Where to Find and Photograph Red Squirrels in Scotland

*This has been updated July 2021 to include Penny Hedge, update to Nature Nuts and inclusion of my own site!

I love red squirrels, they are so much fun to watch as they dart, bounce and jump through tree canopies and undergrowth.  Such inquisitive little creatures that make me smile.  I can spend hours watching and photographing them, and seek the squirrels out whenever possible.  In this blog I will share some of my favourite locations for photographing them (as well as a few others with potential) and include a handful of images from each to show what the location is like for photography.  I do now have my own red squirrel feeding station (a dream come true!) so I’ll give information on that too.  I’ll write about free, wildlife membership and pay to hire hides.  Obviously this is just the tip of the red squirrel iceberg, and if you have any places you go to in Scotland to photograph them please do add in the comments below.

A few photography tips based on my experiences.

• Unless it’s specifically stated that you shouldn’t feed them, or if you’re going to a paid photo hide, always take nuts, preferably hazelnuts with you.  A nut cracker is useful too as the squirrels will often take whole nuts and stash for later so unshelled nuts are more likely to be eaten in situ, (although they are more often than not stolen by birds!) so you have more time for photographs.
• Red squirrels are speedy wee creatures, and the majority of places you’re likely to find them are quite shady due to the trees.  This makes it difficult to use a high enough shutter speed for moving squirrels, unless you push the ISO up very high and/or have a fast lens (although then you have the challenge of a shallow depth of field).  It’s therefore best in these conditions to concentrate on photographs of them when relatively static – this is true for photographing any bird/animal in low light, a very useful tip I was given a couple of years back.  Being curious animals, they will often pause to check you out, and of course stop to munch on nuts so have the camera ready.  By doing this you can keep the shutter speed lower and therefore reduce the ISO.
• Try and photograph them away from feeders (same for birds) and if possible attempt at least a few images where they don’t have a nut in their mouth or front paws – not the easiest thing to do at times! Also good to try for eye contact, it makes the photograph more engaging.  They have massive personalities, so images that capture an element of this are great too.
• If you’d like jumping squirrels then you’re best to go to a professional photography hide which has a set-up for this.  Neil MacIntyre‘s hide or Penny Hedge (see below) are great for this.  For a face on jump you  need to use manual focus and set  focus halfway across the jump, use high speed continuous and then press the shutter as soon as the squirrel’s about to jump. Hopefully then one at least is in focus. Best to use a cable release or wireless remote.  High shutter speed essential, so pump up the ISO and try for an aperture at around 7.1 or 8 to increase depth of field.

FREE LOCATIONS/RESERVES

I’ll start with the free (or voluntary contribution) locations I enjoy visiting, beginning with the wonderful Eskrigg Nature Reserve on the outskirts of Lockerbie.  Not the easiest reserve to find, you won’t stumble upon it by accident, but google can help!  There’s a red squirrel hide and nut feeders as well as a large number of bird feeders here, aside from the reds you will be unlucky not to spot a nuthatch or great spotted woodpecker as well as all the regular little birds.  Sparrowhawks (I haven’t seen one here) are often sighted as are treecreepers and goldcrest (I’ve seen both) and there’s a pond with ducks, swans and apparently, on occasion kingfisher. There are a lot of red squirrels here, but I’ve found on some occasions they don’t come down regularly – I’ve had 4 or 5 at one time or, rare visits from a single animal.  Early morning is good.  Light isn’t bad as it’s at the edge of woodland, although it’s not bright by any means.  I tend not to use the hide, but sit on the boarding next to it so I can get down to eye-level with the squirrels.  Many are very tame, and will come within touching distance, often far too close to focus on.  My camera/lens choices here are Nikon D500 + Tamron 150-600mm for more distant squirrels and the birds, and my Nikon D610 with Tokina 100mm macro, for those much closer animals – you really need a short lens here and a fast one with large aperture very helpful too!  A mobile phone camera/video is great too.  The volunteers who run the reserve prefer that folk don’t feed the squirrels but do allow photographers to place some nuts in photogenic spots, but the hazelnuts should be shelled first.  I’ve written a blog about Eskrigg, so do check that out if interested.  Also, in the same part of the world, and discussed below, is the Scottish Photography Hides sparrowhawk hide which also has visits from red squirrels.

