The Scottish Highlands
October TBA, 2011
$ TBA plus airfare
* Please see price note below

Join Robin Noble in the Highlands in spring, when the birds are at their best, or in autumn, as the bracken and birch leaves turn gold and the red deer are rutting in the hills. We explore the Caledonian Pine Forest and firths full of wildfowl while based on a splendid Victorian estate.

The Scottish Highlands are at their most romantic in late September and October, with autumn colours permeating the trees, mist lingering in the glens and stags roaring in the hills. We stay fifteen miles southwest of Inverness, based at Aigas Field Centre, a fine Victorian mansion built as a shooting lodge. Aigas has been Scotland's premier residential Field Centre since 1977, and is the family home of Sir John and Lady Lucy Lister-Kaye. They always make us feel most welcome here, and John delights in interpreting the origins of the landscape, geology and ancient history that are unique to Aigas, and that form a backdrop to his much-acclaimed book 'Song of the Rolling Earth'.

Aigas has a well-deserved reputation for comfort and excellent food, and its small estate includes mixed woodland, pine plantation and a most attractive loch. Guests are accommodated in spacious wooden lodges, where Pine Martens regularly visit windowsills and porches.

The lodge is the perfect base for exploring the Highlands. To the east are the deep inland firths where tens of thousands of wildfowl overwinter, while huge flocks of migratory waders congregate on the headlands and in the bays of Easter Ross and the Black Isle. To the west, the long glens run between the mountains and contain some of the most important and beautiful remnants of the Caledonian Pine Forest, with their rare and specialised, but sometimes elusive wildlife, which include Scottish Crossbills, Crested Tits and Capercaillie.

We will make one longer expedition to the west coast via Loch Maree, one of the most beautiful landscapes in Scotland. The deep fiord lochs of the west shelter wintering divers and wildfowl, while we hope for the possible sighting of a White-tailed Eagle. Another trip will be made into Strathspey and Insh Marshes, one of the largest wetlands in Europe, where amongst other wildfowl we should see large flocks of Whooper Swans and diving Goldeneye, and where Hen Harriers regularly hunt.

This trip is special - not just for what we may see, but for the friendly and homely atmosphere of the place we stay, for good home cooking, the crackling pine log fires in the evenings, the lovely walks round the gardens and the loch, for the taste of real Highland hospitality.

Accommodation: At Aigas Field Centre, as described above in twin en suite rooms. A very limited number of single rooms are available.

Principal Leader: Robin Noble

Numbers : Max. 14 clients

The price is per person and includes 7 nights' accommodation, meals from dinner on day 1 to breakfast on day 8, transport on the tour and Inverness/Aigas, admissions, and the services of the leader. The price does NOT include travel to and from Inverness, holiday insurance, drinks, and other items of a personal nature.

* Please note price is based on the pound sterling as of TBA and can fluctuate depending on the value of the U.S. Dollar to the pound sterling. The final price will be based on the exchange rate in effect at final billing, 90 days prior to departure.