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| Snipe - Pete Osgood |
MONDAY
30th JUNE
The
weather was poor and the midges as persistent as the rain but we made the best
of the day and set off around Loch Beg and began poodling along and searching
the shores of Loch Scridain picking up broods of Greylags and numerous Common
Sandpipers before a large dog Otter trotted along the beach. A quick exit and we were soon watching him
catch his breakfast in the inshore waters.
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| Otter |
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| Otter |
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| Otter - Pete Osgood |
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| Common Sandpiper |
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| Heath Spotted Orchid |
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| Marsh Valerian |
Up
and over the top through Glen More where a post perching Snipe and Grey Wagtail
were the highlights before dropping down onto the narrow winding coast
road. The cloud base dropped lower and
we were thwarted in our attempts at the Golden Eagle eyrie. The shore line was excellent though and we
got superb views from the shelter of the bus of broods of Common Sandpiper,
Ringed Plover and Oystercatcher and more drumming Snipe that I had ever seen in
one place. There were Redshank, Dunlin,
Curlew and Lapwings too along with Rock and Meadow Pipits and many broods of
very damp Wheatears. There were 16
Mergansers freshening in a stream entering the sea and the hillsides were
running with countless impressive waterfalls.
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| Snipe |
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| Common Sandpiper fledgling |
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| Gannets and Guillemots |
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| Red-breasted Mergansers |
A
glance back revealed that the Eagle cliffs were now becoming visible and a
quick about turn gave us another opportunity and before too long the well grown
Golden Eaglet was being watched. I
suspect that both parents were sitting not too far away wondering if the rain
would ever stop long enough for them to hunt.
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| Song Thrush - Pete Osgood |
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| The hillsides were snugly carpeted with stunted broad leaved trees with Sessile Oak, Elm, Ash, Rowan, Hazel and Willow. I stopped to tell the folks about it. This is what the uplands of Britain should look like. |
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| Snipe drumming - Pete Osgood |
A
little further on we picked up an adult White-tailed Eagle sat out on a
seaweedy island but the midges soon had us back on the bus and dreaming of
coffee in Salen. A flock of 40 Rock
Doves on the wires on the outskirts of the village delayed caffeine intake by a
further few minutes.
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| White-tailed Eagle |
With
coffee in hand we had a failed look for Dippers but did see some wonderful
Greater Butterfly and Heath Spotted Orchids on the verges along with a
beautiful stand of Melancholy Thistles, Marsh Valerian and Water Avens. The ruinous hulks of the Salen Ships made for somewhat moody photographic opportunities with a couple of female Eiders snorkelling behind.
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| Salen Rock Doves |
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| Greater Butterfly Orchid |
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| Melancholy Thistle |
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| Water Avens |
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| Heath Spotted Orchid |
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| Eyebright sp |
The
long loop was continued as we headed for Craignure but constant scanning of the
calm Sound of Mull gave us another Otter mum with one pup and shortly
afterwards I spied two more White-tailed Eagles perched up on rocky islands –
one was huge and presumably the female.
While watching these another female Otter with two pups was seen hunting
close in shore giving us six today and eight Otters in two days!
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| White-tailed Eagle |
A
final adult White-tailed Eagle was seen flying east of Craignure before we
began the climb back over the top to Pennyghael. There were no birds but the low cloud and
rain made the scenery even more dramatic and there were amazing braided
cascades pouring off the smoothed glacially scoured tops.
So
all in all a very good day indeed. Not sure if anyone got their step count in
though?
TUESDAY
1st JULY
It was glorious, calm and the landscape was perfectly reflected in Loch Scridain. The Otters could be seen hunting to the east and a few Gannets were milling around.
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| We stopped here on the way down to watch the Harbour Seal colony and noisy Arctic Terns |
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| Harbour Seals |
Today was all about boats and we spent almost the
entire day moving between the islands offshore from the Ross of Mull. We caught our Staffa Tour boat from
Fionnphort a little before ten (where Rooks were a new island bird!) and headed out towards Lunga passing many auks,
a few Manx Shearwaters and our first Fulmars on the way but no cetaceans
whatsoever.
