Heatherlea Bird Race 2025!
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For our annual Heatherlea staff party, we decided to mix things up this year and get out in the field as a team. The idea was born of the first ever Heatherlea Bird Race!
We split into two teams with Guides Mark, Ian and James at the helm for Team One – joined by Chef Arek, Operations Manager Jolene and Hotel Manager Lonnie.
Team Two was made up of Guides Holly and Aidan and joined by Head Chef Ettienne, Operations Coordinator Sarah, Head Housekeeper Marzena and Director Fleur.
Our Managing Director Emma was ruled as the judge and adjudicator.
The rules were simple – each team had a time limit of just 3 hours to find as many species as possible (any late returners would receive a time penalty!) At least four members of the team needed to have seen or heard it for a sighting to be counted, and the area we were allowed to cover was Strathspey only, meaning any trips to the coast for sea birds were out of bounds.
Weather conditions for the afternoon were overcast and cool as we set off. Both teams visited similar areas and yet somehow didn’t cross paths for the duration of the race! Team One had sightings of Crossbill,
Crested Tit and Great Spotted Woodpecker at the local woods, Dipper on the river, plus Pink-footed Geese on the wing over Boat of Garten.
Team Two spotted Red Grouse on the moor, Crossbill and Coal Tit along with an exceptionally confiding Red Squirrel (which sadly couldn’t be counted) in the woods in Grantown, Wigeon and Goosander on Loch Vaa and a large colony of Common Gulls by the roadside. As we started to lose light at around 4.30pm, the birds seemed to head off to bed and both teams struggled to spot any new species in the last hour. This didn’t stop everyone from trying though! Mark had his teaming stomping through a field behind his house in search of a Jack Snipe he had seen some days before and Aidan tried for a Barn Owl near Nethy Bridge, sadly to no avail.
No time penalties were incurred and all teams returned to the hotel by 5.30pm.
Heating back up by the fire at the Mountview Hotel, and amid much discussion of tactics and sightings, the results were counted and revealed. Team One won with a whopping 38 species to Team Twos count of 27. With what turned out to essentially be 2 hours of time in the field due to weather conditions and the waning light, the teams did phenomenally well to get the numbers of species seen!
The prize was of course the real reason we battled so hard for glory… a resplendent bird trophy, aptly kitted out in crystal binoculars. To round off the whole day we headed out for a team dinner, where guides were already busy plotting next year’s race. A wonderful day out to celebrate a year of hard work and many successful birding tours!