted and the endless patience of the volunteer organisers was wonderful. Our special thanks to the young lady in pink wellies who gave us a push out of the mud at great personal cost - what a star! We love the Birdfair and can't wait till next year. We will have more holidays to show you and of course our famous homemade shortbreads and flapjacks once again. Next year we will have to bake more - they all disappeared very quickly this year!
5 July HEATHERLEA - A FOUR STAR WILDLIFE EXPERIENCE We believe strongly in meeting the highest standards, so were delighted recently to welcome VisitScotland, who wanted to grade a day out in the Heatherlea minibus. Here is what they said when awarding us FOUR STARS:
Quality, value and a very rewarding holiday.
23 June Where will YOU go birding in 2008? Our holidays are now in place for 2008, and we find more and more of you are booking well ahead. Here at The Mountview some exciting new itineraries are planned, and we will have more GO FURTHER! holiday extensions than ever before. New overseas holidays will take us to Spitsbergen, Ecuador/Galapagos, Estonia, Romania, Finland/White Russia and more.
19 June Minister visits Heatherlea We were delighted to welcome Mr Fergus Ewing, Minister for Community Safety in the Scottish Parliament and our local MSP, to the Mountview Hotel recently. Mr Ewing wanted to see Heatherlea for himself, and spent around an hour talking to Kevin and other members of staff, including Amanda, Johnny, Kirsty and John, seen here with the Minister.
Quality standards at Heatherlea HQ in Nethybridge Here at Heatherlea we are always pleased to support quality standards. Look through this website and you will find more evidence - we now offer our guests; * VisitScotland three stars for The Mountview Hotel here in Nethybridge, directly owned by Heatherlea. We also personally check other hotels, bird observatories, boat trip operators and individual guides employed in our holidays around Scotland. Heatherlea wiill continue to support the best available quality standards and pass the benefits to you our customer - please bear this in mind when planning your Scottish wildlife adventure. Holiday time is valuable and you deserve the best from your visit to Scotland - let Heatherlea help you plan a memorable trip!
4 May LONESOME GEORGE According to the Guinness Book of World Records 'Lonesome George', a native of Pinta, an isolated northern island of the Galápagos, is the ‘rarest living creature.’ By the late 1960s, it was noted that on this island visited only occasionally by scientists and fishermen, the tortoises had dwindled close to extinction. In 1972 only this single male of the species Geochelone abingdoni was found.
Lonesome George was immediately brought into captivity at the Charles Darwin Research Station on the island of Santa Cruz where he is housed with two female tortoises from a species found on the neighbouring island of Isabela. 25 April MOROCCO with Heatherlea What a great time we had, and with the Trip Report just coming out we thought you might like to see some of our holiday snaps. Some of the birding highlights included;
16 April CAMBERWELL BEAUTY in Nethybridge This delightful butterfly is a real rarity in central Northern Scotland, so imagine our excitement on Friday 13 April when one showed up in Nethybridge! Not much gets past our guides, and John Poyner spotted the deep violet wings with a distinct cream fringe at around 3pm. Within minutes Kevin was there, and although the butterfly disappeared around 3.25pm, Ian Ford saw it briefly the following morning. Quick thinking by John, and his photograph is becoming quite famous, featuring in local press and also on the BBC website! A brilliant addition to our list for Nethybridge! 11 April NEW! Self-catering in Scotland with Heatherlea A great new way to enjoy wildlife in Scotland - self-catering with Heatherlea! Our cottage is right next door to The Mountview Hotel, sleeps six and backing onto Scots Pinewoods is in the perfect place for you to enjoy the Highlands. You can set your own wildlife watching itinerary, or perhaps join Heatherlea for days in the field. If you want a special treat in the evenings, our two rosette restaurant is next door!
6 March Just back from the PYRENEES in WINTER! Well, someone has to do it! We had a great time, and Heatherlea guest Roger Collier has kindly sent this report to us today, due for publication in the Leigh Ornithological Society newsletter.
9 February JUST BACK FROM COSTA RICA! What a great time we had, nearly 400 tropical birds, mammals including 3 monkeys and 2 sloths, crocs, lizards and fabulous habitats from active volcano nights to days by the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. Do you want to see the wildlife of the fabulous mangrove mosaic which abuts the pristine Caribbean coastline? That's where this holiday has its climax after two fantastic weeks of easily accessible wildlife. Not strenuous in any way; optional early and late trips, breaks in the heat of midday, very good accommodation and food, the very best leadership - this could be yours next January! Click the Costa Rica link to see why this holiday is already filling for 2008. Here are a few pics hot off the press, taken by our client Wendy Hooson, who we thank for making them available to us. Most were taken on this holiday in 2007 - there really is a huge amount of wildlife to see!
