Mull's Wilds Better

Having checked the weather forecast we decided to travel up to Mull yesterday - 06.34 Citylink bus from Anniesland X to Oban; breakfast roll in pub; ferry from Oban at 09.50 arriving in Craignure at 10.45 where we met our wildlife guide, for the day, Peter Hall.

Our target species were White-tailed Eagle and Golden Eagle and Peter did not disappoint as we had great views of 5 White-tailed Eagles and 2 Golden Eagles. Record shots follow:

White-tailed Eagle

Golden Eagle

Whilst out with Peter we saw another 34 bird species, Red Deer, seals galore and a couple of Otters, with this one giving amazing views ....

 

We were lucky in that we had Peter to ourselves as another customer postponed on the day. His vehicle was extremely comfortable, not always the case on wildlife trips, and he had a nice relaxed manner - thanks Peter!

On our return to Oban we saw a number of seabirds with Manx Shearwater being the highlight.

Oban

We arrived in time for the 18.15 bus to Glasgow and we were back in the house by 21.00hrs!

What a great day.

Otter on Mull

As promised, here is the link to a short video of the Otter I filmed on Mull

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxTotL-bBxI

Please view at HD 1080

Also another photo of this marvelous mammal ............

Otter on Mull

Mull and Iona

We travelled up to Fionnphort on Mull last Wednesday to stay a couple of nights in the superb Staffa House B&B. The current owners do a wonderful job - Gillian and Ali are very welcoming, provide excellent breakfasts and their accommodation is comfortable and spotlessly clean. We also really admired their environmental ethos. Sadly they hope to move on and the business is currently for sale.

We were joined by Mike and Judith and on the Wednesday afternoon we walked from Fionnphort towards and around Fidden. We had a  good start with a small flock of Dunlin and Ringed Plover followed by c30 Whimbrel and 9 Black-tailed Godwit.

Ringed Plover and Dunlin

 

Other Highlights included Great Northern Diver and Twite not to mention a calling Corncrake! The Mountain Hare was a good sighting, as well............

Mountain Hare

On the Thursday we spent most of the day on Iona where, after a poor start weatherwise, it soon turned into a spectacular beautiful day.

The colour of the sky and sea kept changing - blue through to turquoise - whilst the white sandy beaches could have been from the Caribbean.

Lots of waders - Dunlin, Ringed Plover, Sanderling and Whimbrel; more Twite; a Peregrine; confiding Skylark and Wheatear; and an actual sighting of a Corncrake! There are apparently only four on the island just now so we were privileged to see one. Hopefully, more will arrive over the next day or so.

Whimbrel

Wheatear (female)

Skylark (video grab)

On our last day we travelled back to Craignure and birded in and around the local camp site and woodland. On the way, however, we had a surprise encounter with a male Hen Harrier - the first time I've seen one from the local bus!

At Craignure, the Bluebells were stunning ...

.... and we added lots of 'small' birds to our list with Wood Warbler, Goldcrest, Lesser Redpoll and Siskin just some of the many species seen. The key moment, however, was the sighting of an Otter by Mike. We watched it for a few minutes before it started to swim ashore. We got in position and had cracking views as it rolled amongst the rocks and seaweed. Watch out for a video which I'll be posting later.

Otter

Back in Oban we got close views of a Black Guillemot - up until then we had seen lots of these birds but all at a distance ...........

Black Guillemot

....... a perfect end to our 3 day adventure.