     
     
 
April 2019
29th and 30th April
No
tours so Pam and I have been
catching up on more new
arrivals including, Black
Tailed Godwit, Whinchat and
Blackcap. We also caught up
with, at last, a Short Eared
Owl at 9pm on the 29th.
Another bird that we saw was
the lovely Reed Bunting in the
photo below, we have a soft
spot for Reed buntings as they
were the first bird we
identified for ourselves when
we started birding, many moons
ago. It is raining a little
this evening and we do need
the water after over 3 weeks
without any but we hope now
the rain has started in knows
when to stop, on Mull it can
be all or nothing (Small
Faces) that was for Blake and
Sheila. The first of May (Bee
Gees) tomorrow and we are
going to Iona to see if there
are any Corncrakes in yet,
watch this space.
28th April
My first tour of the year with a
lovely group of guests. We had a good
start with Redshank, Common Sandpiper and
a Black-tail Godwit coming into summer
plumage and the next few stops found lots
of Red Deer, hinds and stags. At mornng
coffee we watched over the Golden Eagle
area hoping to see a change over of birds
on the nest, we were entertained in the
field behind us with Linnet, Wheatear,
Meadow Pipit and another Common Sandpiper.
As we were about to pack up and leave I
saw an Eagle flying towards the hill side
and landing but this was a White-tail
Eagle, a second one followed it in and
soon the male Golden Eagle got up to see
them off, my guests were delighted as they
tallon grasped in the sky before the
White-tails were sent packing off down the
loch. The Goldie then landed on a rock
giving us great views before going to the
nest and doing a change over with the
female on the nest. Around the corner we
found one of the White-tail Eagles sitting
out on an island and I soon picked up an
Otter in the water swimming towards us,
when it reached the shore it dissapeared,
maybe just curled up on the rocks and went
to sleep. The day got cooler later on but
my guests enjoyed a bit of sea watching at
the end of the day with Gannets,
Guilimots, Shags and Shearwaters seen.
(Pam)
26th and
27th April
Still not feeling great but
managed to get my lawns mowed and the
garden birds fed. Sarah Barry, a young,
old friend called to see us and she has
hardly changed since we last saw her, she
is just as delightful as ever and still as
enthusiastic about wildlife. It was nice
to meet her boyfriend Justin, and enjoy a
lovely lunch and catch up with them both,
it turns out that Justin had done a
Spitzbergen trip like we did last year and
knew where all the best wildlife spots
were, it was great comparing notes. As I
am still feeling rough Pam is doing
tomorrows tour.
25th April
My friend and neighbour Nick has
shared man flu with me which has prevented
me from getting out as often as I would
like although this morning I did manage 3
hours birding and saw my first Sedge
Warbler , Common Whitethroat, Wood Warbler
and Cuckoo of the year, so its not all
bad.
24th April
Pam and I both saw the
Grasshopper Warbler this morning and I
also saw my first Linnets of the year
taking my Mull year list to 116 species of
bird.
23rd April
A tour today with Golden and
White-tailed Sea Eagle seen as was an
Otter, Red Deer and Seals but I had a
great day seeing a Common Redstart, a bird
I didn't see last year and a gorgeous bird
to see. The tour was very successful but I
was on cloud nine particularly as it was
such an unexpected spot in an area you
would not expect to see Redstart. It was
noticable that the good weather over
Easter has brought in many migrants and
most of our Winter migrants have now moved
off to their northern breeding grounds.
Pam heard a Grasshopper Warbler at Dervaig
reedbeds this morning and I will try and
get a view of one tomorrow.
Grandchildren up for Easter, no
birding allowed?????
17th
April
A tour birding today with guests
just wanting anything we could see with
just one request for a Golden Eagle if
possible. I love these tours when there is
no pressure to find certain species but
guests just pleased to see anything. Today
we saw 56 Species of birds including 3
White-tailed Sea Eagles, 2 Golden Eagles
and a male Hen Harrier, 4 mammals
including Otter and Red Deer and 3 Slow
worms. I saw my first Common Sandpiper of
the year and first Willow Warbler, other
notable sightings were Manx Shearwaters in
large numbers with quite a few
Guilliemots, Kittiwakes and a single
Gannet of Cailaich Point. A dipper was
seen as were 2 Grey Wagtails as the wind
dropped so migration has started in
earnest.
16th
April
A tour in less windy conditions
and try as I might I could not find an
Otter today but we saw a very good Golden
Eagle which I spotted as it flew in front
of a hill and as luck would have it the
bird landed and I got the telescope on it
and my guests had brilliant views of all
its spectacular colours. a very good
White-tailed Sea Eagle today and both
types of Deer, the Fallow Deer an
excellent spot by Rebecca one of my
guests. I had two new birds for the year
today, my first Swallow and a Grey
Wagtail, this brings my Mull year list up
to 110 species, a little down on this time
last year as we had fewer rarities on Mull
this winter and so I will have to try and
catch up in the Autumn.
15th April
A day at home as it was very
windy and I had no tour and I had to go
and help my neighbour out with her water
supply.
14th
April
Another tour in very, very
windy, cold conditions and when asked all
my guest really wanted was Otter and after
that anything else we could see. It took
most of the day but in the end we did get
a very good Otter, it was in the only area
of the tour where we were completely out
of the wind and it was eating a really
large fish with Hooded Crows and a Herring
Gull looking on enviously. despite the
wind we still saw 48 species of birds and
Mammals including a good but distant
Golden Eagle, Red Deer and both types of
Seal although for me the sighting of the
day was the summer plumaged Slavonian
Grebe really lovely in its breeding
plumage.
!3th April
This morning after feeding the
birds in the garden and going up to check
our water supply I helped Pam move stuff
out of the Sheiling, our smaller
self-catering cottage which we had stored
in there over winter for a friend. The
hardest job was moving a double bed
mattress which was bulky and heavy and
with my arms still stretched from
yesterday they were now crying out in
anguish. Where have all my muscles gone
since I have given up farming, I feel like
Sampson after he had his hair cut off by
Delilah, no strength. In my retirment I
must work on that. A new bird for the year
appeared in the garden today, a Pied
Wagtail, and very smart it was too.
12th April
A trip to Oban to visit a friend
in hospital, a trip to Oban from Dervaig
takes up most of the day as you leave
early to catch the ferry and don't return
until after 5 o'clock as visiting times
are 2 till 4 but it was worth it as our
friend looked a lot better than we thought
she would which was a big plus. Not a lot
of wildlife to report except for a fairly
large hurry of Gulls seen from the ferry
but too distant to identify, a single
Gannet flying very low over the water, a
few kittiwakes, Black Guilliemots and
Razorbills. My arms have grown a couple of
inches from carrying a bag full of goodies
from the health food shop, many thanks to
the kind lady in the shop for allowing us
to leave our bags there when we walked up
th the hospital.
!1th April
A tour today and Golden Eagles
stole the show with a total of 5 being
seen in the day with a couple of really
good sightings and not just dots on the
horizon. However it was the 2 Otters seen
at the end of the day that really pleased
my guests and I have to say they were
really good value and not too distant even
climbing on to the top of an island to
give us a last profile look before
dissappearing over the top but forever
locked in my guests memory. Another
sighting of Bullfinches in the same tree
as before was enjoyed by all, myself
included and all in all it was a lovely
tour with very good spotters and
appreciative guests.
10th
April
Today I left Arthur at home
cleaning the self-catering windows and had
a day out with my swimming friends. We
took the Tobermory ferry over to Kilchoan
and drove to Sanna Bay where we had a
lovely swim in the beautiful sunshine, the
sea temperature is around 11 degrees now.
Afterwards we warmed our selves up with
hot soup and sandwiches and a bracing walk
along the beach looking at some lovely
wild flowers and fabulous geology in the
rocks around the bay, Coltsfoot
and dyke pictured,.
We then drove around to the Ardnamurchan
Lighthouse for tea and cakes in the little
cafe and wonderful views of Mull, Coll and
the small isles. I saw my first Manx
Shearwaters of the year as well as plenty
of Razorbills and Guillemots and 2 Harbour
Porpoise. We had a lovely day and didn't
know when we planned it 2 weeks ago that
we had chosen the best day of the year so
far.
April 9th
A tour today and what a start to
the tour season, Bottlenose Dolphins,
there might only have been 2 of them but
they were close inshore and my guests had
great views, no boat required. Double the
number of Dolphins and that was how many
Otters we saw, 2 of them really close and
2 more distant but they all count. Red
Deer, White-tailed Sea Eagles and a
distant Golden Eagle were seen as were
Buzzards, Kestrel and a Sparrowhawk which
was a brilliant spot by one of my guests.
Other notable sighting were Bullfinches,
Slavonian Grebe in summer plumage,
Goosander, Red breasted Mergansers and
Wheatear. My guests were great fun and
made for a great day out with over 50
species seen during the tour.
April 8th
We went to Tobermory this
morning as the car had to have the
tracking checked at the garage, so we took
the oportunity to go for a walk into Aros
Park from the Tobermory car park and back
by the main road. The idea was to take
Lucy for a decent walk and maybe see a
Chiffchaff and also for Pam and I to get
some excercise. In the event Lucy got her
decent walk, we saw a chiffchaff and now
my knees and hips are crying out for help,
me I'm just crying out. In Aros Park I
took a photo of a Rhodadendron tree
covered in lovely red flowers and on the
way home a picture of this pair of Canada
Geese which at the current rate of
breeding will soon outnumber the Greylag
Geese on Mull.
April 7th
No time for birding today as we
are getting ready for the season to start
so we were busy and one job we had was
taking some furniture to a friend as we
have been storing it in one of our self
catering cottages over winter for her but
now need the cottage ourselves. On our way
to her house we saw that some early
tourists were in trouble on our single
track roads, a word of caution if you
cannot reverse very well give youself
plenty of room and use the passing places
provided in plenty of time and save
yourself grief from locals. The other
thing you should do is keep an eye on
people coming up behind you as locals are
not on holiday and need to get to work so
stop and allow them to pass and remember
drive like you would on double roads and Stay
on the left side of the road even if the
passing place is on the right.
April 6th
Out at dawn to see what was
about and found plenty of Red Deer, they
were everywhere and there werealso lots of
Buzzards just waking up sitting on
favorite perches waiting for their day to
begin. Afew Manx Shearwaters passing by
Cailaich Point with some Auks and
Kittiwakes and a single Gannet. It was
lovely to be out with nobody else about
just me the views and birdsong. The views
over the Small Isles was particularly
special and I felt at peace in my own
world away from all the brexit news, if
you can you should try it. In the
afternoon Pam and I had a great sighting
of a Male Hen Harrier hunting in Glen
Bellart, another special Mull moment.
April 5th
Today I saw my first Peregrine
Falcon of the year on Mull, not on the
hills or tall buildings as you might
expect but in our field just outside the
garden, although it was a great sighting
for us one of our garden birds was not so
lucky as when the Peregrine flew off it
had prey in its talons, only a titbit but
prey none the less. Our friends Meg and
Stephen leave tomorrow so they called in
for a cup of tea with us and saw one of
our Yellowhammers in the garden and thus
taking their week on Mull list to an
impressive 82 species of birds. I had some
garden work to do today so I was too busy
to get out and about so the Peregrine in
the morning was a welcome surprise.
April 4th
A day out and 59 bird species
seen and also mammals, the highlight being
Hare of which we saw 3 in total, we also
saw 3 Otters, Common and Grey Seals, Red
Deer and Rabbits. The bird species seen
included White-tailed Sea Eagles, Golden
Eagles, Hen Harriers incuding a great view
of a male. We saw a large flock of Golden
Plover and another flock of Ringed Plover,
22 Whooper swans landed on a Loch joining
the Tufted Ducks and Goldeneye already
there. Another great sighting was of 2 Red
Legged Partridge which flew down the road
in front of the van, that is the beauty of
birding you never know what might turn up.
I think that this was the first time I
have seen Red Legged Partidge on Mull. My
other highlight of the day were the pair
of Red Throated Divers which we saw in a
place I have not been to on Mull for a
couple of years. Finally at another rarely
visited spot we saw a lovely pair of
Wheatear, it was a great day out with
friends and something I am looking forward
to doing more of in my retirment. Todays
photo's were taken by our friend Alan 'Mullbirds'
Spellman who joined us on our day out.
April 3rd
Woke up to rain and high winds
so apart from going to Tobermory to fill
up the mini-van and order some bird seed I
did little in the way of birding but hope
to make up for it tomorrow when we go out
birding with friends.
April 2nd
Our first tour of the season and
although it was cool at times it was a
much better day than had been forecast. We
were very soon watching a very obliging
Otter which was catching and eating fish
in the sea and then caught a big Crab and
brought it on to land to eat and for once
it came out where we could see it very
well in the scopes. We were also able to
enjoy Slavonian Grebes, Great Northern
Divers, Red Breasted Mergansers, and 2
White-tailed Sea Eagles when not watching
the Otter, we even had time to enjoy
coffee and buiscuits, the guests were well
chuffed and stuffed. Red Deer, Fallow Deer
and Common Seal and in the afternoon it
was Golden Eagles that took centre stage
and they performed equally as well as the
Otter had in the morning, doing what
Eagles do, not fishing. Other great
sightings of the day, Bullfiches,
Redwings, Sand Martins and a White
Wagtail, the latter two my first of the
year.
April 1st
Steam cleaned the kitchen floor
for most of the day but have finished at
last, I made a pretty good job of it even
if I say so myself. The problem with doing
a good job is that my wife now wants me to
do more rooms and they say a woman's work
is never done, what about us men?. I
notice that if I look hard enough that the
grass on the lawn is starting to grow and
it will be the lawn needs mowing, then of
course its the end of winter and it's
light later and Pam will notice the
windows will need cleaning, and then of
course I am still doing the tours, its no
wonder I am retiring, I need more time to
do the chores ....... coming
darling.
(Hasn't he noticed what day it is, he he
he. Pam)
April 2018
April 30th
Another beautiful day for
a tour and as soon as we pulled in
for morning coffee an Otter appeared
swimming to a seaweedy rock and
staying there for the whole of our
coffee break first cleaning itself
then going back into the water and
catching a huge fish which it ate
watched over by a hungry heron who
was trying to work out how to get
his share of the catch. Meanwhile
the Golden Eagle flew, the Seals
lazed on the rocks and the cuckoo
called. Unfortunatly I had managed
to park the bus (Pam by the way
today) in a rather sticky patch of
mud and got stuck when I tried to
reverse out so thanks to all my
guests for getting out and giving me
a little advice and a big push. (Two
wheel drive, Arthurs said I should
have reversed in) Our first
White-tail Eagle was sitting in the
top of the tree over looking it's
nest and our second was in her nest
feeding a small chick. Whilst
watching our 3rd Golden Eagle the
cuckoo called again but this time it
came and sat on wires close by, a
first for some of my guests. The
Whimbrel was seen again today along
with Curlew, Wheatears and
Stonechat.
April 29th
A beautiful day for a tour
and we had a really good morning
with all Mull's specialist species
seen by noon. We had a Red Deer stag
and Hen Harrier in the first half
hour and at coffee break we saw a
flying Golden eagle and 2 White-tail
Eagles, both types of seal,
Slavonian Grebe and Great northern
Diver, we didn't know which way to
look. After coffee we stopped to
look for an Otter and we thought
there wasn't one there until an
eagle eyed guest saw one come down
from a burn and across the shingle
and sand and slink under the
seaweed. We watched the Otter for 20
minutes during which time a
White-tail Sea Eagle appeared being
mobbed by a crow and a Buzzard.
Birds of the day: Whimbrel, a first
for some of my guests, and a grand
total of 5 Cuckoos, these were my
first Cuckoos on Mull this year.
April 28th
It was change over day in the
self-catering so it was routine jobs today
although I did manage to put off mowing
the lawns for one more week as we had a
severe ground frost last night which the
grass did not appreciate. Lucy was a
little stir crazy this afternoon so we had
to go out and play games with her she
enjoys this a lot and tears round the
garden for all she is worth, we have to
laugh at her antics. Although she is
getting a little more confidence
particularly in her own space she still
baulks at any strange or sudden noises. On
the other hand she is coming on leaps and
bounds (literally) with her training she
now does jumps that is small fences and
sits on a small stand and will now stay,
all this is done in the confines of the
garden, we dare not let her off the lead
out of the garden as one loud bang and she
would be on the mainland.
April 27th
A tour today in quite good if a
little cold weather, the Eagles seemed to
think so as we saw quite a few Golden and
White-tailed sea Eagles with some
excellent views. We saw a good but distant
Otter, maybe even 2 but with Golden Eagles
flying up behind us and White-tailed Sea
Eagles flying in front of us and the
Otter(s) out on the skerries I could not
look in 3 places at once. Red Deer
including a stag were seen in good numbers
with both types of Seal also seen well.
The highlight of my day was my first
Whinchat of the year, this is a beautiful
little bird and I always look forward for
its return to Mull. Another good sighting
was the flying male Eider Duck and I also
had a brief Hen Harrier sighting which I
don't think any of my guests picked up.
April 25th & 26th
A couple of days birding for myself and on a walk with Pam & Lucy, the
pup, through Aros Park we found our first
Chiffcaff (picture right) of the year
along with a Willow Warbler (picture left)
and this lovely Azalea in full bloom.
Whilst on a hunt around Killichronan woods
for new arrival of migrants I found this
close but secretive Fallow Deer.
April 24th
A walk to Langamull Beach this
morning with Pam and Lucy, it was lovely
and just a few photos of the walk to wet
your Mull appetites.
April 23rd
A tough day to be taking out a
tour and so it proved on many levels.
Firstly the weather was not great, even at
the start of the day, and it got worse and
secondly they are doing much needed
roadworks where we were told it would be a
15 minute break and after waiting
patiently for 15 minutes we were told it
would be at least another 45 minutes
meaning we had to do a different tour or
just hang around. We were on our way to
have a closer look at a White-tailed Sea
Eagle we had seen in a tree from across
the Loch but that idea had to be abandoned
and due to the weather we did not see
another. We did see a Golden Eagles head
as it sat on its nest and Red Deer and
Common Seals but for most of the day we
were looking for Otter. We had seen one
briefly at the beginning of the day but
some guests missed it and were desperate
to see one. We looked everywhere and not
another to be seen until returning to the
place where the Otter had been seen in the
morning on our way back home it reappeared
and just like this morning after a brief
cameo it dissappeared again but not before
all my guests had seen it well through the
telescope. On a personal view whilst
looking for Otters I did see a Common
Scoter a regular but not common Duck for
Mull to add to my Mull year list.
April
22nd
A tour today in breezy wet
conditions but that did not stop us having
a great day out with both types of Deer
Red and Fallow seen as well as Common and
Grey Seals and lets not forget the Rabbits
although it was the very good Otter that
our guests were most pleased to see. We
saw 50 species of birds with Eider Ducks,
Goosander, and breeding plumage Great
Northern Divers being standouts. It was
however at tea break when the rain stopped
for that the bird sightings of the day
happened, firstly a Short Eared Owl being
mobbed by Hooded Crows at close quarters
and then 6 Hooded Crows playing a game
with some white plastic tube or were they
just highlighting the dangers of plastic
in the wild. The day could not have ended
on a much better note but it did when a
Golden Eagle appeared being mobbed by not
just a male Hen Harrier but also a Short
Eared Owl with all three in the shot
together, another WOW moment in Mulls
world. The day ended with our local
White-tailed Sea Eagle feeding its young
(bless).
April 21st
It is Saturday and we have no
tour as it is change over day in our
self-catering and as it is the Mull music
festival weekend we did not want to
venture to far out with Lucy who is still
not to great with lots of people and
surprises. On this basis I stayed close to
home only going down to the end of Loch
Cuin and across the road from Ardrioch to
the side of Loch Cuin and in and around
our garden. In total I saw 27 different
bird species and 2 Mammals, 3 if you count
Lucy but I was only counting the wild ones
like this Red Deer in our field. My
particular favorite was our Yellowhammer
and an amusing Dunnock a bird often
overlooked which was playing hide and seek
in the Daffodils.
April 20th
No Dolphins on todays tour but
nobody minded (much) because today we had
an Otter, a very good Otter. Today we also
had not one, not two but 3 Great Skuas and
3 Gannets and a Kittiewake and one
Black-tailed Godwit and 15 lovely Golden
Plover. Birds of prey included Golden
Eagle, White-tailed Sea Eagle, Hen
Harrier, Sparrowhawk, Kestrel, Buzzard and
a very fast fleeting view of a Merlin
which flew righy in front of the van.
Blackcap was seen for the second tour
running this is becoming habitual (not).
Red Deer were seen in good numbers as were
Common Seal and also getting the seal of
approval were Great Northern Divers and
breeding plumaged Slavonian Grebe. Pam
came on todays tour and showed she has
lost none of her spotting skills.
April 19th
A tour and the pictures say it all. Bottle-nose
Dolphins, Black-tail Godwit and
Short-eared Owl. We saw 62 bird species
and 5 Mammals but no Otter but because the
Dolphins were so good nobody minded
(much). A pair of Blackcap were seen
not a usual bird for a Discover Mull Tour
and my first of the year, I also saw my
first Willow Warbler of the year soon they
will be everywhere. Whilst we were
watching the Dolphins a Great Skua flew
through another good sighting which will
be surpassed tomorrow (so you now know I
am late with this blog). Whimbrel drew
lots of oos and aars as it was a first for
some of my guests. Raptors seen were
Golden and White-tailed Eagles, Hen
harrier, Buzzard, Kestrel and Sparrowhawk.
We had great views of a flying Snipe but
the only thing that came close to usurping
the Dolphins was the great view of 2 day
flying Short Eared Owls. Thanks to all my
guests great spotters one and all and more
importantly good fun. GREAT DAY
April 18th
Pam and I took Lucy to dog
training today and according to Moira the
trainer, Pam and I are coming on slowly
but Lucy is doing great. I told Pam if I
got as many treats as Lucy I might be
doing great to, judging by the look I got
she didn't agree.
April 17th
A tour in very inclement weather
which my guests bore with stoical good
humour and grace and they were rewarded
with good Eagle sightings and more
although it was not my best tour, thank
goodness for the hot soup and sandwiches.
(to avoid confusion the sandwiches were
not hot).
April 16th
A trip out with friends and
enjoyed by all.
April 15th
Today I went out with Pete and
Jenny who are friends from Cheshire who
are staying with us for the week, they
house sit for us and do change overs in
the self-catering when we go away in the
Summer. We went out for a drive round
today and had a spectacular sighting of a
Peregrine falcon chasing after a hapless
Rock Dove and they both flew past us
really close twice as the Dove tried to
evade capture, it was certainly one of
those WOW wildlife moments. My report says
Rock Dove (Good escaping tactics)
Peregrine Falcon (Hunting tactics need
work) Every now and then you do something
pretty special and don't get the
recognition you deserve, this is what
happened to a hunting Sparrowhawk which
flew past us, not quite as close, not
quite as fast but a great sighting never
the less but it only make a splash as the
Peregrine was just so much more
spectacular, bad luck mate. Todays photo
of a very obliging Sand Martin on a power
line.
April 14th
I went into Tobermory for fuel
today and on my way in I saw a Reed
Bunting in scrub along the Mishnish Lochs
and managed a quick photo before a car
came up behind me. On the return journey I
spotted a lovely Grey Wagtail on telephone
wires and this time I was able to
photograph it using my telescope. at Loch
Torr I saw my first Sand Martins of the
year, migration appears to be slow again
this year but with warmer weather forecast
it could speed up next week. I think our
local White-tailed Sea Eagles have hatched
their chicks as I thought I saw feeding on
the nest when I went to check our water
supply this morning. Finally when walking
Lucy across the road to the Loch I had a
very good female Hen Harrier sighting.
April 13th
The weather today certainly
lived up to Friday the Thirteenth, colder
and wetter the Mull we all know and love,
a great day for a tour. Well it turned out
it was with all Mulls special species seen
including 2 Otters at a spot I have not
seen Otters in for 4 years, let's hope
they remain there for the summer. I am now
going for an early night to recover from 2
wonderfull weeks of Grandchildren,
ZZZZZZZZ
April 12th
Today was the last full day with
the family so we took a picnic up to
Cailaich Point for a spot of Sea watching,
it was the first day of Spring weatherwise
with temperatures soaring to 17 degrees
and sunshine all day. Highlight bird seen
on the sea watch had to be the Great Skua
spotted by Pam, our first on Mull this
year. we also saw Manx Shearwaters,
Gannet, Razorbills, Guilliemots, Black
Guilliemots, Great Northern Divers and
Shags. Another highlight was a flock of 8
Whooper swans migrating north between Mull
and Coll a lovely sight to see. This
afternoon I left the girls playing with
Lucy as I went to have 40 winks,
Grandchildren can be quite exhausting for
this Grandpa. Ps They went Swimming in the
sea again today, anyone know any good
doctors as I am sure they need treatment.
April 11th
Pam did todays tour and I took
the girls out to look for Otters, we found
a very good one and the girls were great
as the otter was very close but just for
once in a week they kept quiet and so did
not disturb the Otter from eating its
Crab. Pam had a great day seeing very good
White-tailed Sea Eagles, 2 Golden Eagles,
Hen Harrier, an Otter and Red Deer amongst
a variety of other Mull wildlife. In the
evening we took the girls to the Hebridean
Lodge restaurant in Tobermory, we also
took their Mum as she had been a very good
girl. The menu was very grown up and I
think the girls felt a wee bit special,
they were very well behaved and did not
leave a scrap of food on their plates.
thanks to Helen for providing us with such
a good meal.
April 10th
A cold but dry day with winds coming in
from the East so Pam and our daughter
Becky WENT SEA SWIMMING?????? mad or
what. Later Pam went to the Bank bus
and I took Becky and the girls to Calgary
where we saw Bottle Nose Dolphins, now
these are Mammals that should be in the
sea on a cold morning in April.
April 9th
A day out with our Becky (our
daughter) and the girls and although some
of us, ie the smaller girls, got very
cold. A good time was had by all including
Lucy even though she found the day tiring
and went to sleep in her cage as we were
having lunch. On our walk we saw some
Hares, check out the photo, a Grey Seal
and a White-tailed Sea Eagle. As I have
put a few photographs of cattle on the
blog recently I thought I would redress
the balance with a picture of a mum with
two new born lambs having lunch before we
got ours. On the way to our walk I saw a
Carrion Crow, a very rare bird on Mull as
we have Hooded Crows, my Grandchildren
were very amused when I got excited by a
Crow, even when I tried to explain the
significence. Oh well, you can't win them
all, I don't understand their horrific
taste in music.
April 8th
A tour today in perfect
conditions but to prove Winter is not
quite over there were a lot of Redwings
around on Mull today, these winter
Thrushes are gathering before travelling
North to breed. Eight Golden Eagles seen
today including a juvenile still hanging
around its birth territory and proving my
guests with great views through the scope
thanks to it white underwing and tail
markings. Size comparrison for the Eagle
was given by a very persistent female Hen
Harrier which was constantly mobbing the
young Eagle and it made for a great
spectacle. We saw 2 White-tailed Sea
Eagles one in a tree and one flew over our
heads and we also had good sightings of
Red Deer including stags and both Common
and Grey Seals. Sighting of the day for me
was of a full breeding plumaged Slavonian
Grebe it was a beautiful bird and well
worth seeing. Other notable sightings were
Grey wagtail and an Iceland Gull and I got
a better if not brilliant photo of a
Wheatear.
April 7th
A short trip to cailaich Point
with the family and Pam saw her first
Wheatear and we both saw our first
Guilliemot for 2018. there were lots of
Meadow Pipits and Skylarks and a good view
of a Kestrel.
Firstly, a big thank you to all
of yesterdays guests for their patience
and perseverance in some very trying
conditions weatherwise. It was raining
heavily at the start of the day and it was
raining heavily at the end of the day with
little or no respite in between. My guests
were rewarded with a record number of Hen
Harriers ever seen on one Discover Mull
Tour, it is no coincidence we have no
Grouse shooting estates on Mull but have
lots of Hen Harriers, draw your own
conclusions. Against all odds and the
weather conditions we saw a Golden Eagle
being harried by a Raven giving good size
comparrison, my guests were, in modern
parlance, well pleased. They were more
than well pleased with the Otter we saw
and which put on a great display just for
us as no one in their right minds would be
out in the weather conditions unless they
had to be. We also saw a White-tailed Sea
Eagle on a distant nest, difficult to see
throgh the rain and a particularly
troublesome branch which partially cover
the view but as it was blowing in the wind
it was a case of now you see it now you
don't. Red Deer were seen as we approached
Tobermory at the end of the tour. My
highlights today were my first Wheatears
of the year and also my first Manx
Shearwaters and a very close Gannet which
dived into the water after food right in
front of our eyes. We had afternoon tea at
our house in the warm and dry and my
guests were able to watch all our garden
birds in comfort and warmth, to put it
mildly they were well pleased.
April 5th
Today I took Pam around our tour