12 December MAGICAL MULL! Everybody loves Mull, land of eagles and otters. Did you know that with Heatherlea you can see all the wildlife of Mull AND the Scottish Highlands in a single week? A very time-effective way of visiting Scotland and you save money too! See our holiday pages 'Spring into Scotland' and 'Highlands and Mull' for full details, but don't wait too long. These holidays are nearly full for 2007!
12 December Heatherlea - the Birder's choice in SCOTLAND! Heatherlea are birding Scotland all the time, that's one reason why our guests see so many birds every week. Last week we saw four male Capercaillie at close quarters, three Golden Eagles in the air together, two drake Surf Scoter, single Little Auk, Jack Snipe and all the other specialities. Oh yes, and two American Golden Plover, Lots of Parrot Crossbill, Crested Tit bathing in a puddle, six Great Northern Divers in summer plumage, Ptarmigan for both our standard group and also our 'Easy Walking' option guests, Little Stint, Black Guillemot, Red-necked Grebe, plus Minke Whale, Bottle-nosed and Risso's Dolphin and much more. Our Aberdeenshire group also added King Eider and more Surf Scoters. All this without 'twitching' or forgetting that your holiday also includes comfort, good food and lots of fun.
Our guests said ...... “First of all I want to say ‘Thank you very much to our guides and to all the hotel staff for giving us such a great time.’ We don’t have so much opportunity to go out bird watching, so it was a great privilege to be on this holiday. I saw 103 bird species, although I know that the group as a whole saw more. I know that it may seem strange to some here, but my highlight was the field of Golden Plovers, where we also saw the American Golden Plovers. They were magnificent!” K.C. “My highlight was finding the Crested Tit bathing in the puddle on the track so unexpectedly. Also the Parrot Crossbills that we saw today.” H.C. “The boat trip was really special with three Minke Whale sightings. All the effort to find the Ptarmigan eventually paid off, and today finding the Little Auk was a great excitement.” S.S. “I had 5 new ticks on this holiday, which were Crested Tit, American Golden Plover, Little Auk, Parrot Crossbill and Surf Scoter. I could not really pick a highlight. They were all so good.” D.S. “I had no real highlights. It was overall a very good holiday. I had three lifers, which were Jack Snipe, Surf Scoter and Little Auk.” J.S. “Thanks to our guides Ian and Jonny for another excellent week and for your patience. I don’t think I have very much to say, but my highlight was the puddle, where the Crested Tit was bathing, most especially when the Goldcrest came for a bathe and fluffed up his gold crest! The Parrot Crossbills today, and the walk for the Ptarmigan, - oh, the Minke Whales!” K.M. Ian Ford “For someone who had very little to say, you ended up saying quite a lot!” “For me seeing three Golden Eagles in the scope at the same time had to be my highlight. We had excellent views of Surf Scoter. On Thursday as we drove up the mountain on the west coast, the views back down were awe inspiring.” P.B. “This has been my third trip with Heatherlea, and this group has been the best company ever! The effort to see the Ptarmigan was really worth it. The Little Auk turning up was really brilliant.” J.T. “I am not a birder, so I was a little apprehensive before I came, but it has been an amazing experience, and I think I could get into this a lot more. The Bottle nosed Dolphins today was my highlight.” J.C. “It has been a great experience. I was really moved by the Ptarmigan on the ‘Easy Walking’ option; that here they were, living in this cold and hostile environment. The scenery has been stunning.” G.C. “Thank you everyone, including the guides, and all those people who shared their scopes with us, and for all your knowledge. I think the highlight for me were the Golden Eagles.” M.W. “I think this holiday has really highlighted to us how important it is to have really good optics. When you have a good scope, you don’t just see the bird, you are able to study it in detail, just as you can see it in the field guide. It was great to see so many of the Scottish specialities, and for me I really enjoyed searching out ‘The Lost World of the Ptarmigan’! J.W. “My highlights were the five Golden Eagles and the Ptarmigan without walking. I have had three lifers on this trip.” B.P. “Like Ken, my best highlight was the field of Golden Plover - the American Golden Plovers were a bonus. Another highlight was seeing the Ptarmigan, and then the spectacular drive round to Shieldaig.” P.L. “Watching ‘Crestie’ bathing in the puddle, the Great Northern Divers and sea ducks, the walks, the scenery, the Parrot Crossbills feeding in the sunshine was all heavenly.” S.D. “Like John, I like a good stretch of the legs from time to time, so I really appreciated the walk up for the Ptarmigan. I was also very impressed with seeing the size of the sea duck flocks. It was as good as going to the tropics!” P.D. Seeing Crested Tit in the puddle on Wednesday morning - the best views we have ever had of this very elusive species. Seeing and identifying Parrot Crossbills in the pine woods on Friday morning - again very good views and a "lifer" for both of us. We have both seen Common Crossbill and are not sure about the Scottish variety! MS and BS
17 October TURTLE DOVE in NETHYBRIDGE We usually have to travel a bit further for our rarities than .... Mike Coleman's back garden! Our intrepid guide woke one morning to find a Turtle Dove just sitting there. Not a rarity in British terms, but certainly a bird of note in the north of Scotland. Two of our groups enjoyed great views of this finely scalloped specimen before it disappeared. Mike now has both Great Grey Shrike and Turtle Dove on his garden list - a good birding spot!
