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| Heath Spotted Orchid |
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| Bog Asphodel |
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| Heath Spotted Orchid |
Up and over passing numerous Wheatears and
Meadow Pipits before dropping down to the narrow coast road.
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| No roads beyond that farm... |
A RRS to have a scan round was quiet until
Marilyn found a seriously snoozing Otter on a seaweedy rock. I could not persuade them that it was not
dead until Kim found two well grown kits swimming towards her where they rudely
awoke their mother and much boisterous rough and tumble ensued much to the
crew’s delight. Harbour Seals lounged
banana-like on rocks in the loch and the odd Shag was dotted around.
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| Shag |
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| Otter |
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| Otter |
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| Otter |
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| Otter |
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| Otter |
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| Otter |
Lunch at the Golden Eagle spot was an already known blank as
they had failed this year but as last year it was still a lovely stop with
‘kipping’ Snipe from the telegraph poles, singing Song Thrushes, Stonechats and
two adult White-tailed Eagles cruising around.
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| Two Hats Alison |
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| White-tailed Eagle |
There were far less roadside waders this time and just a few
Red-breasted Mergansers but there were many broods of Greylag Geese that looked
to be just about Eagle snack sized! The
weather was closing in again but a final scan from the east end of Loch Na Keal
gave us one last adult White-tailed Eagle before the loop was continued back to
base.
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| Greylag Geese |
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| Greylag Goose |
30th June
It was another grey and drizzly morning as we headed around
to Ulva to board our boat for the White-tailed Eagle tour. As it happened the weather was kind to us and
although it remained dull and the cloud low, the rain held off as we headed out
into Loch Tuath to the north of the island.
Four different Eagles came visit us and no matter how many
times I see this imposing bird close up it never ceases to amaze me with its
size, power and grace. One even came and
joined us when we moored up in small bay on Ulva for a cuppa and sat on the
bluff where Buzzard and Hooded Crow mobbed it.
There were a few auks around and a couple of Gannets and a Bonxie
circled out boat a couple of times.
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| There were almost as many pictures of Monty as the local wildlife |
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| White-tailed Eagle action |
White-tailed Eagle - Rhona Richardson
The run back in gave us two flocks of moulting male Eiders
and one of the small grassy islands had freshly fledged Common Gulls and a host
of Canada and Greylag Geese. Otter is always hoped for and a we ended up watching
one actively hunting in and out of the rafts of Wrack along the shoreline but
it was the two Great Northern Divers that caused the most excitement with a
breeding adult and 2cy bird.
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| Bonxie |
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| Bonxie & Great Black-backed Gull - Rhona Richardson |
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Otter
|
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| Common Gull chicks |
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| Great Northern Divers |
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| Common Eider |
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Harbour Seals
|
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| Black Guillemot |
Safely back on dryland we trundled down the road and found a
suitable place to pull off and have lunch whilst overlooking Loch Na Keal. As usual food intake was interrupted by
wildlife moments. The Lady Jane was now
out on her afternoon circuit and two Eagles were powering into he as she bobbed
below us. Surprisingly a second pair
came in from up the loch giving us four within a few minutes!
On pair disappeared into the cliff rain forest below us
where Elms trees still stood tall and where followed by the local
Buzzards. Down on the loch Kim found two
more Otters and a Yellowhammer called from a Ash tree alongside us. The cloud was still low and unfortunately the
male Hen Harrier that I found crossing the road soon disappeared once again.
.jpg) |
| Yellowhammer - Rhona Richardson |
There was some quality flora at this little stop too with
Heath Spotted and Heath Fragrant Orchids, Round-leaved Sundews and Butterworts
amongst others. A few Eristalis Hoverflies and Bumblebees were around and we
had fly bys of Red Admiral, Meadow Brown and a Small Pearl Bordered Fritillary.
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| Heath Fragrant Orchids |
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| Thyme |
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| New Zealand Willowherb - Epilobium brunnescens |
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| Slender St John's Wort |
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| Foxgloves |
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| Lousewort |
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| Bog Asphodel |
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Greater Butterwort
|
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| Round-leaved Sundew |
At the east end of Lach Na Keal we spied a herd of Fallow
Deer in a meadow and pulled off to have a look.
The sun almost came out and five minutes became nearly an hour as we
scanned the bay at low tide for Greenshank, Redshank and Curlews while Hoodies
poked around the seaweed and 13 Mergansers snorkelled in the shallows.
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| Fallow Deer |
There was a big patch of Hemlock Water-Dropwort and for once
it was covered in insect life and I logged a good number of Hoverflies and
Bumblebees, Flesh Flies, Greenbottles and a couple of Red Admirals.