patch to show her where I am seeing
'stuff' ('stuff' is a birding term for
wildlife ) I don't know why but there it
is. We visited the sewage outfalls when we
were out for a last chance for Pam to see
an Iceland Gull before it goes back north
and luckily for her, and me, we saw it and
whats more I got a half decent photo of it
flying. At Gruline Church we saw 4
Bullfinches another bird I had seen this
year but Pam had not so I got myself a lot
of Brownie Points, but as a male friend of
mine once said he never seems to get to
redeem them before they seem to expire. On
the original reason for the trip we saw
Hen Harriers, Golden Eagles, White-tailed
Sea Eagles, Red Deer, Fallow Deer, Common
Seal, the only Mull specialist we did not
see was Otter but we were only out for 3
hours and that included the walk to the
outfalls. One last word at the outfalls we
saw the female Gadwall and managed a not
too clever photo but a better one of a
pair of Shelduck which was also there.
April 4th
I spent time out and about today
and although I did not see too much
wildlife to get you off your seat I did
see a lot of stuff to be very glad I had
made the effort. To begin with the views
were spectacular after yesterdays snow as
you can see from the photos of Beinne More
and Rhum, Beinne More was taken from
Tostary and Rhum from the Cailaich road.
Also at Cailaich I took the picture of the
herd of Highland Cows and Calves as they
walked up the road towards me, I love
seeing the Cailaich Highland herd as they
are in such a great setting. At Cailaich
Point there was this single Lapwing in a
field with Oystercatchers and I took the
photograph before 3 others joined the
party. In a mixed flock of Meadow Pipits
and Skylarks I managed to get one photo of
a feeding Meadow Pipit the others were too
far away and I did not want to disturb
them so remained in the car. I did see 2
White-tailed sea Eagles feeding on an
island and took this picture through my
scope, it isn't great but you get the
picture. One other bit of wildlife that
was really worth seeing were the 4 long
staying Bar-tailed Godwits at
Killiechronan now coming into breeding
plumage. It is not just the wildlife that
makes Mull special, today it was just a
pleasure to be out. All the photos in the
first 4 days of April were taken today.
April 3rd
It rained all day with a lot of
snow on the hills so it was another clear
up day as we have to get ready for our
other grandchildren who are visiting this
weekend with our daughter as their dad
could not get time off work. Lucy was
relieved to have the house and us back to
herself today and between tidying the
house and cottage we gave her a lot of
time for training and fun, we had a lot of
fun too as she can get a little bit nuts.
April 2nd
My first full tour of the year
in perishing cold conditions due to a
strong easterly wind. During the day we
had fantastic views of displaying Hen
Harriers with 4, three females and a male,
seen during the day. White-tailed Sea
Eagles were seen very well, one flying
very close before landing near a juvenile
on some rocks, provoking gasps of pleasure
from some of my guests. As I was putting
the telescope on one of the Eagles I saw
an Otter swim past but due to the rough
seas and the unobliging Otter that was the
only sighting of an Otter today. Three
distant Golden Eagles were seen and other
birds of prey were Buzzards, of course,
and Kestrels. We had good views of Red
Deer stags, hinds and a couple of Fallow
Deer. Other notable sightings were the
Whimbrel at Salen and some very nice
Goldeneye Ducks.
April 1st
Happy Easter to all readers of
this blog. Todays Easter Egg hunt round
the garden went down very well with the
Grandchildren. Thanks to Richie our son
for his hard work on aga and boiler
servicing, fixing our neighbours water
supply and putting my music through to the
bedroom and other numerous small jobs.
Thanks also to my frustated
daughter-in-law Sheetal who once again
fixed up my ageing body and left me with
loads of instuctions and phyiso technices
to keep it fixed up, sorry love it
probably won't happen although I will try.
April 2017
April 30th
You know the saying about March
coming in like a Lion and out like a Lamb
well April was just the opposite it came
in like a Lamb but out like a Lion as
yesterday the wind was awful even though
it was much warmer. The tour started on a
very high note with a fantastic sighting
of the Golden Plover in breeding plumage
at one of our first stops, this was
followed at coffee break by 4 White-tailed
sea Eagles flying over our heads, my
guests were extatic. Apart from some good
Red Deer sightings, raptors and Otters
were proving difficult until after lunch I
spotted an Otter, not the best Otter I
have seen because of the very rough water
although through the scope it gave good
views if you could stand up. The day ended
with another Eagle which made my guests
day. Other sightings today great
Whimbrels, a beautiful Grey Wagtail and a
Dipper. Late news our local White-tailed
Sea eagle has hatched 2 chicks and our
Self catering guests saw both Hen Harrier
and Buzzard from our garden this morning
and I saw a lovely Redpoll this evening.
April 29th
Saturday and no tour today as it
is change over day in the self-catering
and after last night I did not feel up to
going out wildlife watching although we
did nip down to Dervaig to see the Sedge
Warbler. Pam spent the morning cleaning
cottages whilst I mowed all three lawns, I
have to say they now look a lot better
than I feel. I would just like to mention
the Hebridian Lodge, thanks to Helen and
our waitress for giving us such a fabulous
meal and a great evening.
April 28th
A tour today and we had
great views of Golden Eagles and
White-tailed Sea Eagles which were what
most of our guests wanted to see. I
managed to remember to take a few photos
today of Eider Ducks, a Whimbrel, a Black
Guillemot and a Slow Worm, we also had
great sightings of a Yellowhammer and
Great Northern Divers. Tonight we are
going out with friends to celebrate my
birthday so I don't expect to be up for
much tomorrow as Pam has offered to drive.
April 27thWe had to go to
Fort William today as our car had had
another recall from the manufacturers so
it had to go back to the dealership, this
was our 3rd recall in little over a year
and to put it mildly we are not amused. We
did manage a big shop at a large
supermarket so it was not a complete
wasted journey although the round trip is
125 miles and 4 ferry crossings so
although the work was done free it is
hardly free when you add up the transport
costs and the fact that you cannot do a
tour on the day so also lost earnings.
April 26th
Dentist-Root
canal
treatment that's enough said about today.
The dentist was great however.
April 25th
On todays tour if you were out
of the wind and not in a shower it was
fine, otherwise it was perishingly cold. A
slow start which was ok as my guests had
seen our close White-tailed Sea Eagle fly
over our house as they waited for me to
bring the mini-bus out, they also saw our
Hen harrier flying along the ridge at the
back of the house, I nearly felt
redundant. At coffee time however we saw 2
Golden Eagles giving great views a certain
first for some of my guests. Red Deer,
several Whimbrel, Swallows and Sand Martin
were to follow before a White-tailed Eagle
was spotted in a tree. As we were looking
for an Otter we hears and then spotted a
Cuckoo, the first of the year for me and a
lifetime first for my guests, see fuzzy
picture. After lunch an Otter was seen and
my guests were really delighted even
though some of them were hypothermic when
they got back into the bus. A Hen Harrier
was spotted before the end of the day and
we confimed hatching of our close WTSE as
they were both on the nest with the female
feeding young.
April 24th
Batten down the hatches, Winter
bit back with a vengeance today, gale
force winds from the north brought sleet,
hail, rain and snow on the hills, you name
it, we got it. No tour today thankfully as
it would not have been pleasant out there
and I am sure that birds with eggs or
chicks were having a terrible time. Our
garden was full of birds today looking for
food a plenty just to keep warm, Swallows
must be wondering if they got their timing
all wrong. Hoping for better tomorrow as I
do have a tour.
April 23rd
A tour today in cold but dry,
breezy conditions, my guests were very
keen, good spotters and very good fun so a
good day was had by all. Before I mention
the wildlife I have to mention Pam,
everyone on todays full tour had special
praise for the food and the very welcome
very hot soup at lunch time and the hot
drinks and biscuits and cake at coffee and
tea time. Our guests might come for the
wildlife but they certainly appreciate the
efforts she goes to to help them through
some early Spring days when the weather is
not very warm and made colder by the wind
chill. Todays highlights were White-tailed
sea Eagles and a brilliant Hen Harrier and
because they were all good spotters we all
saw the Golden eagle if it only hung about
for a minute or so. Red Deer were seen as
were lots of Seal although no Otters seen
today but not for lack of trying.
April 22nd
A quiet
day wildlife watching as I had to do
some fencing on the farm and my mate
from next door came and gave me a
hand, well he did most of the work and
I was his gofor. You know what that
intails, gofor the posts, gofor the
staples, gofor the hammer, gofor the
wire cutters, hit that post but watch
my fingers etc. Nick did a great job
but as a gofor I was a little slow,
put it down to age. On the wildlife
front Pam and I went out into our wood
to look for the Tree Pipit to
photograph, we did not see it but our
nearby White-tailed Eagle flew over
our heads and as I had the camera I
had to take a photo of it, well
would'nt you?
April 21st
An early visitor to the garden
today a Great Spotted Woodpecker on the
nut feeder, a lovely way to start the day.
Pam and I went down to the Reedbed at
Dervaig early this morning and heard our
first Sedge Warbler of the year although
we could not see it but we did see a Reed
Bunting. The early morning cocophony of
birdsong with noboby else around was a joy
to behold. The photos of the Red Deer and
cock Pheasant were taken on our way back
from Calgary Bay also this morning.
Working on the water supply and lawn
mowing for the rest of the day.
April 20th
A tour today with a lot of low
cloud and drizzle although the day kicked
off well with a pair of Red Throated
Divers and a pair of late staying
Goldeneye at our first stop. Sand Martins
and a nice Willow Warbler at the next stop
and a White-tailed Sea Eagle in a tree
seen as the weather deteriorated. At
coffee break we saw our first Red Deer of
the day, a distant Kestrel and to my
complete surprize a Golden Eagle flew and
even if it was a brief sighting mainly
below the skyline all my guests saw it.
The weather closed in for most of the rest
of the morning but Common Seal were seen
and some nice little birds and more Red
Deer. It was in the afternoon that the
best sightings of the day were seen as the
cloud lifted, we had a great view of a
White-tailed Sea Eagle and a fantastic
Otter which gave us half an hour of
entertainment as it fished, ate, fished,
ate, well you get the picture. There are
still a lot of Great Northern Divers about
coming into breeding plumage and I saw my
first Tree Pipit of the day at Ardrioch.
April 19th
A pair of Barn swallows flying
over the house this morning will
hopefully be the pair that nest in
our shed. At Dervaig this afternoon Pam
and I saw our first Common Sandpiper of
the year, yes it is the one in the
photograph. At Cailaich Point today we saw
a White-tailed Sea Eagle harassing a flock
of Gulls following a fishing vessel, it
had a couple of abortive attempts to catch
a gull before eventually succeeding, it
was all very exciting for us but not so
for the unfortunate Gull, nature in the
raw. Todays results White-tailed Eagle 1
Gull 0.
April 18th
Although
todays tour was very good with brilliant
White-tailed sea Eagles seen as well as
Golden Eagles, Red Deer, Seals and much
more it was the Otters that took centre
stage. A mother and cub Otter were out
in the water when an inquizative Common
Seal appeared on the scene, the mum
Otter took her cub to the safety of high
ground but the Seal followed until the
Otters disappeared. We moved to another
spot where we could look for Eagles but
still see where the Otters were last
seen. A while later one of my guests saw
the Otters again but closer to where we
were and as they swam out the Seal
reappeared and once again the mum took
the cub to higher ground. This time
however she turned and faced off the
Seal at the waters edge before going
into the water to have a go, the Seal
moved away but as the mum returned to
the cub the Seal turned and came back
but did not attempt to climb out of the
water. The Otters waited for some time
and the Seal lost interest so the Otters
hunted in peace for a while before
having a snooze. A while later the Seal
returned and proceeded to hug the
coastline as if it was looking for the
Otters, eventually it gave up and went
back out to sea. The Otters then went
out to a location from where I got my
fuzzy photo mum catching a crab as they
did so, the cub in the picture is eating
the Crab whilst mum has a bit of peace
after the traumatic exchange. All of
this took place over the period of about
an hour and I don't know what the Seals
intentions were but it was behaviour I
had never seen before and mum Otter was
taking no chances.
April 17th
I went out
this morning and all in all it was very
quiet considering for once the weather
forecasters had got it right and it was
beautiful. I did however hear and see my
first Willow Warbler of the year which
means the air will soon be full of
Willow Warbler song as they arrive en
masse. The Yellowhammer at Eas Force has
gone missing perhapse its mate did not
turn up this year, I wonder why?? This
afternoon I weedkilled around the solar
panels as I don't want them shaded on
the day when the sun comes out.
White-tailed Sea Eagles should start
hatching chicks any day now and the
action will begin.
April 16th
Happy Easterto my readers. I
was up at silly o'clock this morning and
in Tobermory looking for new birds for my
year list and although I could not find
the Magpie I did see my first Blackcap of
the year in Aros Park. As you get older
you are not only wiser??? but you realise
that silly o'clock starts mean you are
very tired in the late afternoon, this did
not happen when I was younger. It is
supposed to be a very nice day tomorrow so
I have plans, watch out weeds around the
Solar Panels I am after you.
April 15th
Pam and I spent the morning
doing leaflet drops in and around
Tobermory, only Dervaig and Salen to go.
No birding today so contented myself with
watching the birds in the garden.
April 14th
A tour today in windy cool
conditions with some showers, but it was a
very good tour made even better by Karina
and Steve who's banter from start to
finish brought a warmth to an otherwise
cold day. Golden and White-tailed Sea
Eagles were their highlight of the day
although we did get very good sightings of
Common Seal, Red Deer and Fallow Deer. The
Otter sighting we had was difficult
although my guests all saw it briefly as
it hid in the seaweed, this particular
Otter has a habit of doing this but it was
the only one we saw today. The Hen Harrier
sighting was at the same time as 2 of our
Golden Eagles were showing off and guess
which birds my guests wanted to see most.
My sighting of the day was of a pair of
Bullfinches for Pam who was on the tour
with me and they were her first of the
year and she did not see them at all last
year. To our guests amusment I got a kiss
for that sighting.
April 13th
No tour today and so I thought I
would mow one of the lawns but the rain
had other ideas so Pam and I went to
Cailaich Point after she had baked more
biscuits for tours. At Cailaich we saw
Lapwing, Razorbills, Guillimots, our first
Manx Shearwaters of the year and 2
spectacularly close Gannets, no camera of
course. This afternoon it had dried up
somewhat enabling me to mow the lawn. This
evening we went looking in our local area
at suitable Short Eared Owl territories
and found one giving us some great views,
I had a camera this time but all you can
see are its eyes in some pictures and the
good one was more than fuzzy as Alan
Spellman would say. I took some Red Deer
photos as we travelled round so they will
have to be photo of the day. Spot the
Short-eared Owl below, Arthur says he
might enter it for the Country File
calander competition!
April 12th
Today could be described as
windy and somewhat cool, very windy and at
times cold if you were not wearing the
right clothing. Apart from a very good
female Hen Harrier sighting in the morning
and a brilliant Golden Eagle sighting at
lunchtime the other sightings were brief
or partial as everything was keeping their
heads down. We did see a White-tailed Sea
Eagle on its nest although it was only a
head and shoulder view, distant Red Deer
including stags and an Otter which we
waited out. When spotted it did not give
us great views but toyed with us by
nipping out, catching a fish before hiding
out of sight to eat. It would briefly
appear again catch a fish then disappear
again to eat, very annoying but at least
all my guests got to see it. The days real
highlight was the female Sparrowhawk in
our garden which killed, plucked and ate a
Rock Dove in front of the self caterers
window and they got the whole episode on
video. At the time of writing she has 3
Rock Doves to her name, Red Baron watch
out????
one for us oldies there.
April 11th
It never rains but what it pours
and that saying could not have been more
applicable to todays weather, it poured
down for most of the day. I had no tour
today and I have to say I was not that
worried given the conditions, so I
contented myself watching the birds in the
garden. The highlight bird was a
Sparrowhawk that came and sat in a tree
outside our office window obvously
sheltering from the rain but also checking
out for any unwary little birds that might
be about. I did get a photo but it was
partially hidden by branches.
April 10th
A tour today and it was another
belter, although it was very cold and
windy with occasional showers the group
were really up for it and always got out
of the bus to brave the elements. We
started with Gulls at Dervaig with all the
Mull specialities to compare with each
other at close range. At Dervaig we saw
about 12 species and nutty Yellowhammer
and Red Deer apart nothing much else till
coffee break. It was at coffee time the
most fantastic action happened, a juvenile
white-tailed Sea Eagle was seen for
several minutes before a Golden Eagle and
Buzzard were seen together at the same
time. I thought that this was fairly good
when we spotted a Peregrine Falcon someone
in the party thought there were 2
Peregrines but when I saw it I realised it
was a male Hen Harrier and it gave us a
great view hunting the hill in front of
us. Some guests said they could go home
now as they had seen it all but as the
words were still in the air a Sparrowhawk
flew in to join the party. A lot more
Eagles were seen during the day and I
added Swallow and Red Throated Diver to my
year list but in true Springwatch fashion
it was not until afternoon tea time till
we found an Otter. We watched the Otter
for about half an hour getting fantastic
views, then frozen solid we clambered back
into the bus and went home, my guests were
more than happy with their day out and I
was happy for them. Now for a hot bath and
a cup of hot tea. By the way no photos
today as I was so enthralled with the
action I forgot to take any pictures
however I missed none of the action trying
to capture the action, it is all in my
head and is a day I will never
forget.
April 9th
Today was good for me as it was
a small bird day, my favorites, they may
be harder to see but this is the time to
look for them as there are no leaves on
the trees. A lot of little birds are
really worth looking at, take the little
brown job in the photo below, a Sand
Martin, often overlooked as its cousins
the Swallows and House Martins are more
noticable with thier blue , white and red
colouring although the Sand Martin is a
smart bird in its own right, cute, quirky
and very vocal in flight. Today I got two
new Mull list birds, both small ones,
Bullfinch and my personal favorite bird
the Linnet and there were 4 of them but
not hanging around long enough for a photo
April 8th
I had a
nice surprise at the head of Loch Cuin
today with 4 Black-tailed Godwits in
partial breeding plumage, they were a
lovely sight to see. At one of our
regular tour stops there was a female
Otter with a half grown cub, with a bit
of luck they should be their for most of
the Summer. A Buzzard was building a new
nest and if they breed that should be
another nest we can watch this Summer.
All in All a good reconnoitre tour out
to set us up for the season.
April 7th
A quiet
day today after the big day out
yesterday although I did manage to get
out for a short time between working on
our water supply and managed to get this
nice photo of a male Wheatear sitting on
the heather. I went as far as Eas force
where I got another unscheduled Mini-Bus
inspection, after several minutes of
paying particular attention to the the
Windows, Window Wipers and Wing Mirrors
the Yellowhammer seemed more than
satisfied.
April 6th
A day out with friends and what
a day we had, Red Deer stags which our
friends Pete and Jenny always like to see
started off the day and then White-tailed
Eagles were seen well as were a few Great
Northern Divers. We had Coffee near a
Heronry and the calls of the Herons were
not exactly in tune. Just after coffee we
saw a lovely Reed Bunting our first of the
year and we then enjoyed the lovely scenic
views and a special sighting of a male Hen
Harrier hunting until we reached our
destination. We went for a walk before
lunch seeing Wild Goats and having great
views of Golden Eagles if a little
distant. We reached the beach we were
aiming for and just enjoyed the wonderfull
peace and quiet as we were the only people
there. We watched the amusing antics of
some very busy Turnstones until it was
time to return to the van for lunch. On
our way home we had a fantastic sighting
of a mother and cub Otter hunting along
the shoreline completely oblivious to our
presence as we remained in the vehicle.
This evening we had a lovely evening at
the Am Birlinn Restaurant which is local
to us and serves very good locally sourced
food.
April
5th
I went to Tobermory this
morning for a walk in Aros Park although
I saw nothing new in the way of birds
for the year the dawn chorus was
beautiful to hear. On the hearing front
I did hear the Magpie today but it was
behind a house and I could not find the
damn thing. I did find my first
Chiffchaff of the year today and 3
White-tailed Sea Eagles as well as some
impressive Red Deer Stags. Pam had a
Lesser Redpoll in the garden today which
I missed which she will not let me
forget, the sooner I see one the better.
April 4th
My first tour of the year was a
belter, A fantastic Otter seen without
disturbance at very close quarters, so
close even I got a decent photo. Golden
Eagles having an argy bargy around a nest
site as a juvenile had strayed to close to
the nest, 4 Goldies in total seen today.
Did I mention the fantastic Otter
sighting? White-tailed Eagle being mobbed
by 2 Buzzards showing very good size
comparison, it was like seeing a Wren take
on a Crow, how can we mistake a Buzzard
for an Eagle given the size disparity, but
we do. We had a fabulous Otter sighting
today, have I mentioned that? Some of last
years visitors might remember the nutty
Yellowhammer at Eas Force Waterfall, well
its back and in full vehicle attack mode.
Finally on what was a really special day
at least 4, yes, that's four Mountain
(Irish) Hares in a field, on normal tours
might have proved the highlight of the
dayexcept that today we had a Stupendous
Otter or did I mention that
earlier?
April 3rd
A very wet day and as I have my
first tour of the year tomorrow I took the
mini-bus for out for a surprise, you have
probably guessed, I took it to the car
wash in Tobermory. Thinking it was a £1 a
minute and as always not checking first I
put in £6, only to find it was a £1 every
3 minutes so it got an 18 minute clean. My
guests tomorrow will be most impressed how
clean the bus is, oh, oh it is still
raining, dirty puddles on the road, you
can hardly tell the bus has been cleaned,
never mind the idea was sound and you
can't win them all.
April 2nd
A lovely day to go sea watching
from Cailaich Point, so Pam and I with a
couple of friends Pete and Jenny who are
staying with us trecked up to the point
this morning. We saw all the main Auks,
Guillemots, Black Guillemots, Razorbills
and much to my surprise 2 Puffins,
Gannets, Fulmar and Kittiwakes were also
seen along with Shags and Great Northern
Divers and on our way back to the car we
saw a pair of Shelducks and a wheatear.
Really the only birds missing from sea
watching from Mull were Manx Shearwaters
& Skuas, this only means we have to go
again later in the month when maybe Pam
will get her Whales and or Dolphins.
April 1st
Summer must be on the way as on
a day round the block doing chores I
spied, well I could'nt reall miss it, the
Hebridian Princess mored off Ulva, the
first cruise ship of the year. A Common
Seal obviously not doing chores relaxing
on an almost submerged Island with only a
Great Black backed Gull for company made
me smile, as did the Male Shelduck which
flew past me before landing at Lagganulva
Bay. Remember the song Mellow Yellow, well
that could be Mull at the moment, this
years Daffodils are spectacular, the
yellow Gorse is at its best and of course
my favorites the gorgeous Primroses.
Spring is here and its not fooling
anybody.
April
2016
April 30th
I saw
my first Cuckoo of
the year today which
normally would be a
red letter day but a
very good friend and
lovely lady died
this morning and our
condolences go out
to Alan and all his
family.
April
29th
What
can you say about
Mull's weather after
yesterdays white out
today was beautiful
if a little cold and
we had an Eagle
fest. We had
White-tailed Sea
Eagles flying on
ridges, over our
heads, in nests,
perched on trees,
interacting with
Golden Eagles and
well just being
everywhere. Golden
Eagles whilst not
being so abundant
also put on a great
show, fantastic.
Another highlight
was a Merlin which
flew in front of the
bus, an obvious male
with its blue, grey
plumage. Red Deer
were also in
abundance today and
the rivers and
streams were fast
filling up with
yesterdays snow
melt, the scenery
was WOW, there is no
other way to put it.
April 28th
A first for a
Discover Mull Tour today we had to CANCELL due
to Snow lots of it. My
thanks to the Rollet's who gamely
tried to make it as I had told them
the show would go on, however the
snow got progressively worse till in
the end we had to call the day off.
I felt verry sorry for our Daffodils
as to put it mildly they were
flattened. The only thing to do
today was stay indoors and enjoy the
views.
April 27th
Out early as we were
going with friends Meg and Stephen down
to Iona hunting Corncrake, it was cold
but felt warmer as there was only a
strong breeze today and not the winds of
yesterday. We arrived on Iona at 10am
but no Corncrake, not even a sound of a
Corncrake, so we went acoss Iona to the
west beach and here we had Eider Ducks,
Dunlin, Sanderling, Ringed Plover, Great
Northern Diver and lots of Wheatear,
Meadow Pipits and Pied wagtails
including a White Wagtail (Alba) in
total 3 new birds for my Mull year list
(We count Iona). However the sighting of
the day at the beach had to be the
female Merlin which flew up the beach as
I was just phoning Alan Spellman with my
other beach sightings. We went for the
1pm boat back but stopped for one last
Corncrake look, as you do and just as
impatient Arthur was leaving Pam called
him back as a Corncrake had come out
into the open giving us very good views
and when I remembered I got my camera
and got one picture as it dissapeared
back into the undergrowth. We had lots
more sightings on our way home including
Otters, Golden Plovers and Chiffchaff
but today was all about Iona.
April
26th
A tour in strong cold
wind, definately a day for thermols.
Lovely guests who tried to take the
pressure off and at the same time keep
warm. Highlights of the day were great
Otter, White-tailed Sea Eagles, Red Deer
and for once Fallow Deer, Common Seal,
Dipper, Great Northern Divers in
breeding plumage and Whimbrel.
Unfortunately there were no Golden
Eagles or Hen Harriers on todays tour
but not through lack of trying. I
thought winter was over but sometimes it
comes back to bite you, this is one of
those years.
April 25th
A very cold windy day
but we had 3 White-tailed Sea Eagles at
our first stop, one on the nest and two
perched above, this is highly unusual at
a nest site but the parent birds were
not looking too anxious so I have no
idea what was going on, good sighting
all the same.At the same stop as the
White-tailed Sea Eagles a female Hen
harrier flew by giving us a very good if
relatively short sighting. A Ring
Billed Gull, my first of the year was
the highlight at our second stop and
there were 4 Lesser Black backed Gulls
here as well. We went on feeling cold
but happy as we did see some close Red
Deer, 2 Red Throated Divers and a Golden
Eagle, all this before lunch. After
lunch of sandwiches and Pam's very hot
welcome carrot soup we saw a Whimbrel
and the first of 2 Otters the second was
much better. The day ended on a high
with a very Close Dipper one of my
guests requests at the start of the day.
April 24th
A dream day with 3
Hen Harriers seen, White-tailed Sea
Eagles, Golden Eagles, 2 Otters, Red
Deer including stags, impressive even if
they had shed their antlers. Common
Seals were seen in numbers and a Grey
Seal although we were trying to watch an
Otter, Golden Eagle, breeding plumage
Slavonian Grebe and a similar plumaged
Great Northern Diver at the sametime, we
needed eyes in the back of our heads.
We saw Whinchat, my first of the
year, Stonechat, a fly by Linnet,
Gannet, Guilliemot, Snipe the list goes
on but suffice it to say a great day on
tour. There's More our friend
Alan Mullbirds
Spellman took us to see the Hawfinch
( also my first of the year or ever on
Mull) it gave us great views,
thanks Alan. On our way home we had
another great sighting of a Short
Eared Owl, which was perched and then
flew off hunting. We then went home
carefully as the road in the Short Eared
Owl territory has more holes than
Blackburn Lancashire. Note the
Beatles Sargeant Pepper reference I
slipped in there just for Blake and
Sheila May who when they have nothing
better to do kindly read my blog.Thanks
to Alan Spellman for this lovely Hawfinch
picture, my picture was rubbish by
comparison.
April 23rd
Up and out early this
morning looking for incoming migrants
and although I did not see any new birds
for the year the views were brilliant
and the gorgeous sound of birdsong was
breathtaking. Pam was busy with the
self-catering and I had a few chore
including taking Sally for a walk to the
Loch and to check the water supply, no
real hardship. We spent a lovely hour
with our neighbours drinking coffee and
for a change watching birds in their
garden which included Treecreepers and
Song Thrushes. I am back out on tour
tomorrow and the weather is looking very
cold, Pam where have you hidden my
thermols?
April 22nd
There can only be one
bird in todays report and that is Hen
Harrier, we actually saw 3 in total but
the male that flew over Ardrioch and
then over our heads was spectacular and
not soon forgotten. Thanks to our friend
Jaq who cut my hair today with my
shears, it was on number 5 but Pam
doesn't like it much as she likes long
hair. I wish I could oblige but age and
nature have caught up with me so its
number 5 or the dreaded comb over, I
know which I prefer. There are some more
photos taken in the last few days for
you to look at. Mull is spectacular at
the moment and the weather beautiful,
sorry that more of you cannot see this
fairest of the Scottish Islands at this
moment in time.
April
21st
A tour today with
lovely guests and although we had to