13 October CAPERCAILLIE – the elusive ‘Horse of the Forest!’ Ask any birder to name one bird they want above all others in Scotland, and they will probably say 'Capercaillie'. This large, shy grouse is very difficult to see well unless you know what you are doing, yet here at Heatherlea we have been finding Capercaillie for people for years and years and years. Here are just a few of the photos taken from our trips, all from inside our minibuses. Let us be the first to say that these are not great photographs, but they give a real feel of the sightings we enjoy – close to the birds and unmistakeable views - available throughout the year. Relying on information in books and websites can often be disappointing. The birds change their habits and locations with the passing of the seasons, and bird hides up and down the country are full of stories of ‘missed’ Capercaillie. Here at Heatherlea you really do have a great chance of seeing the bird on any of our scheduled holidays from the Mountview here in Nethybridge. In 2006, we are again heading for over 90% success seeing Capercaillie so come to Heatherlea to see the Big Grouse!.
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18 September PO DELTA and VENICE A great week in the Po Delta and Venice, where we enjoyed four days birding (Caspian Tern, Pygmy Cormorant, Marsh Sandpiper) from the rural charm and comfort of our high quality hotel in the Po Delta, together with three full days in Venice, a magical experience. Ask for our trip report, and join us next year for a wonderful combination of birding and sightseeing - a really unique holiday!
Fantastic food at our hotel in Po Delta A trip on the Adriatic with friend Menotti
Off down the Canale Grande - watch out for that gondola!
31 August HEATHERLEA BURSARY IN BIOLOGICAL SCIENCE We are delighted to announce the creation of the Heatherlea Bursary in Biological Sciences at Lancaster University. Our initiative will help support someone in need of financial assistance to become a student in the Department during academic year 2006/7. Courses eligible for the Heatherlea Bursary are MSc Ecology & Environment, and MSc Science of the Environment. In return the University will endeavour to include a UK wildlife-based option in its curriculum for postgraduate study. Vice-Chancellor Paul Wellings said ‘It is through support such as yours that the University can continue to move from strength to strength’. Kevin Shaw of Heatherlea commented that ‘we are very pleased to make this small contribution to the cause of Environmental Science, and thank all our friends and supporters who choose Heatherlea for their holidays – it’s good to know we are putting something back into the environment!’
30 August Heatherlea raises £490 for Rutland Birdfair appeal The recent Rutland Birdfair auction raised just over £15,000 to help save the parrots of the Pacific. We are pleased to say that our own donation of a holiday in November this year raised £490, and we are delighted to make this contribution to the cause. Thanks to everyone who was good enough to bid for the holiday, we noticed a flurry of bidding as the closing time approached! If YOU would like to visit us in November, see below!
22 August Just back from the birdfair! Thanks to all of you who visited our stand at the Rutland birdfair. It was great to chat with so many hundreds of you, and our apologies to those we couldn't spend more time with - our stand was flooded with visitors for several hours each day. Please email or ring us on 01479 821248 if you would like more details of any holiday, we are here to help you.
All our 2007 holidays are now available on this website, and we came away from Rutland with lots of ideas for new holidays; - here is just one of them!