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| Fulmar |
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| Puffin |
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| Fulmar |
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| Puffins and Razorbills |
Once ashore we spent a very
enjoyable couple of hours amongst the nesting seabirds with up close encounters
with all the species present. It was
warm, sunny, smelly, noisy and mesmerising. It was good to see several Great Skuas
patrolling and some Arctic Skuas bouncing around offshore giving incoming
Puffins grief. A couple of the party
heard Corncrake and we found a small group of obliging Twite too.
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| Simply my best Puffin experience ever |
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| Puffin - Pete Osgood |
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| Puffin - Pete Osgood |
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| Puffin - Pete Osgood |
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| Everyone loves a Puffin but I prefer Razorbills! |
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| One man and his Razorbill - Catherine Maxwell |
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| Guillemots chilling |
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| Arctic Skua |
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| Great Skua |
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| Shags were nesting at our feet in crevices and would pop out a snaky neck and shout at you! |
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| Bladder Campion |
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Twite
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| Kittiwakes |
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| Back at the cliffs of Mull |
Time up and on to Staffa with its impressive basalt
columns and the famous Fingal’s Cave.
Common Blues flitted around us and the sun still shone.
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| Eupoecelia angustana |
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| English Stonecrop |
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| Beach Lovage - Lingusticum scothicum |
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| A Sawfly |
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| Marsh Pennywort |
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| Bearberry? |
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| Moon Jellyfish |
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| Walker-guese Man-O'War |
The skipper had a Minke Whale on the way back
but it deep dived before anyone saw it and as the boat was due to drop some
folk off on Iona we all decided to jump ship too and spent a lovely couple of
hours ambling around, hearing Willow Warblers and a distant Corncrake, taking
in the Monastery and a fine ice-cream. We
felt like proper, if somewhat overdressed tourists. The short ferry ride back rounded up a long
but rewarding day.
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| Maidenhair Spleenwort and Wall-Rue |
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| Back on Mull... don't ask... I don't know! |
WEDNESDAY
2nd JULY
The plan was to rerun the wet Monday and it started
very well with the two Otters not far from the hotel and another dog Otter a
little further out and with our daily Otter quotient achieved we set out for
the wiggling Salen road once again. With
fine still weather we stopped around Loch Beg and quickly picked up a couple of
Greenshank with the Redshanks on the mud and had some good views of a very pale
Short-eared Owl quartering the hillside while high above a female Hen Harrier
was giving some serious grief to an immature Golden Eagle.
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| Loch Scridain |
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| Loch Beg |
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| Loch Beg |
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| Short-eared Owl |
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| Red Deer |
There were small birds alongside the road this time
with Whitethroats, Blackcap, Sedge Warbler and Spotted Flycatcher and a puddle
held Common Sandpipers, Meadow Pipit and both Grey and Pied Wagtails. Nothing was picked up over the top bar lots
of now dry Wheatears, Meadow Pipits and Stonechats. A Small Pearl Bordered Fritillary was new to the butterfly list.
Down along the side of Loch Na Keal the young Golden
Eagle was tucking into his breakfast and we could clearly see the eyrie this
time and thus when both parents came in they were magnificent too and it was a
privilege to watch them soar above us.
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| Golden Eagle |
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| Golden Eagle - Pete Osgood |
On again past the breeding waders along the shoreline to Knock where we
set off for a walk through the pines towards Loch Ba. The weather held despite
darkening skies at times and at last we got some insect activity too with
Golden Ringed Dragonflies, Common Hawker, Keeled Skimmers, Highland Darters,
Large Red Damselflies and a few Butterflies including Painted Lady, Small Copper and Common Blues (but none of the
specialities).