work very hard for the wildlife we did
get they were very appreciative of
everything we saw. There were 2
White-tailed Sea Eagles seen and a
Golden Eagle which saw off a Buzzard
which had encroached a little to close
to its nest site. A Sparrowhawk was seen
closely followed by a Kestrel which was
being mobbed by irate Meadow Pipits. A
beautiful pair of Grey Wagtails was a
highlight as was the Whimbrel and
Greenshank, both lifetime firsts for one
of my guests.
April 20th
I had to go back to
Fort William to fetch the van home and
hopefully the hinges on the van doors
will do the job they are there for this
time?I discovered a surprising fact on
my way back to the ferry, just before
arriving at Lochaline I saw a Golden
Eagle, so they do exist on Morven, or
was it one of ours from Mull just
visiting. Pam took Sally for a walk
across the road to the Loch this morning
and saw a female Hen Harrier fly up the
loch before heading off towards Dervaig.
April 19th
No tour as we have no
van so I took the opportunity to get up
early, 5am, and try and find some little
birds for my year list. In Aros Park I
saw a Chiffchaff and my first Bullfinch
of the year, a beautiful male. Then at
home when I went to check the water
supply I saw my first Tree Pipit and
Willow Warbler and as I write this it is
still only 10-30am.
April
18th
A trip to Fort
William, to be precise it was to the
garage at Ben Nevis Motors as the door
hinge on the van was going again, this
is a fault on the new design Ford
Torneos and there has been a recall but
they are 3 weeks behind so mine is a
temporary job until the end of the
season, I hope it works, this is the
second time it has gone. On a happier
note we saw A hen harrier hunting
between Dervaig and Salen this morning
on our way to the ferry and I took a
couple of photos of the birds in our
garden on our return.
April 17th
A tour today with
White-tailed Sea Eagles high on the
agenda and to say they obliged would be
putting it lightly. The best sighting
was one that flew right past us before
dissapearing over the hill, only to
reappear shortly after flying directly
at us. Then again it might have been the
one that flew in behind us and picked up
something off the beach, this one was Very
close, as we were looking for a
Golden Eagle that had gone into hiding
after dropping off a sitting perch. It
could however have been the one that
flew in unexpectedly and sat on a branch
of a tree giving good photo
opportunities, take your pick. We did
find an Otter but none of my guests
seemed to be to bothered, mind you it
was perishingly cold. Two new birds for
the year today Common Sandpiper and
Eider Duck.
April
16th
Another local report
today but no less wildlife scentric. Pam
took Sally our dog across the road to
the Lochside and watched a female Hen
Harrier fly over the Loch towards one of
her favorite hunting areas. In our
garden we did not see our Sparrowhawk
just evidence of its visit with Rock
Dove feathers strewn all over the back
lawn. Then our new self caterer Mike was
blown away by th number and vatiety of
birds in our garden, his only problem
which window to look out of so as not to
miss any, we know the feeling Mike.
April 15th
With a strong north
wind and only 6 degrees it was not
particularly warm for todays tour but it
was more than made up for by the warmth
of our guests. My guests wanted Eagles
and boy did they get Eagles,
particularly the Golden Eagle seen at
what we at Discover Mull call 'picknick
on the hill'. The bird came over the
hill and was quartering along the ridge,
a wonderful sighting. The Goldie then
turned inland towards us and came down
below the skyline giving us tremendous
views of all its colours and its golden
head. The bird then flew low over the
Kestrel nest sight and those readers who
have been at this site with us will
realise how close it was getting by now,
its presence brought out the male
Kestrel which proceeded to chase the
offending Golde Eagle and by so doing
gave us a reality check on how large
Golden Eagles are or is it how small
Kestrels are. This sighting was so good
and memorable I forgot about my camera
completely, I am a birder who likes
watching birds not a photographer who
wants to find birds to photograph, there
is a difference. I also saw my first Red
Throated Diver on Mull for the year and
we saw 4 White-tailed Sea Eagles. 37 Red
Deer were seen at Killbrennan today a
record for me at this site. The views
today were awesome hence the picture of
Loch Frisa, but I cannot get the Golden
Eagle out of my mind, I'm not sure I
ever will.
April 14th
A beautiful day and
Pam went guideing for guests off a
cruise ship which was in Tobermory and I
decided to see what birds I could see
from home, that is the garden, the farm
and over the road on Loch Cuin. I saw 30
species of birds with a Lesser Redpoll
looking very smart in its bright red
breeding plumage, he will have little
trouble attracting a female if his
personality matches his looks. The same
could be said of the beautiful
Yellowhammer which appeared when I was
on the phone, i'm afraid it somewhat
distracted me and I had to stop our
conversation for a few seconds for which
I appologise. On the subject of
courtship, down on the Loch 2 male Red
Breasted Mergansers were trying to pull
3 females, for those of us of a certain
age it reminded me of 3 girls dancing
round their handbags whilst a couple of
blokes were giving it their all.
April 13th
They say 1 Swallow
doesn't make a summer and here on Mull
today that certainly rang true, I saw my
first Swallow of the year and the
weather was baltic, I hope its warmer
when I see my next one. I saw an Otter
today and true to form it was being
harrassed by homo sapians trying to get
too close, It Disappeared. Lots
of sightings of little birds today as
well as both types of Eagle and a
Sparrowhawk but my highlight birds of
the day were the very close Goosanders
seen on Loch Cuin.
April 12th
A driech day and a
trip into Tobermory was dissapointing as
the road into Aros Park was closed so I
had to walk round the town itself and
saw little more in the way of bird life
than we get in our garden. On my way
home a White-tailed Sea Eagle flew past
showing just how big they are and I also
saw a pair of Goldeneye still on the
Mishnish Lochs. There were several Snipe
feeding at Dervaig but more of a
probable problem, there was also a pair
of Canada Geese as well. I know we are
supposed to appreciate all wildlife but
Canada Geese????
April 11th
A tour today and for
me there were several stand outs,
firstly my guests, they were delightful
and I basically had a day out with
mates. Secondly Ffion, who proved that 8
year old children can get a lot out of
the day if they are interested in
wildlife. Then there was the wildlife
itself, the special view of a Female Hen
Harrier hunting over the moorland very
close and giving us breath taking
action, thanks to Roy in the back of the
mini-bus for that sighting. Then there
was the Fallow Deer hidden in the trees,
we had Una to thank for that one and all
I can say is she must have X-ray eyes.
Then there was the White-tailed Sea
Eagle that flew so close over the bus
that it looked like a 7-4-7 plane, I
spotted that, see I am not completely
obsolete. The Golden Eagle distant but a
good sighting and the numbers of Red
Deer seen including stags which a couple
of my guests were desperate to see, it
gives me great pleasure when my guests
have their wishes turn into reality.
Finally for myself other birds stood
out, the little Wren on a post sing its
heart out, the Stonechat and Wheatears
resplendent in their summer breeding
plumage, the Lesser Redpolls in our
garden on our return and my Chris
Packham moment my first Linnets of the
year. Thanks to all my guests who
enjoyed the day with me and made it so
special.
April 10th
Another gorgeous day
and I went for a drive out in
preparation for tomorrows tour. I saw 50
species of birds and mammals with the
highlight for me being a Whimbrel, I
don't think it was a migrant but the
bird that hangs out in the Salen area
over winter. A flock of Sand Martins on
territory and screaming in excitment as
they flew up and down the river catching
insects. For a few seconds I had a race
with a Wren which flew up the road in
frontof the van before it dived left
into a hedge. White-tailed Sea Eagles at
nest sights and Golden Eagle flying over
a White-tailed Sea Eagle nest were the
best raptors I saw today and Red Deer
were more prominant due to the warm
sunshine. Basking Seals of both
varieties and still some Slavonian
Grebes on the Lochs with Great Northern
Divers. Pam went rowing this afternoon,
it was a case of row in haste repent at
leisure, ooh, oww, ooh, oww, muscles she
did not know existed, SHE DOES NOW.
April 9th
Pam and I went
out to look for and find a Short Eared
Owl this evening and I took these photos
of Ben More with loch Tuath in the fore
ground in the evening light and the sun
going down over Coll from Calgary Bay,
it was a beautiful evening and a great
time for some of Mulls special views.
April 8th
Busy today with final
preparations for the arrival of
tomorrows guests in the self-catering
although I had to go and get a couple of
things from Tobermory's hardware store.
On my way home I took this photo of
Dervaig from off the hill road to
Torloisk, the Loch in the picture is
Loch Cuin where I see most of the birds
mentioned in my blog at Dervaig.
April 1st to 7th
We have been down
south visiting family, particularly my
dad before the season starts and we get
busy. We took Sally our Sheltie with us
for the first time as she is a very good
car traveller which Misty, our Sheltie
that died, was not. As a reward we
bought Sally a a dog basket for
travelling and we think Nia our grand
daughter thought it was a present for
her, hence the photograph. Nia has
fallen in love with Sally and they spend
time together when they visit us or we
visit them and when Sally gets fed up
she is small and fast enough to get away
and hide where Nia cannot get at her. We
had a lovely few days.
April
2015
April
30th
A wonderful
tour today in gorgeous
weather with super guests,
we had great sightings, lots
of banter and I had a
fantastic day out, I felt
guilty taking their money at
the end of the day but I
managed to anyway. The
highlights, a Merlin right
over our heads, both types
of Eagle performing well, a
Dipper, Whinchat, Stonechat,
very good Otter, Red Deer,
Seals, Slow worms, and to
end a very good day a Cuckoo
on a wire on our way back
into Tobermory. I nearly
forgot in all the
excitement, my first Linnet
on Mull this year, as
regular readers will know
this is my favourite bird,
my lovely day was complete.
April
29th
A day of leaflet
dropping and picking up new leaflets
which should last for a few years so our
prices will remain the same, zero
inflation, now where have I heard that
before. Pam had a hair appointment which
gave me an hour to scive off birding and
I saw a Chiffchaff in Aros Park, not a
very common bird on Mull. On our way
home we stopped to look for Short Eared
Owl and we got really lucky, no, not
Short Eared Owl, but this beautiful
Whinchat, one of my favourite birds and
my second new bird of the day for my
Mull year list.
Out on a tour with
similar weather conditions to the 26th
with more rain, hail, sleet and cold
wind but this time suitably attired, I
was as warm as toast. We saw lots of
wildlife considering the conditions with
a fabulous male Hen Harrier hunting at
the end of the day. We had witnessed a
spectacular displaying Hen Harrier a few
minutes before the hunting one and so we
now know there are at least 2 males in
the same area.. White-tailed Eagles were
seen very well as was a Golden Eagle,
not bad given the conditions and a
lovely Kestrel hunting across a ridge
during a lull in the showers. Other
notable sightings were a very close
Gannet, a Razorbill, Kittiwakes, Eider
Ducks, 8 whimbrel in a field on passage
a very large herd of Red Deer, Common
and Grey Seals. A super group of guests
who loved the whole day in spite of the
weather conditions and the Harrier
sightings were the icing on their cake,
literally.
April 27th
No tour today and I
spent the day at home in front of the
Aga drinking hot tea and coffee and
getting over my hypothermia from
yesterday and now feel much better.
April 26th
Another 50 species
tour today in very cold blustery,
showery conditions and take away the
hypothermia everyone had a great day.
The highlights were a brilliant Otter
which one of our guests was desperate to
see and it made her day. Whimbrel,
lifetime firsts for all our guests and a
Cuckoo which a guest had asked if she
would hear one but we went one better
and not nly heard one but it flewright
over us giving great views. We had super
views of White-tailed Eagles today which
of course was on all our guests wish
list. As all my guests know I like to
show everything that Mull has to offer
and the photo of the day was this proud
Oystercatcher seen as we were watching
breeding plumaged Slavonian Grebes and
Great Northern Divers.
It was a black day
for one of our Blackbirds in the garden,
the Sparrowhawk got him and with the
weather getting colder for the next few
days this could spell trouble for his
partner. Tree Pipits have arrived back
in our wood and the Great Spotted
Woodpecker is now a daily visitor to our
garden as are Siskins, Coal Tits And
Goldfinches. Our nearest nesting
White-tailed Eagles are still on their
nest with no sign of young yet and if
they do have young they will become
first time parents. We are not
completely sure but we think the Dervaig
White-tails have failed this year I will
keep you posted.
April
24th
A tour today with 50
species of wildlife being seen including
another great view of a male Hen Harrier
and a very good Dipper a bird not seen
often on our tours. White-tailed Eagle
was seen feeding chicks, flying and
perched, a favorite occupation for them.
Otter seen towards the end of the day
and to my relief it was a good one. Red
Deer and both types of Seal were watched
during the day and returning back to
Dervaig at the end of the tour we had a
brief sighting of a Short Eared Owl.
Back at Ardrioch our regular Great
Spotted Woodpecker was in the garden. We
had Pam's sea swimming buddies round
this evening and they are talking of
starting again in a few days, hmmm I
think I would rather take a cold bath?
Pam and I only had
just over an hour to go birding this
evening but what an hour it was. At the
end of the Loch at Dervaig we saw some
Redshanks and then we saw our first
Common Sandpiper of the year, I must
admit it was what I was hoping for as I
knew some had arrived on Mull whilst we
were away. We then went looking for
Short Eared Owls as Pam had not seen one
on Mull this year and although we were
to be dissapointed by not seeing any
Owls we did witness a spectacular
displaying male Hen Harrier. Now this
was no timid display, he was giving it
his all, Pam was so impressed she
remarked that had she been a female Hen
Harrier he would have pulled! Then as we
were watching the female Hen Harrier not
as impressed as Pam as she was flying
away from the male, we heard and then
saw my second new Mull bird of the year,
the lovely Willow Warbler in the picture
below.
April
16th to April 22nd
We have been away for
a week, the main reason being the
Christening of our youngest grand
daughter Nia. Our thanks to the lovely
vicar, Alison Fulford for the great
christening service at Baddiley Church
in Cheshire. The service was followed by
a celebration party at the Wrenbury
social club and a good time was had by
all with the bouncy castle proving a big
hit with the numerous children which
attended the event. On the wildlife
front we spent the Saturday before the
Christening at Chester Zoo with all our
grand daughters as the 3 from Devon had
come up for the Christening. We had a
great time and I must say that Chester
Zoo is a brilliant Zoo with lots more
room for the animals than it had when we
used to take our children there and if
you are in the area it is well worth a
visit. Back to news about Mull tomorrow.
Whilst staying at our son's house in
Nantwich we saw this Sparrowhawk that
killed and ate a Woodpidgeon in their
drive way, we stood by his front door
and took this picture, it was not more
than 15 feet away but seemingly
unbothered by our presence.
April
15th
A tour today in
better weather and it began well with
Red Deer seen early in the day, a lot
more of them were seen during the day
including stags. A superb Otter was seen
before coffee break, check out the photo
below, it was fairly close and by using
a bit of field craft we did not disturb
it. 2 Golden Eagles were seen, one being
mobbed by a Merlin. 3 White-tailed Sea
Eagles in close proximity to each other
near the end of the day and a brilliant
Short Eared Owl to end the day. There
was one other great sighting
today, a summer plumaged Black
Throated Diver, what a bird, Chris
Packham would have been rubbing his
thighs.
April 14th
The rain keeps coming down and our friends
went home.
April 13th
Our friends last day and they went to
Cailaich point whilst Pam went on one of
her bus guiding trips. They all returned
in time for lunch and the rain came down.
April 12th
A nice walk with our friends around Aros Park
was very exillarating but not great for
wildlife. On returning to Tobermory we had a
lovely lunch at MacGochan's before
returning home.
April 11th
Our friends went for
a walk locally this morning and had a
great view of a male Hen Harrier which
made me somewhat jealous as I was busy
cleaning through our water supply ready
for the upcoming season. In the
afternoon we went to Tobermory and Pam
and I bought a Christening gift for our
latest Granddaughter, Nia. We then went
to the Screen Machine to watch the film
The second best Exotic Marigold Hotel
which we all thought was Excellent.
After the film we went and had a
terrific meal at Cafe Fish, certainly a
full day which could mean a late start
tomorrow.
April 10th
A beautiful day and
Pam and I went for a walk around Croig
and Langamull with visiting friends from
Cheshire. It
was a good walk with lovely scenery but
not as many birds as I would have liked.
The best birds seen were A brilliant
juvenile White-tailed Eagle, a pair of
pristine Wheatears and two separate
groups of Great Northern Divers with 5
birds in each group. We had a lovely
late lunch at the Calgary art gallery
and afterwards a leisurly look at the
very good art displayed there.
April 9th
A pair of Hen
Harriers put on a great display at the
start of the day and this was soon
followed by seeing the Slow Worms, A
very promising start to a beautiful day.
We then had to show a lot of patience as
most of the birds seen were Buzzards, in
fact all the birds of prey seen were
Buzzards. We did see some seabirds,
Gannets, Razorbills, Guillemots, Shags,
a Cormorant and some Great Northern
Divers. At lunchtime it all changed ,
with Golden Eagle a brilliant
White-tailed Sea Eagle and a pair of
Kestrels leaving only anOtter to find
and we were soon watching a mother and
cub together. They were so good we were
able to let 2 young girls have a good
look through our spare telescope, they
were too young to have come out on a
tour and it made their day.
April
8th
Great group out again
today with lots of sunshine, wildlife
and laughs, just my sort of day.
White-tailed Sea Eagles and juvenile
Golden Eagles were the order of the day
with both species giving us spectacular
views, also putting on a good show was a
Hen Harrier seen early in the day. The
bird of prey of the day for me was a
Merlin giving a Raven a really hard time
looking tiny against this large corvid.
Otters proved illusive until after
dropping off most of my guests when I
found one for the last couple on board
the van, and miracle of miracles as we
were setting up the scope my other
guests of the day came past and I was
able to flag them down so we all got an
Otter sighting, as Shakespere might say,
alls well that ends well! The picture
below is of a Whimbrel seen before
coffee break, note the head stripe, a
diagnostic difference between Whimbrel
and Curlew, sorry about the quality of
the picture, I am no David Bailey.
April
7th
A very good day for
all the Mull specialities although we
did have to wait some time for a Golden
Eagle and when it appeared as if not to
be out done so did a Hen Harrier.
Special sightings for me today were my
first Sand Martins of the year at
Killiechronan and my first Swallow of
the year at Lagganulva Bay, migration
has started. Thanks to all my guests for
your spotting and patience and all the
youngsters Abigail, Jodie and Owen
deserved their half hour on Calgary
Beach.
April
6th
A cooler day with a
little more breeze but still a
successful day of wildlife watching with
very good White-tailed Eagle sightings.
a young guest wanted to see Seals and we
saw some close Common Seals which he
could see very well through the scope as
they basked on the shore of an island.
The larger Grey Seal was seen later and
further out, not quite as exciting. We
had a very good Otter sighting which
could have been much better but for the
presence of a guy trying to get a close
photo with no field craft what so ever
and obviously disturbing the Otter -
these people are becoming a real problem
to wildlife on Mull. Golden Eagles in
good numbers but not as close as
yesterday and we did get a good Kestrel
sighting. We missed out on Hen Harrier
today but I had a special view of a male
on my way home, sod's law it was in the
exact spot we had stopped to look for
them, it goes to prove timing and
patience is required for wildlife
watching. We had our first Slow Worms on
the tour today.
April 5th
A full tour today and
the weather was gorgeous after early
morning mist. We saw lots of Golden
Eagles today as most of them are not
down on eggs yet. We saw three
White-tailed Sea Eagles and a Peregrine
Falcon and at least 4 Hen Harriers but
they really took some finding against
the moorland background. There were some
good small bird sightings including
Stonechat and Yellowhammer. At coffee
break we had a very good Otter which
stayed around for sometime and numpty
that I am I let my coffee go cold and
forgot I had a camera, but as I always
say you can miss the moment trying to
capture the moment. I did take a picture
of the Ben More mountain range with
wisps of cloud upon it, a truly magical
view, Mull at its magnificent best.
April
4th
April 3rd
A short trip out and I saw this
lovely Meadow Pipit and a pair of Red
Throated Divers before returning to my
chores around the homestead which I am
getting through at a snails pace. By the
way it is a very slow snail.
April 2nd
A lovely calm day for
our first tour of the season and what a
day we had. I was not looking
forward to the day as you might have
noticed a lack of Otter sightings this
year and we know guests really want to
see Otters, well they had obviously been
hiding waiting for the season to start
as today we saw 7, Seven Otters,
you are reading this blog right, I
know, unbelievable, even I have to
pinch myself and I was there. It was not
only Otters but Golden Eagles with 5 or
was it 6 seen in the day and 6
White-tailed Sea Eagles as well. Other
raptors of note were Kestrels at least
4, Buzzards, we stopped counting those,
a Sparrowhawk, Peregrine Falcon and at
the end of the day a female Hen Harrier.
One guest in the bus wanted to see
a Curlew, she got a few and a Whimbrel
as a bonus. Another mammal we have
hardly seen this year but did today
thanks to a wonder spot by Pam were
Fallow Deer and just in case I forgot to
mention it, we had Seven Otters
today.
April 1st
Pam and I went out to
Tobermory doing pre Easter leaflet
drops, remember the date, Aprils fools
day. The clutch went on the car and we
had to abandon it in Tobermory. Thank to
Judith and Alan Mullbirds
Spellman for their kindness in going out
of their way to give us a lift home.
April
2014
April
30th
A cold blast from the East
and dull conditions made for
not so pleasant wildlife
watching today, however I
did see my first House
Martin of the year on Mull
at our first stop. There was
not much action anywhere on
the sea but we watched a
couple of Buzzards flying
around each other, trying to
keep warm I think. At our
first Golden Eagle spot we
had a brief glimpse of one
and saw a lot of spooked Red
Deer, we did not see what
had spooked them but
somthing certainly had. A
much better Goldie at our
next stop but apart from the
lovely views there was
little else to warm us up.
Lunchtime was approaching
and we were all looking
forward to some hot soup,
our hopes were dashed as an
Otter came out to feed
giving us good views in and
out of the water before
going to hide in a boat.
Isn't it funny how you can
forget how cold you are when
you have some exciting
wildlife to watch. Lunch and
the promised hot soup, then
warmed and replenished it
was on to look for
White-tailed Eagle and we
were not dissapointed they
gave us the best display I
have had for some time.
After the White-tails the
weather got worse or was it
that the cold was taking its
toll but before the day was
over we had seen Fallow
Deer, Common and Grey Seals,
a male Hen Harrier and the
Slow Worms. By now we were
so cold a hot bath and hot
toddy were called for so we
headed home after another
special day of Mull Wildlife
Watching.
April 29th
A dull day but warm and wind
free, in other words a good
day for wildlife watching.
The day started promisingly
with a good sighting of a
male Hen Harrier we also saw
some Red Deer and a Willow
Warbler before the Harrier
put in an appearance. On to
a place where we are seeing
Slow Worm's, 7 were there
today and some Lapwings were
flying with a Curlew all of
them being distured by an
over flying Hooded Crow. For
the next couple of hours we
only saw small and regular
species until coffee break
when we had a really good
sighting of a Cuckoo. On to
lunch time and after lunch
we found our first Otter
which gave us very good
views, the one we saw at the
end of the day was even
better. A good sighting of a
White-tail Eagle in a tree
but more exciting was the
sight of the female on her
nest feeding her newly
hatched chick. At afternoon
tea break we saw a very good
view of a Golden Eagle with
a Buzzard giving good size
comparisons for our guests.
April 28th
A beautiful warm, sunny April day and it
turned into an Eagle festival with both
eagles being seen in good numbers both
flying and sitting. The day had begun on
a positive note with 2 Otters seen well
at our first stop. We had 2 Cuckoo's
today and both Great-northern and
Black-throated Divers seen well. Red
Deer were every where and we also saw a
good number of Fallow Deer today as well
as Common Seals and Rabbits. My bird of
the day has to be the Linnet although
our Wheatears are looking particularly
beautiful at the moment. New bird of the
year for my list was a Sedge Warbler and
we heard our first Grass-hopper Warblers
of the year but did not see them.
A beautiful day and we saw all Mull's
big species on the tour today and I got
2 new birds for my year list, a Fulmar
and a Tree Pipit or as Pam would call it
a line Pipit as it was sitting singing
away on power lines. We saw all three
types of Diver today and Razorbills and
a Black Guillemot but the seas around
Mull remain very quiet up to now. Golden
Eagles are performing well for me on
tours so far this year and were again
the stars of todays tour although the
male Hen Harrier appearing out of
nowhere ran them close. Today we saw an
Otter but typically it played hide and
seek with us before it eventually
appeared on the top of a rock and
promptly went to sleep as the tide came
in. All our guests saw it well through
the scopes and it did get up in the end
sprain, strole across the rocks and
dissapeared into the sea weed as they
do.
April 26th
A dull but dry morning and an early
start to go to Iona and try to see
Corncrake. We arrived on Iona at
10-15am and saw a Corncrake at
10-25am see picture below, this gave
us 3 hours on the island looking for
other birds. We saw Linnets and
Twite another first for me this
year, House Sparrows, Starlings,
Rooks and Jackdaws. There were a lot
of Wheatears and Meadow Pipits and
Skylarks and Sand Martins. On the
shore and in the sea we saw Great
Northern Divers, Eider Ducks,
Shelducks, Ringed Plovers, Dunlin,
Pied and White Wagtails. On our
jouney back on the ferry we saw
Razorbills, Guillemots, Shags,
Kittiwakes and Common Gulls. Back on
Mull at Fidden there were 52 Golden
Plover in one field and on our way
home as it started to rain an Otter
and some Red Deer. We arrived home
tired but very pleased, it had been
a long day.
April 25th
A nice day for a tour and it turned out
to be a first class day for Eagles,
paticularly the Golden variety with good
views of 2 and really special views of 3
more. There were also good sightings of
White-tailed Eagle but only a distant
fleeting view of a male Hen Harrier
disturbed by a flying Golden Eagle. Very
good Red Deer again today but on the
flip side no Otter but we did see lots
of Seals. Two Red Throated Divers were
seen well today as were Great Northern
Divers and Black Guillemots. Common
Sandpipers have now arrived on mass asd
we see Wheatears everywhere. Finally my
Slow worms continue to delight my guests
but still no Adders this year.
April 24th
Up early and out looking for new
incoming migrants to no avail, somedays
it pays to just stay in bed.
April 23rd
A dull cloudy and at times wet day, not
the best weather for a tour you might
think but at our first stop a brilliant
male Hen Harrier inter-acting with a
couple of Hooded Crows and then at the
2nd stop 7 Slow Worms. On we went and
saw Buzzards, Black Guillemots,
Razorbills, Oystercatchers, Redshanks,
all Mull's 5 types of Gulls, several
Great Northern Divers and a Black
Throated Diver eating a large fish. This
is all very good I hear you thinking but
what about Eagles, patience blog readers
we are getting to them, 3 Golden Eagles,
1 flying reasonably close, 1 with a
Buzzard giving great size comparisons
and the last in misty rain sitting or
was it clinging on to a small tree near
the top of a hill. White-tailed Eagles,
we witnessed one on the nest when her
partner came in, I think to get out of
the rain but was sent off with a flea in
his ear; not literally, it soon flew off
in a huff giving us good views of its
enormous wing span. Just before lunch we
went to spend a penny and as we queued,
we British are good at that, a large
Otter appeared and gave us a fantastic
sighting, at times very close, sometimes
eating fishes and even checking out the
inside of a moored boat, special or
what. Just so as not to be out done a
Seal turned up, it was either jealous of
all the attention the Otter was getting
or more likely just checking us out. To
end on some more happy notes 2 new birds
for my year list a White Wagtail (Alba)
and my first Linnets of the year, my
favorite bird.
April 22nd
More cloudy today but undetered I went
for a 2 mile walk to test out my knee
and look for migrants, the knee held up
pretty well which was a good job as
there were no new migrants. As I have
been fairly sedantry with the leg
problem the 2 mile walk left me feeling
like I had run the London marathon so
when I returned home I put my feet up on
our new Lazy Boy sofa and nodded off, so
nothing to write home about bird wise.
April 21st
It was a beautiful day and we thought
this weather will have brought in some
new migrant birds, it hadn't so I took
the photo of this lovely Willow Warbler
instead. This evening on a short local
walk with the dogs, it has to be short
for Misty and me with my knee problem we
saw 3 Hen Harriers, 2 Grey Wagtails and
a Blue Tit on our Pear Tree.
April 20th
Another lovely sunny day and another
very good tour with Golden Eagles,
Otter, Hen Harrier, Red Deer all seen
very well although we only had a brief
view of a flying White-tailed Eagle.
Other birds of note were Goosander, Red
Breasted Merganser, and Wheatears
everywhere. Now for my regular readers
the saga is over, I HAVE AT LAST SEEN
THE TOBERMORY MAGPIE, it does exist and
as you can see from the pictures it
favours the area around the old cemetry,
it flew from a bush in the cemetry to
the wall around the cemetry. Yes, I got
proof because I know there will be
doubters out there. I have to thank Pam
as she saw it fly into the bush as we
were enjoying our wonderful Tobermory
ice creams.
 
