The temperature in Newtonmore dropped to minus 13 overnight. Too cold to sleep, I got up for a walk at 05:30. Two Rabbits and ten Brown Hares were acitive in local fields, the hares particularly animated with much running and chasing. A Sparrowhawk flew up from the ground - presumably from a kill. The Pied Wagtail from yesterday was still around so presumably had found somewhere suitable to roost. Yesterday's Oystercatchers and Black-headed Gulls on sheep pasture had been joined by a small group of Common Gulls, one of which still had the grey hood of its non-breeding plumage. The moor above the farmland had Lapwings and Common Gulls. A Woodcock was accidentally flushed from a shelter belt. The remainder of the day was spent walking round the outskirts of Newtonmore and along the strath to Kingussie. More details will follow, but some of the highlights of the day were: Tawny Owl, Dipper, Goldeneye, Teal, Golden Plover, Treecreeper, Buzzard, Golden Eagle, Wild Goat, more Brown Hare and Rabbit, and flowering Stinking Helibore, Coltsfoot and Winter Aconite (the latter not wild but  planted in the centre of Kingussie). Image below from worldweatheronline.com

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