Mountain Hares in the Scottich Highlands

It was on my list for a long time to Photograph Mountain Hares or Snow Hares in general. When I saw some pictures on the internet I checked flight availability to Scotland and start investigating where best to photograph. I fast discovered that the area is quite big and with the time limitation I had (only 2 full days) I needed to make sure I will not waste to much time while searching if I at least want to have a chance to bring some pictures home.

The solution was to get a guide which will show me good spot to photograph and I fast found a person who offered Mountain Hares Guiding.

So was flying over on the afternoon - got a rental car - was going over to my pre-booked Guesthouse what was superb by the way - so friendly nice people and premium breakfast offering which was freshly made for me on the time I could choose!!! It was quite funny as I was chatting with the owners of the Guesthouse in the morning about the reason of my visit they instantly gave me a good tip where to photograph Mountain Hares and this was exactly the same area I met the guide later on. We climbed up the Mountain and already from a distance we saw some other photographers grouped around something. Yes the first Mountain Hare and maybe the most photographed Mountain Hare of this Area.

We searched for our own Mountain hares and it was a pure pleasure to photograph these amazing creatures in there habitat. The weather on this day was still ok cold enough some light and the snow was still nice what I was worried about due to the weather forecast I was following the days before. The weather forecast for the next day was very bad - rain and a big jump in temperature what of course will cause that the remaining snow will melt away. I stayed up the mountain until the last light was fading away and the hope for a sunset or at least some minutes of sun was not full filled but that is life as all nature photographers know.

The next day started as forecast - rain and nearly no light due to the low hanging clouds! I still decided to climb up the mountain and this time the luck was on my side - the weather turned much better than forecast - the rain stopped after 1-2 hours and even the clouds offered from time to time a hole that enabled the sun to peak trough. Yes the temperatures where to hot and you nearly could see the snow melting below your feeds but some parts still kept a bit of snow and for the other parts the vegetation got a chance to show.

So all in all a good mix of different light and habitat conditions and I stayed until the last light was gone before I was getting down the mountain and drove back to the Airport to catch the plane.

It was for sure a short trip and yes to short what I will adjust the next time I will go over but I enjoyed every minute.