United Kingdom Ramsar wetland
Caithness and Sutherland Peatlands
36 bird species recorded; the most in June.
Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 by EOX IT Services GmbH (contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data), CC BY 4.0, with relief shading from Copernicus WorldDEM-30
This month here
0 species in January.1 species in February.2 species in March.11 species in April.15 species in May.24 species in June.10 species in July.6 species in August.4 species in September.7 species in October.1 species in November.0 species in December.
The birds you are most likely to see in the month you choose, those that come for the season first. It opens on today's month.
No records for this month.
No records for this month.
No records for this month.
No records for this month.
- Resident all year
- Summer visitor comes to breed
- Winter visitor comes for the winter
- Passage migrant in spring and autumn
In numbers
36 species, counted.
Our own rating, from the records only: species (50 points), threatened species (20), migrants (20) and protected status — Ramsar, IBA, SPA, observatory (10).
- 36Speciesrecorded more than once
- 15Migrantssummer, winter or passage visitors
- 0ThreatenedVulnerable, Endangered or Critically Endangered (IUCN)
- 333Recordsopen records within 6 km
- 267 mAltitudeabove the sea
- 6Raptors
- 7Waders
- 3Gulls & seabirds
- 5Ducks & geese
- 11Songbirds
- 4Other birds
From open records (eBird and others, through GBIF, licensed for any use). More birdwatchers mean more records: a quiet place may have more birds than it shows.
The checklist
All 36 species.
By group, with the year in twelve cells: the darker the cell, the more often the bird is recorded that month.
Raptors6 species
- OspreyPandion haliaetus
- Hen HarrierCircus cyaneus
- MerlinFalco columbarius
- White-tailed EagleHaliaeetus albicilla
- Common BuzzardButeo buteo
- Black KiteMilvus migrans
Waders7 species
- Common GreenshankTringa nebularia
- Common SnipeGallinago gallinago
- European Golden PloverPluvialis apricaria
- Eurasian CurlewNumenius arquataNT
- DunlinCalidris alpinaNT
- RedshankTringa totanus
- Common Ringed PloverCharadrius hiaticula
Gulls & seabirds3 species
- Black-throated DiverGavia arctica
- Red-throated LoonGavia stellata
- Common GullLarus canus
Ducks & geese5 species
- Eurasian TealAnas crecca
- Greylag GooseAnser anser
- Common ScoterMelanitta nigra
- Eurasian WigeonMareca penelope
- MallardAnas platyrhynchos
Songbirds11 species
- Common RedpollAcanthis flammea
- Spotted FlycatcherMuscicapa striata
- Song ThrushTurdus philomelos
- Northern RavenCorvus corax
- Meadow PipitAnthus pratensis
- Common Reed BuntingEmberiza schoeniclus
- European StonechatSaxicola rubicola
- Common crossbillLoxia curvirostra
- Sand MartinRiparia riparia
- Mistle ThrushTurdus viscivorus
- Barn swallowHirundo rustica
Other birds4 species
- Willow PtarmiganLagopus lagopus
- Black GrouseLyrurus tetrix
- Grey PartridgePerdix perdix
- PtarmiganLagopus muta
Monthly presence relative to all bird records that month, so a busy month does not inflate every species.
When to go
The most species in June.
Species recorded in each month, with the usual temperature and rain.
- Jan6°/3°101 mm
- Feb6°/3°79 mm
- Mar7°/3°75 mm
- Apr9°/5°60 mm
- May11°/7°73 mm
- Jun14°/9°75 mm
- Jul16°/11°88 mm
- Aug15°/11°102 mm
- Sep14°/10°90 mm
- Oct11°/8°117 mm
- Nov8°/6°101 mm
- Dec7°/4°99 mm
- Bar: species recorded that month.
- Temperature: average maximum / minimum (NASA, 1991–2020).
- Rain: monthly total.
The place
Caithness and Sutherland Peatlands.
Large area of blanket bog and peatland in northern Scotland, an important conservation area
Caithness and Sutherland Peatlands is a wetland of international importance (Ramsar) in United Kingdom, 267 m above the sea.
36 bird species have been recorded here more than once, in 333 open records.
The most recorded are the Black-throated Diver, the Common Greenshank and the Willow Ptarmigan.
14 species come for the summer, 0 for the winter and 1 only pass through.
The most species are recorded in June.
Get there and watch
- Garvault Houseplace to stay · 5.1 km · 2 within 10 km
- Wick John O'Groats Airport (WIC)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 55 km in a straight lineCar hire at INV airport (Inverness)Discover Cars · sponsored link↗
Plan the visit
A guided walk, a bed nearby, a car.
Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.
From above
The place and its surroundings.
The satellite image of the 6 × 6 km around the place, with the bird hides, towers and trails that OpenStreetMap shows.
Around, in OpenStreetMap
- 2places to stay within 10 kmGarvault House, Forsinard Lodge
- bird hides within 6 km
- observation towers within 6 km
- marked trails within 4 km
- visitor centres within 6 km
- viewpoints within 5 km
- car parks within 3 km
- restaurants and cafés within 3 km
- campsites within 10 km
Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit. A low number may just mean nobody has mapped it yet.
In our other atlases
Around Caithness and Sutherland Peatlands.
The lakes, beaches, islands, rivers and mountains around this place, and its night sky, in the family's atlases.
Peakyas15 mountains within 25 km
Lakeyas13 lakes within 15 km
Darkskyas2 dark-sky places within 30 kmFigures from the sister sites' databases (Wikidata, HydroATLAS, GeoNames, OpenStreetMap). Links open when each site is online.
Other places nearby.
Caithness and Sutherland Peatlands
United Kingdom
- 35Birdyas Score
- 36Species
- 15Migrants
- 0Threatened
Where these figures come from
| Name and type | Wikidata (Q61053299) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| Birds | 333 open bird records within 6 km (GBIF, CC0 and CC BY 4.0 only; mostly eBird, Cornell Lab of Ornithology) |
| See these records | gbif.org |
| Species | GBIF Backbone Taxonomy · CC BY 4.0; Wikidata (CC0); Wikimedia Commons |
| Altitude | Copernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA |
| Temperature and rain | NASA POWER (CERES SYN1deg, 2001–2020; MERRA-2) |
| What is around | © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL |
| Images | EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons |
| Sister atlases | Peakyas, Islandyas, Lakeyas, Darkskyas |
Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.
The family
Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers, canyons, caves, dark skies, viewpoints, birdwatching or forests?
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