Ears strained for a mad Highland grouse

Rothiemurchus, Strathspey Rustlings and flittings amid the calls hint at the rich biodiversity of the moor and pine forest

To me, at least, the Highlands dishes up its treats in small portions. On the first morning I stepped out of the lodge and heard the clucking undulations of a springtime black grouse somewhere to the south-east. I followed the noise but didn't see him.

Instead the sparse pine forest offered up a bright pair of crossbills. Their "fools' colours" - him in red, her in green - were crisp in the early light.