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| Highland Darter - a new 'form' for me |
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| Highland Darter |
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| Highland Darter |
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| Highland Darter |
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| Highland Darter |
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| Large Red Damselfly |
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| Keeled Skimmer |
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| Keeled Skimmer - I did not know they were in Scotland |
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| Painted Lady - a little worn but a long way north! |
A huge Horse Leech was
admired and a small clear pond held at least 13 Palmate Newts. There were a few finches and tits and a
Common Sandpiper doing a distraction display.
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| Horse Leech |
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| Syrphus sp |
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| Syrphus sp |
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| Syrphus sp |
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| Greenbottle |
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| Platycheirus granditarsus |
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| Butterwort |
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| Lousewort |
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| Butterwort and Round Leaved Sundew |
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| Silverweed |
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| Marsh Willowherb - Epilobium palustre |
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| Lesser Spearwort |
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| Marsh Bedstraw - Galium palustre |
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| Tutsan |
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| Palmate Newt |
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| Palmate Newt |
Lunch beckoned and we were informed of a massive
landslide back on the narrow coast road we had come along and were very glad to
have made it through and still be able to head to the Ulva Ferry spot to catch
our ride on the Lady Jayne.
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| Hooded Crow - and it always will be |
It was simply stunning and we had six visits from
three different White-tailed Eagles and saw at least four if not five. Being so close to such huge powerful birds
was quite overwhelming. We saw a few
auks, Gannets and Manx Shearwaters but little else but no one really cared and
the silence on the bus back to Port nan Gael told the story as everyone
processed their own personal Eagle encounters.
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| Anticipation mounting |
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| Black Guillemot |
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| Gannet - the ones here are flying 70 miles up from Ailsa Craig |
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| Kittiwake |
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| Gannet |
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| Black Guillemot |
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| Probably the wildest setting for Canada Geese I have taken! |
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| Eas Fors plummeting into the sea |
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| Common Tern |
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| The pink tail is blood from feeding on Seal afterbirth |
That evening dinner was interrupted by a shout of
Dolphins and we went outside to watch a big pod of Common Dolphins hunting over
a large area. They included several very
small youngsters and there was much aerial action. Gannets, Manx Shearwaters, Gulls and Terns
swirled around before the main courses called us back inside.
THURSDAY 3rd JULY
It was grim so we opted for a tour around the
southern side of Mull beginning down the interesting road wiggling all the way
to Carsaig passing a couple of Bullfinches and bedraggled Pipits on the way
down and pausing like proper tourists at the ‘I know where I’m going’ red phone
box from the 1945 film. We stood on the
quay for a while but could find no divers and with rain strengthening
retreated.
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| ‘I know where I’m going’ red phone box |
We headed back over the top and onto the long road
down to Lochbuie with the temptation of coffee and cake at the end. It began with a road full of male Peacocks
while Red Deer grazed in a paddock and once at Loch Spelve a brief respite
saw us out of the bus for ten minutes and watching Harbour Seals and our first
two Goosanders. Three Little Grebes were
also our first on the freshwater Loch Uisg but once at the end the weather
closed in and The Old Post Office café did a roaring trade! A Fallow Deer was a somewhat odd addition to
the mammal list!
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| Red Deer |
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| Red Deer |
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| Goosander |
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| The view at The Old Post Office |
Back out (there are no loops) and onto another dead
end roadlet to Croggan that ran right alongside the sea loch. Other than copious quantities of rain it did
offer us our first Cormorant and a splendid dog Otter that fished close in and even climbed up on a rock to eat his
Butterfish affording everyone excellent ‘from the van’ views.
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| Otter |
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| I presume that this is a Northern Marsh Orchid |
We dropped Donald off at Craignure a little earlier
than expected so that he could catch an earlier boat to Oban and once again
climbed back over the high pass where the hills were streaming with water. The most miniscule gap at the Three Lochs
Viewpoint saw the Twins both pick up an adult Golden Eagle working its way
along the ridge and somehow holding itself into the wind up there.