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A site I visited for the first time in December 2018 is Carnie Woods on the outskirts of Aberdeen.  It’s a small area of woodland, but because the red squirrels have been fed here there are far more than could live without human assistance, therefore there’s a very high chance of spotting a few especially if you go to the feeding station within the wood.  I loved this place, only downside really was the huge number of dogs walked there – an endless stream of them running around and frightening off the squirrels.   The squirrels were even tamer than at Eskrigg and I often looked down and found one attempting to steal nuts from the bag at my feet – so don’t leave your belongings unguarded especially if there’s anything they might like to eat/steal inside!  There are a couple of fallen logs and I was placing nuts midway along one of them, and photographing them running along towards me.  Only problem was there’s a plank attached to this log which isn’t great for photographs.  I never managed to get them to run along the other, more photogenic log. Fab place though and definitely worth a visit if you’re in or near Aberdeen. I wish it was closer to Glasgow!  Any short to mid-length lens will do here.  I mostly used the Tokina 100mm macro with both my cameras, but did have a longer lens on the other body.  I spotted treecreepers and goldcrest in the woods en route to the feeders.  Note: I believe the feeders were removed due to a rat problem and I don’t know if they’ve been replaced.

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Aberfoyle – there are red squirrels throughout Loch Lomond and the Trossachs, but a good place to stand a chance of seeing them is at the David Marshall Lodge wildlife hide.  Not brilliant for photographs as the undergrowth is quite high and the squirrels tend to go to the feeders, plus it’s a bit on the dark side and the squirrels aren’t too close so the best compromise between long lens and large aperture is best.  Also visited by lots of families with loud excited children and dogs and there’s a zip wire close by so lots of screaming and not the most peaceful of locations.  If you wander around near the hide though you might find a more photogenic spot and can maybe attract some with nuts.  I had success with this on one occasion.  Nuthatch and jays also regular visitors to the hide location.

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Buchanty Spout, Perthshire – I visited this area to try and photograph the jumping salmon on the River Almond, but they chose not to travel upstream that day.  Very pretty spot though especially in the autumn.  If you cross over the river to the side furthest from the carpark, there’s a walk along the riverbank.  I saw 4 red squirrels here.  A bit of patience, fieldcraft, long lens and nuts might be required to get close to them though.  I had the wrong lens, as I’d come for the salmon, so struggled to photograph one sitting at the top of a tree, which is a shame as they’d have been quite interesting pictures.

Morton Lochs (updated 2 July 2019) – First time I visited I saw nothing but that may have been because it was a bitterly cold November day and the entire area was frozen.  However, On my return at the beginning of July 2019, after a bit of a wait three reds visited the squirrel hide.  Not the most photogenic of hides as there are no bird feeders so the seed is scattered over the tops of the logs, but the squirrels come pretty close so a long lens isn’t necessary.  I used a Nikkor 70-200mm f2.8 on my Nikon D500 (so focal length of approx 100-300mm).   Plenty of bird life there too – at the hide you’ll see blue, great and coal tits, robins, wrens, blackbirds, dunnock, chaffinches, great spotted woodpecker and jays.  In the surrounding areas there are spotted flycatchers and (apparently) whitethroat (both summer only) plus goldcrest, yellowhammer, treecreeper and reed bunting.  There used to be kingfishers too but the trees around the loch have been cut down and the kingfishers are now a rare sight.

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Loch an Eilein on the Rothiemurchus Estate near Aviemore is one of many places in that area you can spot red squirrels.  The Loch is gorgeous and is surrounded by the remnants of the old Caledonian pine forest.  Read on to find out about a fantastic, pay to rent, hide here, but you can spot squirrels at the feeders in the carpark opposite the hut where you pay to park (you do have to pay to park), and also down towards the loch itself.  Early morning is best to see them and it’s not that easy to get close, but worth trying for the stunning location.

Lossiemouth Woods: Not the easiest place to find, the feeding station is deep within the wood, but park at the caravan park and head into the woods from there. Best to ask folk you meet as they’ll be able to point you in the right direction.  This site has regular visits from red squirrels and crested tits.  However it is not in the most photogenic location in the woods and light can be very tricky.  My 70-200mm f2.8 lens had just died so I struggled to come away with anything using my 300mm f4 on a crop frame Nikon D500 – focal length was too great.  I have seen good images from here though and if you’re in Moray it’s worth checking out.

Also in Moray is Spynie Loch which has a fab little hide where you can see all sorts of things including red squirrels. Pine martens and osprey have also been recorded here.  I’ve been a few times and haven’t really got any decent red squirrel images but have really enjoyed my visits.

