Christine's walking & birds blog

I'd had an idea. I've always wanted to see a ptarmigan in its all-white plumage, but we aren't equipped for winter walking and in any case I was doubtful whether my knee would manage a whole hill. On both our ascents of Ben Wyvis we'd seen ptarmigan on the rocks at the 500-600m contour; if we could get up that far, I reckoned, we had a good chance of seeing one.

We checked the weather forecast for today, and it was fairly good. We had checked the snow-line last time we drove to Inverness, and it was just above the crags. So we set off, arriving at the car park at nine o'clock this morning. No other cars were there, and we set off in good spirits and in hopes of getting up to the ptarmigan spot before anyone else could disturb them.

Trouble was, while it had rained during the night in Ullapool, in the higher places snow had fallen. It was nice and crunchy however, and we climbed up through the plantations to the open moorland without too much trouble. Tracks in the snow were grouse - don't know which, though.


The blue sky was slowly blotted out by yellowish-grey clouds moving in from the east, and for a while we were bombarded by tiny white pellets of snow and sleet. Eventually the clouds moved on and we walked in sunshine. It was hard work climbing the zig-zag path towards the crags, but at last we approached the big rock where we sat and had lunch.


Just above the big rock is the area where we saw ptarmigan before - but there were none to be seen today. Below, a walker with two dogs stopped at the bottom of the zig-zags, rested for a while - and then turned and went back down. Good choice. It was no place for dogs. It was no place for us - or at least, higher up wasn't. The nice crunchy snow was beginning to give way to ice in places; and if we stood still for even a few minutes, the soles of our feet quickly grew cold even through thick socks and walking boots.

Reluctantly we set off down. This was the best part of the day, but no birds graced the lovely snowy scene with their presence.


Back down at the car park, we had a coffee while a red kite circled nearby. And on the way home we saw a raven carry a stick to a nest on the dam wall.


It was a good walk, a small adventure - but I still haven't seen a ptarmigan in its winter plumage!