April 19th
A beautiful day and I filled up the bird
feeders in the hope of something good
coming into the garden. I then went up
the hill with Sally our youngest dog to
check out the water supply, it was
whilst we were up the hill that
something good came into the garden, in
fact two somethings good came into the
garden, a female Blackcap, the one with
the brown cap and a Long tailed Tit, Pam
2 Arthur 0. On a short trip out this
afternoon a pair of Peregrin Falcons
interacting with a Raven and a very
close White-tailed Eagle but as I missed
the Long tailed Tit no new year ticks
for me today; darn it.
April 18th
All our family have gone now so it is
back to doing tours and what a day we
had, with lovely Spring weather and
birdsong everywhere. We had 7 Slow Worms
and a Stonechat at our first stop and a
displaying male Hen Harrier at the 2nd.
We saw quite a lot of Sand Martins on
territory and one Swallow. Red Deer
everywhere and 2 Hares, unusual on our
tours. Three separate White-tailed
Eagles were seen giving very good close
views, do you really need to
artificially attract these birds by
throwing out fish? My first Willow
Warbler of the year was seen and then
superb views of a Golden Eagle seeing
off a Buzzard before giving us a fine
display of its hunting technique. After
seeing both Common and Grey Seals we at
last had a good Otter sighting but we
had to wait it out as after spotting it
briefly it went to sleep out of sight of
us on an island, but eventually it woke
up and went fishing, giving excellent
views. There are a lot more Lesser
Black-backed Gulls about now and our
Kestrel sightings were also very good.
It was a great day to be back at work,
if you can count wildlife watching as
work.
 