PAY TO ENTER (FREE FOR MEMBERS) WILDLIFE RESERVES

Many of the wildlife organisations have red squirrels visiting their sites. The best I’ve found of these is RSPB Loch Leven.  Entry is £5 for non-members, free if a member.  Squirrels are located behind the visitor centre, by a small hide designed to encourage children to watch wildlife.  This whole bit of the reserve is full of bird feeders and therefore squirrels can be sighted anywhere but this area by the wee hide has the most light and a nice photogenic log which has good dips for hazelnuts. I had to wait awhile, maybe because the feeders were pretty empty as it was 2nd Jan so the centre had been closed for a couple of days, but eventually  I was visited by at least three individuals who returned again and again once they discovered my hazelnuts.  I wasn’t able to put out unshelled nuts though because the birds instantly stole them!  Whenever the nuts ran out, the squirrels would approach me and let it be known they’d like some more.  Although the reserve was busy very few people came near this bit, so I mostly had the squirrels to myself.  Any lens will do here.  I used the D500/Tamron combination, but mostly at the short focal length (200-300mm).  Sit opposite the fallen log and you’ll get some nice shots, but look behind and to the sides as well as the squirrels will sneak up on you!

(Close to RSPB Loch Leven is Portmoak Moss, there are red squirrels here too – I had a brief glimpse of one.  No feeding station though so very hit or miss.  Lovely woods and raised peatbog here.  Woods hold green woodpeckers, but I didn’t see any on my visit.)

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Loch of the Lowes (Scottish Wildlife Trust – members get in free) by Dunkeld is best known for its ospreys, but there are red squirrels visiting the feeders outside the visitor centre.  They do apparently have a small pop-up hide that can be rented too.  Not the best for photography as you’re sitting behind (clean) glass, but lovely to sit in the warmth of the centre watching them and the many varieties of birds that come for a snack.  I don’t have any red squirrel photographs from here though as they were always sat at a feeder…

RSPB Loch Garten – Best known now  for it crested tits and coal tits that feed out of your hand, but red squirrels are sometimes seen up by the visitor centre at the bird feeders – especially the long nut one.  I’ve had two sightings here, one of which was a squirrel high up a tree actually eating proper natural squirrel food – a pine cone!!

PAID PHOTOGRAPHY HIDES

These are obviously by far and away the most expensive option, but they have been set up with photography in mind so can be a good choice.

My site.  Since I first wrote this blog I’ve relocated from Glasgow to the Scottish Highlands and now have red squirrels both in the garden and a healthy population in the woods where I have a feeding station. I run workshops for guests to my rental cabin The Drey Inchberry and also for photographers who are not local to the Scottish Highlands.  It’s not available to rent due to an agreement with the estate who own the land.  I have no hide there now (although I can provide a seat hide if required), but this means you’re sitting outside with the squirrels which is a total immersive and fun experience which also allows for eye level images.  The site is very natural and you will witness plenty of natural behaviours.  The squirrels are beautiful and very active. I’m not sure exactly how many there are now but it’s at least 8. You’ll also see a wide variety of little birds and possibly jays and great spotted woodpeckers too.  It’s a deciduous wood so in the summer the light can be poor due to the tree canopy, but there is plenty of squirrel action and photography isn’t a problem so long as you concentrate on static shots.  A long lens isn’t required. Anything from 200mm upto 500mm, but I would recommend bringing as fast a lens as you are able.  Dress warm too.  There’s more information about my workshops on my photography site.

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Added July 2021

Penny Hedge is a wonderful hide located in the grounds of Mark and Sue Johnson’s house near Blairgowrie.  It’s a large comfortable hide and they provide not only an amazing selection of food for their very spoilt wildlife, but also gorgeous baking for guests – win win!  This is a pretty and open site so light is good, and it’s possible to sit outside with the squirrels too.  The hide has tripod plates screwed into the viewing windows so all you need is your tripod head. For squirrels lens length 100-500mm, 300mm best.  They have quite a large number of very pretty red squirrels and being photographers themselves it’s photogenic too.  There’s a jump available as well if you want to try your hand at this. You can pay extra and come back in the evening for the chance of pine martens. In winter months they have a light set-up for this too.

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Black Isle Photography Hides – Set in woodland on the Black Isle (obviously!), one of a few hides run by James Roddie.  I visited in 2016, nice site and was back in July 2019 to photograph the pine martens and saw quite a few squirrels then and I’ve been a fair bit winter 2019/20 and again summer 2020 too.  It’s a very photogenic site.  James also has a crested tit site.