11 August Fabulous Summer Wildlife with Heatherlea Our Top 30 holiday is rightly renowned for the sheer range of birds and mammals it contains, and we are having a splendid time this year. Our Pine Martens are particularly co-operative, and whilst it can be painstakingly difficult to attract them into bait, the views make the effort worthwhile. Martens are notorious for 'moving on' to new sites, but here at Heatherlea we move on too, making your chances of seeing them the best possible.
This year Basking Sharks have been much more in evidence than in previous years, and we are seeing them virtually every week. If you want to read more, have a look at our trip report! Just click the link below.
29 June PICS FROM FINLAND Just back from leading our holiday in Finland, Heatherlea Guide Dave Pullan supplied us with some fantastic photos from the holiday. If you want to see the full trip report, just visit the Finland page and ask us. For now here are some very beautiful birds exactly as Heatherlea found them. Pygmy Owl, Tengmalm's Owl, Siberian Jay, Little Gull, Great Grey Owl, the landscape around Valtavaara and standing on the Finland - Russian Border, you could be here next summer!
11 May BILL ODDIE GOES BIRDING WITH HEATHERLEA We were delighted to welcome Bill Oddie to Heatherlea today, as a competition prize organised by visitScotland. Pictured outside The Mountview Hotel with lucky winners Rosie (aged 8) and Annie (aged 5), Kevin and Bill enjoyed local birding on moorland, in pinewoods, along the River Spey and at a couple of carefully chosen lochs.
We saw Black Grouse, Black-throated Diver, Slavonian Grebe, Osprey, Red Grouse, Kingfisher (a rarity here) and spent a long time watching Dippers trying to drive away a very big first-brood chick so they could nest again. Our sincere thanks to Bill for making the day extra special for the winners, and also to visitScotland for choosing Heatherlea to organise the day. Great fun and lots of laughs all round!
21 April SPRING IS HERE!
1 April Please compare us with any competitor and ask others about bus licencing before you choose your holiday provider. You might also like to check your personal insurance if you intend to book with an operator who uses private vehicles or unlicenced minibuses - you might not be covered! 24 March HEATHERLEA collects GREEN TOURISM award! All of us who love wildlife want to travel responsibly when on holiday, and Heatherlea are delighted to announce our membership of the Green Tourism Business Scheme. Our membership has been initially awarded at SILVER level, for measures we already have in place, and we will be working hard to achieve the ultimate GOLD level of award. Measures in effect here at The Mountview Hotel which impressed ‘Green Tourism’ include;
If you join Heatherlea here at The Mountview Hotel, you can be secure in the knowledge that you are doing your bit for the environment whilst on holiday – go green, go Heatherlea! As the Green Tourism organisation says…… ‘You can be sure that if you visit or stay with one of our members you will not only receive high quality service, but you will also be making a valuable contribution towards improving the environment……As a consumer, ultimately it is you that makes the difference by choosing businesses that are committed to you and the environment, and we hope that in choosing a Green Tourism Business Scheme Member you will pass on your experience to others and encourage them to do likewise.’ The Green Tourism Business Scheme (www.green-business.co.uk). Our 'GREEN GRADING AWARD' notes the following; 'Wildlife and Landscape - Excellent, Best practice'. 17 MARCH MORE NEWS FROM FINLAND! 'Dear Kevin, Here is further info regarding Owls: OULU 11 March One Ural Owl hooting One sighting of Short-eared Owl, 12 March 3 GGO´s and two Ural owls, one Eagle Owl and one Tengmalm´s Owl hooting, One sighting of GGO, Hawk Owl and two sightings of Long-eared Owls, 13 March 4 Ural Owls and 2 Tengmalm´s Owls hooting, Harri Taavetti saw 7 different Hawk Owls and two Great Grey Owls last weekend with a British group! KUUSAMO 13 March - Pine Grosbeak 1. Looks still very promising!' Come and join us for a feast of Finnish birds in June!
DAVE PULLAN A very warm welcome goes out from Heatherlea to new guide Dave, joining
us in 2006. Although guiding around the world for over ten years, Dave lives
in Nethybridge, so when we heard he was available we were pleased to welcome
him to Scotland's premier guiding team. In 2006 Dave will be joining us
in Czech Republic and leading in Finland, so take advantage of Dave's exceptional
birding knowledge on those holidays.