A dull dry but windy day and our son
Richard and his wife Sheetal were due to
leave Mull on the 11o'clock ferry from
Craignure but it was cancelled due to
the wind, they did get off on the
Fishnish ferry however making thejouney
home longer but Sheetal saw Glen Coe and
Rannoch Moor for the first time. Simon
and Becky went on the long walk to
Glengorm and Pam and I took the
Grandchildren to Aros Park for a shorter
walk and we all met up for a lovely
lunch at the Glengorm Cafe. It was great
to have the Grandchildren to ourselves
for a few hours as they leave on the
early ferry tomorrow.
April 16th
A dull with forcast rain which did not
materialise and 2 new Mull birds for me
this year, a Common Sandpiper and my
first Swallow. On a trip around Mull
with the family we saw 3 Otters, a
mother with 2 well grown cubs and they
got so close that our grand children
aged four, six and eight were able to
watch them for some time without the
need for binoculars. Red Deer a Golden
Eagle and 2 Hen Harriers were also seen
during the day out. Home made pizza's
and Tobermory home made ice cream for
tea; yum.
A beautiful day and this afternoon our
son and son-in-law went Kayaking and saw
a very close Mink and had a White-tailed
Eagle fly right over their Kayaks. We
went out as a family for a meal at the
Bellachroy this evening, it has new
owners now and they are doing more up
market food but still do very good
childrens meals. In the morning I went
Magpie hunting with my son and
daughter-in-law once again to no avail.
April 14th
A full tour today with lovely guests and
we saw White-tailed Eagles but only
young Jamie saw one fly. We had
fantastic views of a Golden Eagle which
was quite close and being mobbed by
Hooded Crows giving good size
comparisons. Two very good Otters in
separate locations which as always gives
our guests a good feeling and we also
saw some very good Red Deer stags. We
stopped off to look at standing stones
and take in the fabulous views on a
gloriosly sunny day and also
photographed some black Highland Cows
with their new offspring in a delightful
Mull setting.
April 13th
A dreary first day of the holiday for
our grand children and with our son and
daughter-in-law arriving at lunch time
we spent the morning reading stories and
chasing the poor dogs around the house.
In the afternoon we watched the
football, Liverpool versus Manchester
City some of the family, the red side or
as we prefer to call it the dark side
were happy the blue half of the family
were not.
April 12th
Can't go out today as the family are
arriving from deepest Devon and we are
putting the final touches on before they
get here. They arrived this afternoon
and it is great to see them all again
including our 3 grand daughters. Our son
and daughter-in-law and our prospective
new grandchild due in October arrive
tomorrow.
April 9th to 11th inc
A time of inclement weather, getting new
carpets put down, bringing back all the
furniture, replacing books in the
bookcase and dust each one! Why?
cleaning through the water supply after
the very wet winter, hang on is that my
masters voice I hear, 'yes love, what
else do you want me to do', 'oh yes dear
I will hep with the spare camp bed for
our youngest grandchild, just give me a
second please', I need time off for good
behaviour. I did manage 2 new birds
during the 3 days of forced hard labour,
a Blackcap in Aros Park and a pair of
Jackdaws at Ulva School in the same
field as the Lapwings. Our family are
all up for Easter in case you hadn't
guessed.
 