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Neil MacIntyre‘s hide is situated deep within the Caledonian pine forest on the Rothiemurchus Estate.  As I mentioned above you can see squirrels around the estate, but here you’re pretty much guaranteed some wonderful sightings in the most picturesque setting I’ve ever been to.  Almost every keen photographer has visited this hide so you’ll see photographs from it all over social media.  I’ve been three times, twice in August when the heather was in full bloom which was stunning, and again in March when there was a light dusting of snow.  Being in the middle of a forest the light can be challenging and it’s good to take a long, fast lens.  But because the setting is gorgeous, it’s a great place for wide-angle photographs too. I used 3 different lenses here with my 2 cameras (Nikon D500 and Nikon D610) – Tamron 150-600mm, Nikkor 300mm F4 (with 1.4 t/c) and Nikkor 70-200mm f2.8 for the wide angle photographs. Neil has a couple of jumps set up as well.  Large hide and Neil provides hot drinks and a few extra hazelnuts. This hide is bookable for morning or afternoon. Shared with others.  Neil also has a great book on red squirrels with some fabulous photographs.  I have two blogs about this hide – August 2017, March 2018.

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In August 2019 I visited Mark Hamblin‘s hides which are in a wood close to his home near Carrbridge in the Cairngorm National Park.  The main hide is dug into the (sandy) soil in a clearing in the forest and he’s found some nice tree roots and stumps which are very photogenic and there’s a lovely clean background behind them.  The clearing also means there’s a fair amount of light which can be an issue when photographing red squirrels.  He has a second hide 50m away with a reflection pool and a “beam” which the squirrels can perch on.  It too is very photogenic.  He probably had the largest number of active squirrels that I’ve come across at a hide, even although they were split between the two sites.  Almost non-stop action for 5 hours.  Hides, especially the reflection pool one are a bit awkward to get in to and you do have to go in and out to replace nuts, but it’s great to have them at eye-level to the squirrels.

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*UPDATE FEB 2020* I revisited Mark’s hide in February 2020 in the hope of photographing red squirrels in snow, and I wasn’t disappointed.  Light was great as it’s a clearing in the wood and I had up to 5 squirrels at any one time –  I had no idea where to point the camera!!  There was also a bonus appearance or two by a crested tit.

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*UPDATE MARCH 2020 – Alvie Estate Red Squirrel Hide*

This is a hide I’ve been wanting to visit for some time.  It’s on the grounds of the Alvie Estate and is booked through the Estate Office (it may only be open Dec-Mar though).  I gather that it was set up by the gamekeeper because he wanted somewhere to watch the squirrels, and therefore a lot of love and thought has gone into it.  The location is lovely with a backdrop of mountains and pine trees.  Light was pretty good and there were a fair number of squirrels visiting, often 3 at one time.  The hide sits 4 people, it’s a bench, it’s a short walk from the road.  No room for tripods but the estate provide decent beanbags.  I used a full-frame DSLR with 300mm F2.8 lens and that worked perfectly distance-wise.  I would suggest anything from 200-400mm would be best, 500mm would be too long for many of the logs.  Plenty of nuts were put out, many in hidden locations, and the squirrels were, for the most part, comfortable enough to stay and eat them on the logs, so always something going on.  It wasn’t quite as good for wide-shots as I’d thought it might be due to some small spindly trees behind, but for mid and close-ups it was great.  Quite a few of the squirrels appear to have had some form of leprosy as they had malformed noses but all had a healthy appetite and showed no signs of illness.

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(Updated July 2021) Bob Smith’s Nature Nuts hide in Perthshire, near(ish) to Blairgowrie sees regular visits from a number of red squirrels – some very pretty red squirrels! He has turned the hide round and there is now more light than before plus a large reflection pond which is quite fun.  There’s plenty of other action here too including almost daily visits from pine martens.  I’ve enjoyed my days here.  Medium length lens best, again, fast if possible.  You park right next to it though, so bring everything with you.  No space for tripods, bring a beanbag. Day rate hide, stay as late as you can to see the pine martens. Bob also does beaver tours.   Blog featuring the red squirrels (and pine martens)

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Argaty Farm, best known as a red kite feeding station now has a wildlife hide on the edge of a piece of woodland.  I was there the week after it opened and I think it was still a bit of a work-in-progress but I’ve seen some great photos from there since.  This hide is unique to all the others I’ve visited in that it has viewing windows at ground level so you can (if not too tall, or if on your own) lie on the floor and take eye-level images.  Again, light was challenging, and it was a sunny day in June, so take medium length lenses with large aperture.  I used my Nikkor 70-200mm F2.8 until it broke…   (FEB 2020) Note they now have a new one-person photography hide with 2 squirrel jumps, looks good, but haven’t tried it.  Featured in this blog.

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So, I hope this is of some assistance if you’re in or visiting Scotland and hoping to see red squirrels.  I know there are tonnes of other places, so please do add your recommendations in the comments section below.

Also, it’s worth looking at the Saving Scotland’s Red Squirrels website where people can report sightings (and please report any of your own sightings) and you can see them all on a map.