Has anyone visited Boat of Garten aka “Osprey Village” or Scottish Wildlife Trust @ Cumbernauld (NE of Glasgow) in order to see wild badgers? We'll be traveling in late April. Any recollections, reviews, or other recommendations are welcomed.
Posted by
Green Bay
21210 posts
Posted by
Ontario, Canada
5464 posts
Aren't badgers nocturnal?
Posted by
Uppsala, Sweden
7023 posts
Aren't badgers nocturnal?
Not all, I tend to be awake mostly during the day. 😉🦡
Posted by
London
1287 posts
I've been to Boat of Garten several times for the ospreys. It's a great setup the RSPB have there. The whole area of Speyside and the Cairngorms is a wonderful part of Scotland, well worth making a destination aside from the badgers.
Some of my youth was misspent in Cumbernauld. Again, no badgers involved (thankfully in the circumstances). It's a fairly nondescript town, not really a destination, save for your badger-related reasons. Stirling would be my choice for accommodation near there, a small city with one of the best castles for visitors in Scotland. Cumbernauld is also easy to reach from Glasgow.
I'm guessing you know a lot more about badgers than me but they are very shy. I wouldn't let not seeing one ruin your trip. I assume there are organised trips at night to spot them? In all my years of living in Scotland I can only recall seeing a live badger once, while driving early one morning on a rural road. I have seen several poor soldiers dead by the road though unfortunately.
Posted by
Seattle, WA, US
468 posts
Would be cool to see one--I never have, though they are in the eastern part of WA State and Oregon. They are on my animal list for sure. From photos looks like the US and UK badgers have different marking pattern. Good luck with the search!
Posted by
Lake District, England
8033 posts
The badgers are are at a different location in the area than the ospreys.
And yes badgers are nocturnal, which is why the organised visits to the hide are at dusk- https://www.cairngormwildlife.co.uk/bogwig/badgerhide.html