A cold but mainly dry day but the tour
was shotened as I had guests off a
cruise ship out with me and they had to
be back in Tobermory by 3pm. In the
shortened day we saw 3 Golden Eagles, a
White-tailed Sea Eagle, Common and Grey
Seals, Red Deer stags and some Eider
Ducks another Mull first for me this
year. Pam did he r first bus guiding
trip down to Iona with guests from the
same cruise ship as my guests and due to
a dustbin wagon breaking down in Glen
More they were an hour and a half late
returning to Tobermory which meant that
my rushing to get my guests back on time
was not neccessary, but we wern't to
know that.
April 7th
The carpet man came today and after we
had settled him and his son in we left
them to it for an hour or so aswe were
only getting in their way. We took a
short trip to Cailaich Point and just
after we turned off the main Calgary
road 2 hirondines flew in front of the
car, they were my first Sand Martins on
Mull this year. At Cailaich we watched a
juvenile Gannet being persistantly
pestered by a 2nd year Herring Gull and
there were quite a few Wheatears at
Cailaich as well as some Red Deer. Pam
saw the Black-throated Diver still at
Calgary her first of the year and this
evening there was a Tawny Owl hooting in
a tree right outside our bedroom window
and although I have heard a lot of them
in our area this year this was the first
I had seen and it become my 100th bird
species sighting on Mull for 2014. Check
out my bird list for my sightings this
year.
April 6th
A tour today and would you believe it
heavy rain and strong winds, oh joy. The
first thing of note we saw was a Black
Throated Diver seen through cascading
rain from under cover of the large boot
of the new van, with no drips as was the
case with the old one. On we went with
good humour because the guide was
confident in the knowledge that shortly
after noon we might see an Otter,even on
dreadful days of weather it is good to
keep guests spirits up. Shortly after
noon we saw an Otter, well at least I
did as it slipped behind an island to be
out of the wind. Our guest then had to
look at a Great Northern Diver and 2
Black Guillemots as we waited patiently
for the Otter to reappear to eat its
lunch, which after half an hour it did,
thankfully and our guests were able to
see it until we got so hungry it was
time for our own lunch. As the afternoon
drew on we saw a Buzzard and Sparrowhawk
as the rain had stopped and then we
stopped at a Golden Eagle site and low
and behold the Eagle, flew giving great
views as it flew over a Red Deer stag
oblivious as it chewed its cud. On the
way back from seeing the Eagle 3 Fallow
Deer came out of the woods to take in
the sunshine and a White-tailed Eagle
put in a brief cameo appearance. After
which time the rain returned so we
headed home for a hot bath and thaw out.
April 5th
We have friends visiting tonight so I
was not allowed out as the house is in
chaos as the man bringing the new
carpets has not arrived and we have
furniture stacked on furniture and Pam
has no idea where we are going to sit
our guests. Phew, it turned out all
right on the night, our friends had a
great time, took the chaos in their
stride and as usual Pam's cooking was
fabulous and after a few drinks so was
the craic (crack) a gallic term for
gossip, fun, entertainment and enjoyable
conversation.
April 4th
A dull warm day and a trip to Tobermory
was required so the morning was taken up
with business and for me a haircut, my
first since before Christmas so much
needed. I did manage a trip out in the
late afternoon and saw some lovely
Slavonian Grebe in summer plumage but
the little blighters kept diving making
digi-scoping them impossible. Stopping
to look at some Great Northern Divers I
saw an Otter which although very nice to
see was taking lessons from the Grebes
on how to avoid being photographed. I
did manage a couple of photo,s though of
a drake Teal, my favorite duck
particularly as it did pose for me and
some Red Breasted Merganser pictures.
 