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| Three Lochs - no inverts but an Eagle |
The verges were covered in low growing Thyme,
Buttercups, Self Heal, Cinquefoil, Silverweed and Orchids and it was such a shame
to see that most of the already low growing verges on the whole island were
systematically being mown down to soil level for no apparently good
reason. Away from the verges we saw
almost no flowers whatsoever so it was double disappointing and troubling for
an island that seems to pride itself on attracting people to visit the wild
scenery and its wildlife. I may have given the driver of the mower a hard stare.
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| I may have suffered from a moment of enragement |
Down to Loch Beg where a female Hen Harrier blew
across the road in the rain and quartered the forest edge before heading in the
same direction the male did on Sunday and the Manx Shearwaters, Gannets,
Harbour Seals and Auks were gathering on Loch Scridain once again the rain
settled in and the wind got up but the female Otter and her cub were having fun
in the sea off the hotel regardless. We chanced the Seal pupping island at about 5pm but there were no White-tails in attendance but the approaching wall of rain across the loch soon had us retreating to the hotel for a final time.
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| Incoming - again! |
FRIDAY 4th
JULY - Fifty Shades of Rain
We
did not think it could get any wetter but it did and after a slightly later
start we set off on the old Salen road loop as the road had been reopened after
the Wednesday rock fall. The amount of
water pouring off the hills, cliffs and escarpments and flooding across bogs,
roads and down crashing burns was amazing and slightly terrifying at the same
time. The cleared section of road had been badly damaged and the now removed boulders had wrecked the armco barrier. We did not linger!
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| Windblown waterfalls into the Atlantic British Rainforest below |
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| Damp gang - Catherine Maxwell |
I opted to retrace our route as it still gave us the best chances of finding something but it soon became clear that the volume of water was making things dangerous and roads were being covered so we agreed to call it a day and admit defeat at 1.30. Glen More was especially violent and it would have been great to have been able to explore the watershed point on the river that ran through it as it suddenly became obviously that it was thundering towards us as we drove up and with us on the way down!
On
other days we had seen a variety of Wetbirds – today they were Windblown
Bedraggled Birds and I do not think we were ever out of the car for more than
five minutes all morning! The shoreline
waders were still feeding their young and Terns were fishing close inshore but
the local Pipits and Wheatears looked particularly miserable.
We
saw three Otters but even they were brief and soon disappeared and once up at
Salen (more coffee and cake) we found the Eiders once again and Pete was able
to creep closer for some pics. Both
Goosander and Mergansers were here too along with our only Mute Swans.
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The only wildlife pictures I took all day were of a parent Oystercatcher with her three almost fully fledged chicks
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| Pete and a Merganser |
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| Wet-breasted Merganser - Pete Osgood |
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| Two female Eider with a large chick - Pete Osgood |
As
we neared the hotel a dog Otter popped up on the rocks at last allowing the
whole crew to add one to their day list.
We never saw the other side of the loch all day and were all glad to be
safely back at base.
SATURDAY 5th
JULY
A heavy drizzle greeted us as we readied to leave
for home but had descended by the time we got over the top. Several stops to scan lochs and such like
only gave us flocks of moulting Canada Geese and a few Hooded Crows and down
near Craignure Golf Course we checked for Eagles and Otters with no joy
although there were a couple of female Eider.
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| Mull - the only place where the Cattle, Sheep, Otters and Birds have more road-sense than the humans attempting to drive around. |
Our crossing to Oban at 11.05 was smooth and we just kept ahead of the
weather. No cetaceans were seen but
there were good views of Auks, Gannets, Manx
Shearwaters and two Arctic Skuas.
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| House Sparrow |
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| Herring Gull suffering an embarrassing loss of footing moment |
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| but managed a good recovery |
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| Mixed Arctic & Common Terns, Kittiwakes and auks |
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| Mixed Arctic & Common Terns, Kittiwakes and auks |
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| The lighthouse on Eilean Musdile |
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Manx Shearwaters, Gannet & Herring Gull
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| Manx Shearwaters - Pete Osgood |