11 February NEW HOLIDAY - 'The LAST and FIRST Birds of the Year' Many of you ask if we can do something special over the New Year holiday, so here it is. We ran this holiday for the first time over the New Year just past, it was a great success, and we are repeating the fun in 2006/7. Beginning on Friday 29 December, and lasting a full week, you can add Black Grouse, Capercaillie, Crested Tit, Scottish Crossbill and (weather permitting!) Ptarmigan to both your 2006 and 2007 lists, plus winter birds and rarities at the Moray coast. You will also be with us over a Highland Hogmanay, and we often have snow in the village to give a real traditional feel to the occasion. If you fancy a very different birding New Year, don't delay- this holiday is already filling.
6 February Just back from our CAMARGUE holiday, where highlights included * Eagle Owl in full view in the half-light, looking right
down our telescope! Kevin and John enjoyed the birds, Amanda came with us and enjoyed the Black Bulls, White Horses, Coypu and above all the herd of Wild Boar we saw running across the reserve - adults, babies and a huge Boar to the rear! Greater Flamingo in their hundreds also met with her approval. You can request our trip report for this holiday by clicking
CONTACT US above. We found the birding so good that we will be extending
this holiday for a couple of days next year. Key European species in a
wonderful setting - a great trip!
8 November 'TOP 20' AUTUMN WILDLIFE WITH HEATHERLEA Black Grouse are active at lekking sites as they sort out the pecking order in advance of next spring's mating season, and Capercaillie are showing at our private estate. At the Moray Coast we are now seeing all three scoter species including both male and female Surf Scoter, and many hundreds of Long-tailed Duck. All three divers are in, and a day sea watching is very rewarding at this time of year. Our 'Top Thirty' holiday takes us west, where we have baited sites for both eagle species, and the birds are reliable at the moment. Pine Marten are also reliable and showing well, and Otter are giving prolonged good views at favoured locations. Autumn in Scotland? Surely difficult to beat anywhere in the UK! If you fancy something different for the New Year, please see our brand new 'First and Last Birds of the Year' holiday below. Limited spaces available.
28 October EAGLE-EYED HEATHERLEA GROUP FINDS MISSING SEA EAGLE In September this year one of our groups was treated to extremely good views of a young Sea Eagle, close enough indeed to identify the wing tag. We contacted the RSPB, and were delighted to hear back from them recently. Apparently the bird was a fostered chick from poisoned parents, reared in 2002. Officers had been looking for the bird for a long time without success, and were coming to the reluctant conclusion that it had died before we spotted it. Our find confirms the bird is healthy, and monitoring can now continue. Thanks to everyone on the holiday who helped. 15 October SCOTTISH HOLIDAY NEWS Our plans for Heatherlea here in Scotland for 2006 include another new minibus, internet access for guests (not sorted yet, but soon we hope), optional upgrade to meals in our two-rosette restaurant and much more. Please visit often, we will keep updating this page and many others! 24 September SEPTEMBER BIRDING AT HEATHERLEA ARCHIVE - SOME NEWS FROM THE PAST! New Minibus We are always investing to give you the best, and in March took delivery of a very smart, brand new Ford minibus. We hold a Bus Operator’s Licence and all our guides in Scotland are advanced drivers. For comfort and safety in the field you can’t beat Heatherlea. Mountview Hotel wins second AA Rosette for food Regular Heatherlea guests know all about the quality of food here at The Mountview, and in March we were absolutely delighted to be awarded a second rosette from the AA. The Inspector recognised our continued improvement, and also said ‘mention should also be made of the hospitality, which was sincere, warm and friendly at all times’. Our extra rosette doesn’t mean changes in the Heatherlea kitchen! We still serve the traditional food you love, with a distinct taste of Scotland. Firm favourites still include venison, haggis, salmon, pork, beef and imaginative vegetarian dishes. We won’t be increasing our prices to reflect our second rosette either; the only thing going up as a result of this award is Heatherlea value! NEW! Blackcock Stout is an award-winning Scottish beer, available from May 2005 only at Heatherlea. This rich, dark beer complements our ever popular Old Henry and Ptarmigan Lager favourites. Cheers! New feeding station In March the first part of our new wildlife feeding station was installed, and we will add lots more over the coming months. With special attractions for woodpeckers and red squirrels, and seed and nut feeders everywhere, we are already noticing a huge increase in wildlife through our grounds. The new station can be watched directly from our front door, and even through the windows of our dining room. We expect this brand new attraction to be very busy over the coming months and years!
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Kevin - hard at work Emma McBride
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