Gardening this morning, not my favorite
occupation as regular readers know but
in the late afternoon Pam and I did
manage a short journey out where we saw
lots of Great Northern Divers and
Wheatears. These were Pams first
Wheatear of the year so she was well
pleased. She was not so pleased with the
Red Grouse which again failed to put in
an appearance when Pam was out with me,
I think the Red Grouse are fast becoming
Pam,s bogey bird on Mull like the Magpie
is for me.
April 2nd
A trip down to Cailaich today and I had
brilliant views of a Merlin, it was
going like a rocket and Meadow Pipits
were flying everywhere, under the Merlin
looking completely unimpressed was a
small group of Red Deer. Golden Eagles
and a Kestrel were seen as I ventured
further afield and there were several
different Waders at Dervaig as I
returned home and I managed to get a
rather a nice photo of an Oystercatcher
sharing a small rock with a pair very
nice common Gulls. Then an after the 9pm
watershed moment, a pair of very amorous
Buzzards and they wern't just necking,
get a tree I thought.
 
No fooling the new 3
piece suite turned up today and as it is
a Lazy Boy I can now put my feet up all
the time, literally. In the bird world
we had great views of 2 Hen Harriers
today, one in the morning and one in the
afternoon when returning from filling up
the new van in Tobermory. I hope the van
has a large fuel tank as it was the most
money it has ever cost me to fill up a
vehicle, I think it must think it is a
long distant lorry. I digress back
to birds and in particular Golden
Eagles, arn't they just iconic, when you
get sightings like the ones I had this
morning it just blows you away and
leaves you awestruck, a little like my
fuel bill for the van.
April -
2013
April
30th
A
beautiful day for a tour and we saw over 60
species of birds and mammals including an
Otter, a Golden Eagle being mobbed by a
Buzzard giving good size comparison and both
types of Deer we have on Mull. We also saw
my first Great Skua of the year and a Cuckoo
which Harry photographed through the van
window before jokingly complaining that I
needed to clean the windows, who does he
think I am? George Formby. I nearly forgot I
saw my favorite bird for the first time this
year on Mull today, a pair of Linnets.
April
29th
Very very windy so as we
had no tour today we spent most of the day
doing jobs in and around the homestead. As
Pam was very busy decorating and sanding
and varnishing the doors to the bathrooms
she got me HOOVERING, now chaps this is a
machine with a long handle that sucks up
bits off the floor and furniture, ours is
called George and has a nice smiley face,
it was a good job one of us could smile.
When I managed to escape I found 3 Dunlin,
my first of the year.
April
28th
Back
on the road again in very cold windy showery
weather not nice at all but we saw all the
Mull big 5 Golden Eagle, White-tailed Eagle,
Hen Harrier, Red Deer and 2 Otters, as we
keep saying showery days can be best but it
was very cold in the wind. In a total of 50
species seen during the day my 2 highlights
were a White Wagtail with Pied Wagtails on
Calgary Beach and the beautiful Black-tailed
Godwits coming into breeding plumage at
Dervaig on our way home seen in picture
below.
April
27th
A
lovely day and so Pam and I went for a walk
with the dogs to Quinnish and looked for
little birds. We saw the 3 Eider Ducks in
the picture below just before we entered the
woods always a nice Duck to see in breeding
plumage. We also saw a lot of Tits, Coal,
Blue and Great, a Song Thrush and
Chaffinches but the 2 best sightings came
towards the end of the walk, a female
Bullfinch and then a Chiffchaff, not a
Common bird on Mull but one I needed for my
year list.
April
26th
Sunny
again but with a cold wind and its great to
have a day off from painting and decorating
the new bathrooms to do the tour for Arthur
with a lovely group of people. An early
start gave us great views of Bottlenose
Dolphins at Calgary Bay, a group of about 7
animals were obviously hunting fish by
driving them into the shallow waters of the
bay with some occasional tail slapping. I
could have stayed and watched all day but my
guests wanted to see more and they were not
disappointed as at the next stop we saw a
Cuckoo, a first for some guests. Golden
Eagle, Otter, Red Deer and Seal were seen
during the day as well as lots of history,
geology talked about. Another first for
guests was sniffing the gorse for it
delicious coconut smell and watching me
avoiding running over baby lambs on the
road.
April
25th
Another
mainly sunny and windy day but my knee has
swollen so I find it difficult to drive, I
will go to the doctors tomorrow and Pam will
do the tour. We had the Great Spotted
Woodpecker back in the garden today just in
time for visiting friends to see it although
they were more taken with the Siskins. We
went for a short outing with our friends
with Pam driving and managed to see a male
Hen Harrier and some Red Deer and a breeding
plumaged Great Northern Diver.
April
24th
After
heavy overnight rain it turned into a lovely
day but still windy. There is really only
one word to describe todays tour EAGLES, we
had talon grasping White tailed Eagles, a
White-tailed Eagle being mobbed by a Buzzard
over our heads and boringly White-tailed
Eagles just flying and sitting. We had
Golden Eagles hunting very close, Golden
Eagles flying together almost over our heads
and Golden Eagles just being Golden Eagles.
We did see other birds and mammals but
really all I can remember from today were
lovely guests and EAGLES.
April
23rd
A
showery day and slightly warmer and as I was
working around the house it gave me a chance
to study the birds in our garden and in
particular the Siskins, they are a
tremendous bird to see and the contrasting
black and yellows of this feisty little bird
is remarkable. There was a fall of between
50 and 100 Pied Wagtails at the Dervaig
reedbed this evening a fantastic sight to
see with Wagtails everywhere and mixed in
with them a solitary Willow Warbler and 2
Blue Tits. We saw a hunting Hen Harrier on
our way home probably the one seen by Pam
hunting over our field.
April
22nd
A very
wet and windy start to todays tour with a
very windy but dry finish, not the best
weather for wildlife watching and very cold.
We had a brilliant view of a Peregrine
Falcon today and a good Otter but I think my
favorite part of the day was sea watching at
Cailaich where although not many birds there
were quite a few species to be seen. I saw
my first Fulmar of the year and several
Kittiwakes, a few Gannets with their bright
white plumage brightening up the dark
background. There were Guillemots and
Razorbills a pair of Shelduck, Shags and
Herring Gulls and of course the
Oystercatchers, even as we were leaving we
saw our first Red Deer of the day. Even in
the trying conditions we saw Buzzards,
Kestrels and White-tailed Eagles and for me
another highlight a field full of Meadow
Pipits newly arrived feeding like crazy out
of the biting wind.
April
21st
A very
windy day with a quite severe wind chill and
although migration has started it is still
painfully slow. On the tour today both types
of Eagle were seen well although the Golden
Eagle was a distance away. An Otter put in
an appearance and all the guests saw it
through the telescope and then we went
closer and saw it briefly on the rocks
before it went into the sea for a snack
before doing what Otters do best,
disappearing. Both types of Deer were seen
as were Common seals and I saw my first Manx
Shearwaters of the year 3 of them from a
very windy Cailaich Point. We spent a long
time looking for Hen Harrier without success
and when I got home Pam told me she had seen
one from the kitchen window quartering our
front field, oh well such is life.
April
20th
A nice
warm day and so as I had to pick Pam up from
the ferry at 4-45pm I decided to go and look
for the White Billed diver which had been
reported the day before near Gribun. As you
Know me by now I had to go birding on the
way and at Aros Bridge I saw a beautiful
Grey Wagtail my first of the season and
there were also several Willow Warblers in a
few places also my first this year. Oh yes
the White Billed Diver, I am fairly sure I
saw it as I had a very good look at a Diver
with a big white bill near an obvious Great
Northern Diver it certainly matched the
pictures in my book but I await conformation
from photographs taken of the bird and if I
am right Hoorah what a find.
April
19th
A tour
today in windy conditions and 54 species
were seen on the day including Common
Sandpipers, my first this year. Otters
were seen and White Tailed Eagles, Red Deer
and Seals all in all a very good day out
with spectacular views from all over Mull.
Eas Force the water fall is now pouring out
water a complete contrast to the water
trickle it was last week during the drought.
April
18th
Another
tough day weather wise but nothing like as
bad as forecast with much less wind, so my
guests were able to see most of the special
wildlife Mull has to offer even if some of
it was distant. I always say that I look for
everything on our tours and one of todays
highlights was a group of 14 Slavonian
Grebes most in breeding plumage on Loch No
Keal, a Bar-tailed Godwit and a Whimbrel
being other highlights.
April
17th
Typical
a much nicer day and no tour as I had
another dentist appointment for my root
canal treatment. I now have a temporary
filling before I have to go again in July,
will the treatment never end, probably as
the dentist told me if I have any problems
between now and then the said tooth will
have to go, OUCH. As you can imagine no
birding today to traumatized.
April
16th
Rain
and gales for todays tour 4 of my 6 guests
cancelled their tour as they thought we
would see nothing. In the event we had a
great day with 51 species seen including a
very close unexpected Woodcock, some late
leaving Redwings, a very close White-tailed
Eagle, a Whimbrel, Red Deer and a very
hungry Donkey which was up for eating
anything as one of my guests Ian found out.
My special thanks to Ian and Karen for
braving the elements and helping to make it
a great day of birding and wildlife
watching. We started the day as strangers to
each other and ended as friends it just goes
to show sometimes bad weather is very good
for wildlife watching, birders certainly
think so as the wildlife is often unusual
and unpredictable and those that cancelled
missed out on a very good day. Today I added
3 more bird species to my Mull year list,
Sand Martins, Swallows and a
Kittiwake.
April
15th
A much
better day weather wise and it was a good
job as Pam was guiding two bus loads of
guests from a cruise ship. She did two tours
one in the morning and one in the afternoon,
going from Tobermory to Calgary Bay via
Dervaig and then back to Tobermory by way of
Salen. Although this is not a wildlife tour
she did see a House Martin at Aros Bridge
the first reported on Mull this year. I had
a stinker of a day visiting the Tobermory
tip with 2 loads of old bathroom suites and
did not see any wildlife of note.
April
14th
!4
hours of continual rain overnight brought
relief to a lot of people who get their
water off the hill and maybe now the
Tobermory distillery can start producing
again after a few very dry weeks. Last night
we took the plumbing guys out looking for
Owls, we bid not see any Short Eared owls
which we were really looking for but did see
a Barn Owl just starting to hunt for the
evening. This evening we went to the
Bellachroy for a meal with the boys who had
worked so hard putting in 2 new bathrooms in
a week. Our thanks to Richie and his boys
Billy and Josh, to Angus MacKenzie (OG) the
builder and Ian McAdam and Garry the
electricians for all pulling together to
make it all possible.
April
13th
An
early start for me as I went to look for any
new birds that I had not seen before on Mull
this year and I had a lovely time seeing
lots of little birds which I don't get to
see on tours. In the event I did manage to
see 1 new Mull species a Bullfinch near the
Am Berlinn restaurant. The main Mull species
seen were a White-tailed Eagle and lots of
Red Deer.
April
12th
Richie's
the plumbers boys have worked so hard for
the last week that we decided to give them a
treat and take them on a tour we also took
Linda a volunteer from the Whale and Dolphin
Trust. I (Pam) took them as Arthur had to go
to the doctors with a touch of
gout......ouch.
The
day started with rain, we shouldn't
complain, and was very slow with a few
distant Red Deer, 2 Fallow Deer and Common
Seals seen. Plenty of Great Northern Divers
and a group of about 6 or 7 summer plumage
Slavonian Grebe were also seen. At our
toilet break just before lunch and we
spotted an Otter feeding and a few minutes
later I saw a Golden Eagle sitting right at
the top of the hill. I then turned and
scanned the rocks to find a juvenile White
tail Eagle sitting and an Otter swimming in
the water below. As we ate our lunch and
watched the activity a second White tail and
a second Otter appeared all in the same
spot. 'My best Lunch break ever' said Linda
and we all agreed with her. The day was
finished with both male and female Hen
Harrier.
April
11th
Drizzle
for most of the day and it was welcomed by
all the people on draught ridden Mull.
Todays tour brought our first Bottle Nosed
Dolphin sighting of the year with a pod of 7
to 10 being seen very close in at Cailaich
Point.
A very
good Otter sighting today seeing two in
total at separate locations and very good
White-tailed Eagles and Red Deer Stags.
After the Dolphins my favorite sighting of
the day was a lovely close view of Britain's
smallest bird a Goldcrest, happy days.
April
10th
A much
duller day but still dry and a hill fire has
raged over the hill from Glen Forsa to Loch
Ba disturbing all the waders which were on
the hill, it is to be hoped that no sitting
Eagles were put off their nests by the
smoke. I spent the day going back and to
Tobermory fetching and carrying for the
plumbers, in the evening however i managed
half an hour up the hill at the back of
Ardrioch and had a spectacular view of a
Short Eared owl.
April
9th
I feel
a little sorry for the plumbers putting in
the new bathrooms as they are missing out on
this incredible weather. On the tour today
we had great views of a mother Otter with a
young cub which was fantastic as most of my
guests like seeing Otters. The White-tailed
Eagles were more obliging today , one flying
right over the van as we were looking at a
Golden Eagle. Great sighting of a Golden
Eagle again today and a lovely Red Deer stag
who was watching us watching him. A lot of
song Thrushes were seen as was a Mistle
Thrush and wheatears are now arriving in
good numbers. Finally we saw a Black
Throated diver in calgary Bay and 3 Great
Northern divers at Cailaich Point.
April
8th
Another
gorgeous day so I went to try and find my
100th Mull bird of the year and at long last
I saw my first Wheatears of the year at
Calgary. The rest of the day was spent doing
jobs as Richie our son arrives this evening
to put in the new bathrooms. Our thanks go
to Angus for working so hard to get the
rooms ready so that there should be few hold
ups. (HOPEFULLY)
April
7th
A
strange day as if there was going to be a
change in the weather with an odd drop of
rain. The day started really well with
Buzzards everywhere with a count of 6 in the
air at one time. Red Deer and a White-tailed
Eagle in the first hour and then none of the
big 5 for most of the rest of the day. We
did see Goosander, Redshanks, lots of great
Northern divers, one in nearly full breeding
plumage and a Black Throated Diver at
Calgary. As the day drew on and still no
Golden Eagles we stopped for afternoon tea
and low and behold a Golden Eagle appeared
over the hill and landed giving excellent
views. Just to show how contrary wildlife
can be another was seen even closer half an
hour later. The day finished on a high with
a sighting of 2 Short Eared Owls.
April
6th
A
slightly warmer but duller day and a trip to
Oban, the pretence was to see a man about
carpets, actually Pam just wanted an excuse
to go and see the Sperm Whale in Oban
harbour. In the event we saw both the Whale
and the carpet man so Pam was a very happy
bunny. Back at Ardrioch Pam resumed her door
painting whilst I with a lot of help from
our neighbour hung our new Discover Mull
signs by our drive entrance, many thanks to
Nick.
April
5th
Weather
unchanged and still hardly any migrants have
arrived on Mull. Today we went to Tobermory
to have hair cuts and deliver leaflets, this
afternoon I had an emergency appointment at
the dentist in order to avoid a paracetamol
overdose. As you can imagine there was not a
lot of time today for wildlife watching.
April
4th
After
a very cold night another lovely warm Spring
day and although I did not have a tour I did
go out for a walk and saw brilliant Golden
Eagles. A walk down Ensay Burn brought
little in the way of wildlife but the views
along the burn were lovely and as I
had not done the walk before I enjoyed
myself immensely. At Ardrioch Pam is busy
with Angus our builder and Ian our
electrician getting the rooms ready for next
week when Richie our son and plumber come
from cheshire for 10 days to put in two new
bathrooms and revamp our water system. Most
of the time she is happy if I am out of the
way unless there is a demolition job to do
then I am your man.
April
3rd
Weather
keeps getting better and it was another
lovely day after overnight frost. Eider
Ducks my first of the year a good start to
the day, this was followed by an
extraordinary sighting of an Otter running
across a field in the middle of nowhere, it
certainly surprised me. We had a wait to see
a White-tailed Eagle and then at the end of
the day one flew over the top of the van
giving great views, Golden Eagles showed
well and we had a terrific male Hen Harrier
sighting. My guests were really happy to be
able to photograph some black Highland Cows
with their Calves being able to get really
close without bothering them at all, then a
couple of walkers with dogs came by and if
we hadn't been there they would have been in
real trouble as the cows started to go for
the dogs. Please remember you do have a
responsibility if you have dogs, keep them
away from cows with calves and sheep with
small lambs, it is not the farmers
responsibility unless the animals have got
out.
 
April
2nd
A
lovely and warmer day today great for
renovations but fortunately for me I had a
tour to take out, what a shame. My guests
were desperate to see an Otter and we got a
great one after searching the coast for 6
hours, we also saw terrific Golden Eagles
which appeared out of nowhere as we were
looking for, you guessed it, Otter. Early
morning persistence had brought us good
sightings of White-tailed Eagles and Red
Deer but my 3 favorite sightings of a very
good day were a gorgeous Yellowhammer, a
Common Scoter and Slavonian Grebe in summer
plumage, all seen at the same stop as we
were searching for OTTER.
April
1st
A day
similar to yesterday with more wind. Aprils
fools day and I would have enjoyed going out
birding but with renovations going on apace
at Ardrioch I spent a large part of the day
sanding down our new back door and helping
the builder which in my case means making
the brews and shutting water off and on. On
a brighter note the Woodpecker made an
appearance on the peanuts so a day not
entirely wasted
April - 2012
April
30th
Weather
beautiful but windy - A day full of birds of
prey with fabulous sighting of a Merlin that
we followed down the road and saw several
times in a 5 minute period. Displaying Hen
Harriers both in the morning and afternoon
which of course delighted our guests as did
the White-tailed Sea Eagle changeover
at a nest site and a very close Golden
Eagle. Little birds were in short supply as
there was too much wind.
April
29th
Weather
beautiful sunny with a light warm breeze -
It was very good weather today for a Spring
wedding and Pam spent the day watching one,
we wish them both well. I went out birding,
what else, an early morning walk to look for
Sedge and Grasshopper Warbler, saw the Sedge
heard the Grasshoppers at least 6 in Dervaig
reed beds. Later I went and did a bird atlas
square and heard a Wood Warbler and my first
Chiffchaff on Mull without see either of
them.
April
28th
Weather
cloudy calm and warm - another fabulous
sighting of Hen Harriers concluded another
good bird of prey day, with another 4 Golden
Eagles seen although guests had to be fairly
patient. We had lots of small birds today
with a really good Yellowhammer being the
stand out. Red Deer and Seals were the main
Mammals of the day as again the Otter seen
was very brief and seen only by one guest,
it pays to be alert were Otters are
concerned.
April
27th
Weather
sunny, breezy, dry but cool in the coastal
breeze - We had our first Dunlin of the year
on todays tour and a good sighting of a pair
of displaying Common Sandpipers and 3
Linnets on a fence which most guests saw.
There are more whitethroats about now and
they are giving guests good views sitting
out on bushes. I heard my first Sedge
Warbler of the year today but did not see it
and I have still to see a cuckoo although we
hear them everyday on the tours. All the
usual suspects seen on todays tour although
the Otter was very brief.
 
April
26th
Weather
sunny, warm and calm - Two more year firsts
today, a House Martin and a White Wagtail
but we also had a tour first, two scrapping
Field Voles, a sight I have never seen
before. We had some good sightings of
smaller birds today with Common Whitethroat,
Willow Warblers, Wheatears, Wrens and common
Sandpipers being the standouts. Red Deer and
both types of Eagle were seen as usual as
were two fighting Kestrels and several
Buzzards another good wildlife watching day.
 
April
25th
Weather
sunny but cool with light breeze - Whimbrel
seen again today and I saw my first Common
Whitethroat of the year and a Black Throated
Diver was also seen. We had wonderful
sightings of White-tailed Sea Eagles today
and 5 different Golden Eagles but the most
spectacular sighting of a very good day was
of a displaying male Hen Harrier which had
all of us watching this spectacular flying
display in awe.
April
24th
Weather
Rain all morning sunny in the afternoon,
calm - On a tour today I saw my first
Whinchat of the year, we also had great
sightings of 2 Red Throated Divers, Great
Northern Divers, a male Linnet and Golden
Eagle. The sighting of the day however was
of a mother and cub Otter quite close in and
out of the water for over an hour, guests
were delighted and I was delighted for them,
4 Otters in total during a very pleasant
trip with lovely guests.
 
April
21st - April 23rd
We
had visitors for Easter so blog on
back burner
April
20th
Weather
cloudy with light breeze - Common Sandpipers
are arriving daily now and we saw at least 4
today, we also heard two distant calling
Cuckoos. As well as the Buzzards, Eagles and
Kestrels we are seeing more Peregrine
Falcons and Merlins this spring. In the
hills the sound of spring is all around us
as we look for the Eagles with calling
Curlews, Skylarks and Meadow Pipits, it is
perfect to be out there listening to these
evocative sounds.
April
19th
Weather
sunny and warm but cold wind in exposed
areas - Arthur had to see the dentist today
so I (Pam) was out on the tour with another
nice group all eager to see Eagles and they
were not disappointed with lots of both
kinds seen well. A very enthusiastic Tom
(aged 8) was delighted to see his second
ever Golden Eagle, he excitedly told us the
first he saw was stuffed. Red and Fallow
Deer were seen as well as Seals but
unfortunately no Otters today. The birds of
the day for me were the dozen or more Great
northern Divers looking splendid in full
summer plumage and calling with a wonderful
haunting sound.
April
18th
Weather
sunny all day breezy and warm out of the
wind - Another good day with a really nice
group of guests, White-tailed Sea Eagles
were the bird of the day giving us some
fantastic views and included in this was
last years injured youngster still doing
well and now feeding itself and hopefully
well on the road to recovery. We saw 3
Otters today but at quite a long distance
away but everyone got to see them through
the telescopes. A good sighting of a Hen
Harrier at one of our first stops and of
course lots of Buzzard and kestrel
sightings.
April
17th
Weather
sunny first thing then low cloud and drizzle
for most of the day - An early start for
todays tour and a good job it was as we had
seen most of Mulls specialities before the
rain and low cloud came down, including a
Common Sandpiper my first of the year. At
the end of the day as the cloud was lifting
we stopped at a spot on the way back into
Tobermory and watched as birds got up from
everywhere including a Golden Eagle, at
least 3 Buzzards and a Kestrel and lots and
lots of Crows and Ravens. A fitting end to a
great day out with very good humoured and
patient guests who bore the low cloud with
great fortitude.
April
16th
Weather
cloudy, dry but a cold wind in places - We
took an extra tour today and to give Arthur
a rest I (Pam) took the tour, it was a slow
start to the day with not much to be seen
until after morning coffee when we saw the
Fallow Deer. 'Things are looking up' I said,
and I was right as they were closely
followed by White-tail Eagle and Otter. By
the end of the day we had seen everything
guests wanted to see so we came back home
for afternoon tea, a warm up in front of the
Aga and a cuddle with the baby lambs for our
younger guests. Arthur was far from
relaxed when I got home, but again all ended
well when Manchester City won some
important football match.
April
15th
Weather
the same as yesterday - another tour today
with the wildlife not being as obliging as
in recent days and we did not see any
Otters, we did however see Fallow Deer which
we have not been seeing of late. I saw my
first Linnet of the year today and as it is
my favorite bird I was really pleased, other
great sightings today were of 2 male
Goosanders a really beautiful Duck to see.
April
14th
Weather
lovely day light cloud with sunny spells and
reasonably warm in the sunshine, light
breeze - Perfect conditions for looking for
Otters and Seals and we saw lots of Common
Seals and 3 Otters which as always delighted
our guests. We had both types of Eagle again
today but boy did the Golden Eagle take
patience, I think all our guests had given
up on seeing one when I heard the honking of
a Raven, knowing Ravens and Eagles don't get
on I searched the sky for the Calling Raven
and there it was and whoopee it was Chasing
you guessed it a Golden Eagle. The Eagle
proceeded to fly on the thermals for about
10 minutes before landing on a hillock and
giving all guests a chance to see it through
the telescopes. Another successful day, as I
say to our guests " don't worry about seeing
the big stuff, leave me to worry about
finding it, if we have not seen it by 4pm
start worrying" I think they had started
worrying and it was only 3-30pm.
 
April
13th
Weather
low cloud and rain all day - not a day to be
out and about but I did go to Calgary with
Mike Shepherd a friend of ours who comes to
Mull a lot for wildlife watching, painting
and to chill out far from the crowded South
where he lives. There was not a lot to see
in the weather but I managed to get a Photo
of The Great Northern Diver we saw
yesterday.
April
12th
Weather
sunny with a couple of short sharp April
showers and a brief hail storm - A tour
today and we had great views of a Peregrine
Falcon frightening Pigeons before going to a
favoured sitting spot. We also a superb
sighting of a close Great Northern Diver in
summer plumage, a lovely bird to see. Both
types of Eagles, 2 Otters and lots of Red
Deer were also seen as were Sand Martins and
newly arrived Swallows. Another good tour
with very nice guests who were very
positive, patient and wildlife enthusiasts.
April
11th
Weather
sunny with occasional showers - No tour
today so I spent some time organizing a pen
for the new lamb and her mum to be able to
go outside on some grass without disturbance
and where they had some shelter. The rest of
the day was spent on paperwork, no wildlife
watching today, shame.
April
10th
Weather
mainly warm and sunny a bit cooler when the
sun went in - I make no apologies for
starting todays blog with a lamb update.
When we were driving past our house towards
the end of todays tour we noticed a ewe had
just lambed but the lamb was not moving, so
we stopped and I ran to the lamb which was
still alive - just, getting the lamb by its
back legs I gave it a shake to clear its
airways and then left it with nursemaid
shepherdess Pam to look after it. Pam was
brilliant and after 6 hours giving the lamb
colostrum and ministering to it managed at
9pm to get it to suck off its mother by
itself. The next morning it got up and
stretched to show it had no real ill effect
from its ordeal of the day before, so to all
my guests who were very concerned about the
welfare of the little lamb I can assure you
it is doing very well thank you and here are
the photo's of her with her mum the next
morning.
As to
the tour yesterday I saw my first Swallows
of the year and we had the most fantastic
views of a pair of Golden Eagles and to
prove this go to Prassad's Treshnish
Blog as he was watching the same
Eagles at the same time but his photo's are
brilliant - mine were not Hey Ho.
An
interesting feature about Mull proving we
are not just about Eagles and Otters but
about everything to do with wildlife. Mull
Hazelwoods
Landward
April
9th
Weather
sunny, breezy but very warm - A great day to
be born if you are a lamb and we had our
first baby lamb of the year this morning to
a first time mum and as you can see from the
picture she took to motherhood as if she was
born to it. An early morning start today not
a tour but in hope of seeing Owls, I did not
see any however I did see my first Willow
Warbler of the year, so today was a day of
firsts and very nice they were too and Pam
hasn't told me off today, now that is a
first.
April
8th
Weather
Sunny after early morning mist - A morning
spent on our water supply and some work to
prevent Red Deer jumping our iron wicket
gate by the road, Pam spent the morning
baking biscuits for the tours. This
afternoon I went to see if there was any
wildlife to be found and although there
was not a lot to be seen apart from 3
Great Northern Divers and a Red Throated
Diver I was able to take a picture of the
long staying Pink Footed Goose still with
Greylags at Calgary and a nice picture of
a Shelduck a very pretty duck and now
pairing up and on territory.
 