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| Bombus terrestris |
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| Eristalis arbustorum |
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| Sercomyia lappona |
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| Eristalis intricaria |
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| Meliscaeva auricollis |
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Scaeva pyrastri
|
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| Common Carpet |
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| Depressaria daucella - the caterpillar of a wee moth |
Coffee, loos and cake at Salen followed and so did the
returning rain but the crew wanted to get out and explore so we moved up the
road and walked in the rain up alongside the River Aros where Greater Butterfly
and Heath Spotted Orchids were in the verges along with subtly coloured Water
Avens, Common Valerian and nodding Melancholy Thistles. There were no Dippers and just a few Siskins
and damp Swallows. The sheltered blooms
held several Chimney Sweeper moths, Bombus pascuorum, terrestris and surprisingly hypnorum and there was a good flock of proper looking Rock Doves in the village.
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| Sea Aster |
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| Woodland Dor Beetle - Anoplotrupes stercorosus |
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| Melancholy Thistle |
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| Water Avens |
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| Water Avens |
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| Melancholy Thistle |
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| Greater Butterfly Orchid - phone shots for all these as it was too wet! |
With the rain properly set in we headed for home but stopped to watch a foraging Hedgehog by the Candle shop!
1st July
Another day, another boat! Our journey west began with a
stop for a stunning Great Northern Diver that was feeding just off shore. They are such a fantastic bird to see in this
plumage.
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| Great Northern Diver |
By the time we reached Fionnphort the light rain had let up and we
were greeted by the local Rooks and Jackdaws around the car park.
And if you have never seen a Great Slug Slug dance...
Soon enough we were on the board and bobbing
our way out towards the Treshnish Isles.
Huge Atlantic rollers were coming it so our journey out parallel to them
was a little on the wobbly side. There
were the expected auks, Fulmars, Kittiwakes and Shags but only two Manx
Shearwaters. Closer to Lunga the number
of Puffins increased dramatically and it was obvious that so many of the
passengers had never seen one before.
They, any my crew, were in for a treat once we landed.
The heavy rain of recent weeks made the clamber across the
beach and up onto the two lower platforms tricky but doable but the track
beyond that was a mess and our whole group opted to spend time with the super
close Puffins and Razorbills rather than spend our two hours watching our feet
and trying not to fall over.
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| Puffins |
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Razorbill
|
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| Fulmar |
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| Fulmars - Rhona Richardson |
As before the comical encounters were exceptional and no one
left without a big smile. There were
birds all around and a pair of Arctic Skuas came in to try and get some
breakfast too.
I clambered up onto the top of the island to have my lunch
and sat in silence with just a family of Twite, singing Skylarks and ‘kipping’
Snipe for company. A Corncrake sing twice
and Bonxies circled before I clambered back down. It was soon time to go and so
we all met up and worked our way slowly back down to the boat.
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| Twite |
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| Twite |
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| Twite |
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| Twite |
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| Six Spot Burnet |
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| Bonxie |
The breeze had got up and the rain had started and the
journey back was somewhat damp. Grey
Seals digested on the rocks and Staffa loomed large ahead but the swell was too
great and we were not able to land this time but to be honest Fingle’s Cave and
the basalt columns look best whilst you at sea and I was not too upset at not
having to clamber up more steep steps!
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| Grey Seals |
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| Ioana |
Heavy rain continued and cancelled out the rest of the day
but we did stop to look at some Lesser Butterfly and Northern-type Marsh Orchids on the way back and
then see an Otter through the window whilst having our dinner.
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| Marsh Orchid |
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| Butterfly Orchid |
2nd July
This looked like it would be our one fine day so we headed
off after breakfast and back down to Fionnphort to catch the ferry over to
Iona. I had been told that the
Corncrakes were singing well around the hotel and Abbey and so I planned not to
be there all day. In fact we had heard
Corncrake within the first few minutes and they were singing almost all off the
time that we ambled around. Pop into
shop, go outside and listen to Corncrake, visit another shop and repeat. Jenny and Peter were lucky enough to see one
in the waist high meadow.
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| Maidenhair Spleenwort and Wall-Rue |
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| Bloody Cranesbill |
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| The big Elm |
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| Common Ploypody |
There were a few Painted Ladies and Red Admirals on the Hebe
and Willow Warblers and Sedge Warblers were in the garden edges where
Greenfinches wheezed and Sparrows chattered.
