Monthly Report, January 2023

A month of two parts - firstly a gentle start to the new year (there must be some bonus to being retired!), followed by a return to the Cairngorms to revisit some old walks and to walk a bit of the Speyside Way.

Reporting Days: 31

Location: Mostly Oxford plus a few days in the Cairngorms

Miles Walked: 192

Miles Driven: 807

Gardens Tended: 2 (a little bit of labouring, plus frequent bird feeder refilling)

Photographs Taken: Hundreds (an awful lot of trees!)

Oxford-based

Cold, Clear & Flooded, Port Meadow, Oxford

RSPB Otmoor

London Day Trip

Old Oak, en route to BBOWT Sydlings Copse

The Windmill @ Great Haseley, Oxfordshire

Freezing Fog, Bury Knowle Park, Oxford

Just Freezing, Bury Knowle Park, Oxford

Revisiting Aviemore

I've lost track of number of times I've visited Aviemore. There were lots of family visits there in the 1970s,  there were several student-days visits in the 80s and more recently I visited every month in 2015 and several times since to photograph the annual sled dog races and to walk in the Rothiemurchus Estate and into the Lairig Ghru.  It has been about four years since I visited, so I decided to stop off in Aviemore for a few days en route to Shetland - stayed in my favourite wee hotel (The Rowan Tree) and did four walks - up into the Lairig Ghru from Loch an Eilein, up to the Ryvoan Bothy from Glenmore (both walks I've done many times before) and north from Aviemore to Boat of Garten and south to Kingussie along the Speyside Way.

Loch an Eilein, Rothiemurchus Estate

Ryvoan Pass, Glenmore Forest

On the Speyside Way, heading into Boat of Garten

Next Month

Having driven as far as Aviemore, it seemed like a good idea to head on to Aberdeen and get the boat up to Shetland - more on that next time, but it is safe to assume (not really a spoiler) that there will fewer trees in next months report and a lot more waves!