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| Dryad's Saddle |
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| Dryad's Saddle |
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| Painted Lady |
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| Painted Lady |
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| Red Admiral |
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| Bombus pascuorum |
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| House Sparrow |
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| Flapping |
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| In an puddle |
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| Willow Warbler |
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| Calliphora sp |
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| Meadow Cranesbill |
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| Beadlet Anemone and a Sponge |
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Beadlet Anemone, Limpet and a Sponge
|
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| The Abbey on Iona |
I was conscious of the sunny day opportunities and so we
left after a couple of hours and made our way back to Mull. We pulled off for
lunch by the little chapel on the shores of Loch Poit na h-l where Little Grebes
trilled and Common Gulls mewed. A
White-tailed Eagle flew through and some chunky Redpolls were being elusive in the
willows.
Back at Pennyghael we collected Jo and made our way up into
the hills where at last we could see the higher tops. I stopped first to look for Slender Scotch
Burnets but frustratingly only found Six Spots but there was a single SPB Frit
and a stunning Violet Ground Beetle.
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| Six Spot Burnet Moth |
Up at the Three Lochs viewpoint we got set up and began
scanning. Just a few minutes later a Golden Eagle appeared over the mid
distance ridge and I managed to get everyone onto it. It was not especially close but it was still a
Goldie. A family of well grown Goosanders were down on the middle loch.
We were treated to two further appearances including a spectacular
tumble and swoop before alighting on a crag.
Our eagle gamble had paid off. The
cloud was descending so we retraced our route back to Loch Beg where we enjoyed
time with broods of both Whinchat and Stonechat and witnessed a rather amazing
White-tailed Eagle encounter. A huge
adult female was sat out on the saltmarsh when a 2cy dropped in and landed
right beside her. He was noticeably smaller
but both were obviously familiar with each other and the youngster proceeded to
lay day right next to what was presumably his mum. We left them to their reunion and made our way
back for dinner.
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| White-tailed Eagles |
3rd July
The weather conspired against us for most the day but any
day that begins with a White-tailed Eagle is a good one. The immature was still present on the
saltmarsh but was now much closer and was being mobbed by the local angry
Common Gulls.
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| White-tailed Eagle |
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| White-tailed Eagle |
White-tailed Eagle - Rhona Richardson
A pleasant walk was then taken at Ardura community forest which
was very quiet with just a few Tits, Treecreepers and Chiffchaffs. There were some lush Ferns and the little
stream had several small colonies of Water Crickets skating around and three
Red Deer fed across the main river in the fields.
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| Maidenhair Fern |
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| Cow-wheat |
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| Foxglove |
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| Marsh Thistle |
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| Dexisoma caninum |
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| Common Polypody |
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| Common Figwort |
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Red Deer
|
.JPG) |
| Water Cricket - Velia caprai |
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| Water Cricket - Velia caprai |
A stop alongside Craignure GC produced no more Eagles but
there was plenty to see with a mixed Arctic and Common Tern colony on a shingle
island where Common Gulls, Kittiwakes, Red-breasted Mergansers and Eiders loafed. A bonus breeding plumaged Black-throated Diver flew up the Sound of Mull.
Coffee and cake at Salen where a male Bullfinch was a
welcome addition before looping around to Loch Bee. The rain retuned and the temperature dropped
and the chance of some lovely Dragonflies and other inverts rapidly evaporated. Almost the only birds though were some much
appreciated Crossbills and although they were regularly seen and heard in eth
tall pines we could not find them perched up.
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| Riband Wave |
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| No newts or dragons this time |
From here we came back on the Loch Na Keal road passing another
adult White-tailed Eagle on an island on the way but the road was otherwise
quiet. We did stop at the high pass once
again and enjoyed excellent views of the mega eaglet again but this time both
adults came in although neither actually bright the screaming chick anything.
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| White-tailed Eagle |
A Dipper was found on the fast flowing river and Wheatears
and Stonechats were noted as we descended back down to Loch Scridain where a
big dog Otter was seen briefly and Mistle Thrush was added to the list. As we neared Loch Beg a much deserved female
Hen Harrier appeared beside us and quartered the bracken before gliding across
in front of the van and out over the tidal flats where Oystercatchers went
crazy.
.jpg) |
| Hooded Crow - Rhona Richardson |
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| The adult Northern Wheatears were incredibly tatty - Rhona Richardson |
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| Dipper |
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Quite simply the biggest bull Highland I have even seen and brindled too!
MacROMEO! |
Somehow despite the weather we had managed to experience
almost everything we could have hoped for.
The next morning we packed up early and started the long
journey back south although the ferry had door problems and could not let off the incoming passengers but the problem was soon resolved and we were able to leave Mull behind us. Clouds of Moon Jellyfish pulsed alongside the jetty as we boarded. Perhaps on the next
trip I will get some proper sunshiny days!
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