April
7th
Weather
cloudy with a little sunshine, warmer as
only a light breeze - A tour today and a
good day for the big stuff, another
terrific Otter sighting, 4 White-tailed
Sea Eagles, Golden eagles pair bonding,
Buzzard, Kestrels and a probable Merlin
but to brief a view to be certain. Red
Deer, Common Seals, Rabbits and of course
the Otter were the mammals seen on a very
good day, other notable birds seen were
Slavonian Grebes and Red Throated and
Great Northern Divers, good day with very
nice guests.
 
April
6th
Weather
Rain, rain, rain, windy Oh Did I mention
RAIN - What a day and despite the awful
weather we saw A Golden Eagle sheltering
from the rain, 2 White-tailed sea Eagles
flying in the rain, Red and Fallow Deer
ignoring the rain, an Otter fishing in the
rain, a Kestrel dashing about trying to
outrun the rain and finally a flock of 10
Whooper Swans dropped onto Ulva to get out
of the rain. IT RAINED A LOT TODAY?
 
April
5th
Weather
low cloud but dry morning rain in the
afternoon - A tour today where for me the
highlight was the Red Necked Grebe seen in
Laggan Ulva bay, the bird was quite close in
but by the time we picked it up the weather
conditions were deteriorating fast and it
had started raining, so the photo is very
grainy. Brilliant Otter again today and a
White-tailed Eagle in the morning, lots of
Red Deer were seen as were Seals and
Buzzards. We saw a good smattering of
coastal birds including Lapwings, Curlews,
Redshanks, Shelduck, Eider and Great
Northern Divers, so although the weather was
not great it was quite a good day overall.
April
4th
Weather
today it was windy and very wet - We went to
Calgary in the late afternoon after it had
stopped raining and were transfixed by the
rollers on the waves coming into Calgary
Bay, Those of you who Know this beautiful
bay know how shallow the water is here,
today however you could have brought your
surf boards and had a great time, most
unusual. Around the corner the waves were
crashing in over the skerries a most
spectacular sight, there is always something
to see and surprise you on this fantastic
island including the lovely male Eider
surfing in Calgary Bay.
April
3rd
Weather
sunshine and showers breezy cool when not in
the sun -A tour today with a local family,
they were delightful and particularly wanted
to see an Otter and thanks to Pam spotting
one in the rough sea we were able to give
them wonderful views. We owe this to the
wind and the Otter and a bit of field craft,
our guests could not pick up the Otter in
the rough seas so having worked out which
way the Otter was travelling we got in front
of it and waited and whoopee for once we had
got it right and the Otter came round the
point and started fishing in a sheltered
cove bringing a Crab out only 20 yards from
where we were waiting. The wind was blowing
right in our faces so the Otter could not
scent us and proceeded to delight our guest
for the next 10 minutes with its undisturbed
antics, brilliant. Both types of Eagles were
seen as were Buzzards, Kestrels and
Sparrowhawk but bird of the day for me was
my first Whimbrel of the year.
April
2nd
Weather
we have had a night of non stop rain which
continued for most of the morning, the
afternoon was much better - Pam and I went
to Tobermory this morning, then came home
via Salen and Ulva and despite the weather
commented on the views and the incredible
light we have here on Mull. One view of the
dark cloud with sunlight shining through it
onto the hills beyond was truly breathtaking
but even if I had got my camera with me I
could not have done it justice. Our
Sparrowhawk spent 10 minutes in a tree in
the garden today, as it is so poor at
catching birds in flight I think this might
be a new tactic to lull the little birds
into a false sense of security and become
careless, It did not work.
April
1st
Weather
rain, cloud and windy morning better in the
afternoon - I went to Calgary Bay as soon as
it was light and saw the Pink Footed Goose
was still with the Greylags in the
cemetery field. On my way to the shop in
Dervaig I saw a Female Hen Harrier
quartering the ground not far from the new
Barn Owl Box and in the afternoon I serviced
and checked out our water supply so that we
will have no problems for guests in the
self-catering throughout the summer.
April
- 2011
April
30th
Weather
the same as yesterday with a little more sun
- The views today were brilliant and we
could see as far as the Outer Hebrides
without binoculars. No Otter today but very
Good White-tailed Eagles and Golden Eagles
but the highlight for the guests today were
3 separate Cuckoos in 3 different locations,
it is surprising how many people have heard
Cuckoos without actually seeing them. We
went out to the Boathouse
on Ulva for my birthday celebration
meal and it was wonderful we cannot thank
the girls enough for their hospitality and
great food.
April
29th
Weather
cloudy with breeze cool - Another day with
the grand children beach combing at Croig
where we saw a very close Great Northern
Diver and some Crabs and Limpets, i walked
the dogs round and round a small beach area
to give them a good walk it must have looked
very strange. Later at Cailaich we were able
to show our 4 year old Grand Daughter an
Otter through the scope.
April
28th
Weather
a much better day after heavy overnight rain
- I am having a couple of days off to spend
them with my 3 young grand children, so a
walk through the woods with the dogs, then
an hour at the Old Byre play area. After
lunch we took them to see the piglets in the
picture below and also saw a couple of wild
Black Rabbits. On our way home we stopped to
look for Otter and saw two in an area where
I had tried to find them yesterday but they
weren't there, ah well that's wildlife for
you.
April
27th
Weather
cool, cloudy and breezy, rain in the late
afternoon - White-tailed Eagles, Whimbrel
and Great Northern Divers were the
wildlife highlights of todays tour,
although my birds of the day were Summer
plumaged Dunlins and displaying Redshanks
seen on my way home at the end of the day.
We included a lot of history in todays tour
which makes the tours more flexible and
gives guests not so interested in the
wildlife a more rounded tour, hopefully we
cater for all tastes.
April
26th
Weather
Cloudy but mainly dry with westerly breeze -
Another tour today and 2 White-tailed Eagles
one carrying prey, which looked like a
rabbit. On the White-tailed Eagle front,
some bad news, we had confirmation today
that the Loch Frisa nest had failed due to
the poor weather just as the youngsters had
hatched. 2 Golden Eagles one a distant view
of one on a cairn surveying its territory
the other flying giving great views. We also
saw an Otter today which appeared out of
nowhere as we were looking at some Grey
Seals, the Otter gave us a great half hour
as we had morning coffee. Another notable
sighting today was a group of Red Deer hinds
with last years calves at a wallowing hole,
I have seen single Deer wallowing before but
never a group of over 20. Other notable
sightings of the day were a fabulous view of
a Whimbrel and my first Mull House Martin of
the year. Below find a picture of one of 2
Cock Pheasants which regularly appear in our
garden.
April
25th
Weather
cloudy turning to rain in the afternoon - A
quiet day with the family today with a nice
walk through the woods with the dogs this
morning where we saw a family of Crossbills
feeding young. On returning home I found
this lovely Emperor Moth which at about 35mm
wide is quite common in the north and
wonderfully colourful. There was a lovely
female Lesser Redpoll on the feeders in the
garden this afternoon more than holding its
own against the Siskins and goldfinches.
This evening Alan mullbirds
Spellman rang to say 2 Bee-eaters had been
seen at Calgary so Pam & I and the rest
of the family went down to see what all the
fuss was about and low and behold they were
there - 2 Bee-eaters. We had been
all the way to Southern Spain to look for
these birds and they turn up 3 miles from
home.
 
April
24th
Weather
lovely, sunshine with slight breeze -
After the rain of yesterday I decided to sow
some wildflower seeds in the rocky part of
our lawn, I had to go to a neighbour to get
the top soil and fetch it back in the back
of the car. It took me most of the morning
to prepare the seed bed and I sowed them in
the afternoon. This afternoon our daughter
and son-in-law arrived with our 3 small
grandchildren and after helping us feed the
orphan lambs we all went down to Calgary
beach with the dogs for a walk.
April
23rd
Weather
low cloud and rain all day damp air made it
feel cold - We really needed the rain but I
wish it had come on a day when I did not
have a tour. In the event 6 Guests and I
left Tobermory more in hope than expectation
and within an hour we were watching a
White-tailed Eagle flying through the rain
to perch on a tree not far from where we
were standing sheltered under the boot of
the van, check out the photo below taken
through the rain. We saw a lot of red
Breasted Mergansers and a Slavonian Grebe at
the same spot before heading off to look for
more wildlife and a very much needed hot
drink. We passed a couple of Fallow Deer on
the way and whilst drinking our teas and
coffee heard a Cuckoo and tried very hard to
see it but failed, we did however see some
Red Deer on the hillside. As we were heading
towards our lunch spot and a comfort break
we passed a pair of Teal and Shelduck, the
Teal were late leaving and the Shelduck had
arrived to breed, as we looking at the
ducks when a Whimbrel flew in giving
us great views of its different bill and
striped head. Onto lunch and the Divers 2
Red Throated and 5 Great Northern Divers in
the bay together and superb Lapwings in the
field close by as we watched the Divers.
After lunch we were quite cold so we just
drove gently around the island and talked
about the History and Geology we saw on the
way until we reached a place where we might
find an Otter, sure enough as guests were
looking at some Razorbills out on the water
I spotted an Otter just going out to fish,
we watched the Otter for quite a while
before it caught a large fish and brought it
to land giving us all fantastic views. Now
damp and cold I took our guests back to our
house for afternoon tea and cakes and a warm
in front of the aga and a look at our bird
feeders. Birds seen on the feeders were
Chaffinches, Greenfinches, Collared Dove,
Rock Doves lots of Siskins and a lovely
Lesser Redpoll, oh and the Sparrowhawk flew
through twice. After tea we went back to
Tobermory and saw several Buzzards, 2 Ringed
Plovers, 2 Common Sandpipers and 6
redshanks, so a really good day with a lot
of sightings some of them excellent despite
awful weather conditions.
April
22nd
Weather
cloudy, cool but dry - Another BTO day and 3
more squares covered including climbing up a
steep hill which my legs are not used to and
my Knees complained about. It was really
worth it because of the fantastic views I
had of 2 Hen Harriers on territory,
particularly the male which glided silently
below me completely unaware of my presence I
think. It is really special to be out and
about in the countryside when you get
sightings this good in such wonderful
scenery and you realize how lucky you are to
live here.
April
21st
Weather
warmer and less windy but still cool and
cloudy - BTO squares again today as I
want to get my first summer season visits
done before May. The main highlights of the
walk were of a family of Crossbills which
have now hatched as they are early breeders
and towards the end of the walk we saw a
beautiful Bullfinch always a treat when we
see them, check out the photos below of one
we saw earlier in the month.
April
20th
Weather
very cold and windy with occasional wintry
showers - A great group of guests today who
put up with the unseasonal weather with
fortitude and good humour. Although we did
not see as many species of wildlife as usual
due to the very windy conditions we did
manage excellent views of White-tailed
Eagle, Golden Eagles, Otters and Red and
fallow Deer. The strangest sighting of the
day was a spectacular Peacock walking
through the woods at Gruline, a first for a
Discover Mull Tour.
 
April
19th
Weather
cooler but still fine with strong breeze - a
tour today and the guests wanted to see
White-tailed Eagles and at our first stop as
we were looking at Red Breasted Mergansers
and Grey Seals a noisy Hooded Crow appeared
from behind us and it was mobbing a juvenile
White-tailed Eagle, my guests were well
choughed and so was I only 10 minutes into
the tour and guests satisfied. We had
brilliant views of Great Northern Divers
with one of them in full summer plumage and
at lunch time a Golden Eagle sitting out on
a ledge was superb. As the weather got
colder and windier as the day drew on we saw
less birds but this was more than made up
with both types of Deer and even better
Seals. As well as Highland Cows with calves
and Hebrides Sheep with lambs we are now
showing guests some Rare Breed Piglets on
our tour. Cute or what? that was Pams
comment by the way I am not quite that
soppy.
 
April
18th
Weather
back to being beautiful again - More BTO
work today and our dogs were not bothering
with Rabbits today, this time it was Red
Grouse they put one up and it was my first
of the year, 3 other year firsts today were
Lesser Redpoll, Tree Pipits and a Great
Skua. We had wonderful views of 7 Whimbrel
which landed right in front of us on the
coast and a party of 5 Manx Shearwater were
seen when we were watching 2 Great Northern
Divers and a Gannet out at sea. We then
decided to have a well earned lunch at the
tea rooms at Glengorm Castle a very good
choice the lunch was lovely, when I say we I
mean Pam and me not the dogs we seldom go
out to lunch in tearooms with the dogs.
April
17th
Weather
cloudy with a little rain in the morning
better in the afternoon - I did my first BTO
square for the summer today and saw a
White-tailed Eagle, 2 Goosanders, a lot of
Willow Warblers, a pair of Reed Buntings and
a pair of Common Sandpipers. These were the
highlights of the square but certainly not
all the birds seen, we also saw some Red
Deer and chased some rabbits, well I did not
chase the Rabbits that was Misty and Sally
our dogs who were with me at the time.
April
16th
Weather
day 10 of glorious weather if a little
cooler in the afternoon - another great tour
today 2 White- tailed Eagles within the
first 10 minutes followed by red Deer Stags
and 2 Otters before morning coffee. We then
saw a Common Sandpiper my first of the year
and three Golden Eagles, later in the day we
witnessed changeovers between adults on both
White-tailed and Golden Eagle nests. Fallow
Deer in good numbers for this delightful
little Deer on Mull and superb views of Grey
and Common Seals near to each other and
showing their differences quite clearly.
Other notable wildlife seen today were
Kestrel, Sparrowhawk, Buzzards, Wheatears,
Skylarks and Shelduck. Wild flowers now
being seen are Primroses, Violets, Gorse,
Celandine and Coltsfoot to show spring is
well under way.
April
15th
Weather
more of the same 9 days without rain - No
tour today so I did 2 walks one early
morning walk and one later with the dogs.
The morning walk at Quinnish brought me my
first Willow Warbler of the year, I also saw
pair of Bullfinches and heard a Jay but bid
not manage to see it. The afternoon walk
with the dogs and I saw 5 more Willow
Warblers and a pair of Common Crossbills
with 4 young, good to know they managed to
breed successfully in spite of the cold
winter weather.
April
14th
Weather
the same as yesterday but slightly warmer -
What a difference a day makes, yesterday the
wildlife was playing hard to get, today 3
Otters, fantastic views of Golden Eagles and
White-tailed Eagles, Great Northern Divers,
8 Black Throated Divers, both Grey and
Common Seals, Fallow Deer and Red Deer
including Stags and the best of the lot our
first Dolphins of the year. We had a large
family group out with us today the Dawes
family celebrating a golden wedding
anniversary, unfortunately the star couple
were unable to be with us due to illness, we
offer them our congratulations and hope
Terry makes a speedy recovery.
April
13th
Weather
cooler with slightly more cloud but still
very nice - I had a very nice French girl
out with me today who was keen to see
standing stones, I had taken out most of the
other guests before and they were
great making our foreign guest very welcome
and my job very easy despite the wildlife
not showing too well on the day. The views
however were spectacular today and the
standing stones were all in their usual
places.
April
12th
Weather
another gorgeous day - I went to Cailiach
Point today to do some sea watching and saw
my first Manx Shearwaters of the year and a
lot of Shags in full breeding plumage with
spectacular tufts. Fulmar always amazing
when in flight, Razorbills, Guillemots and a
lot of Black Guillemots but alas no Puffins,
but I did see 1 lone Gannet. There were also
3 Gull species present including the
impressive Lesser Black-backed Gulls and
Meadow Pipits, Rock Pipits, Pied Wagtails,
Wheatears and Skylarks were also present.
 
April
11th
Weather
another beautiful spring day - We planted
some early new potatoes today as the ground
has warmed up at last after the cold winter.
I managed to start my tractor which has been
out of action for some time now and also had
another bonfire of some branches we had to
prune off over hanging trees. There was very
little time for wildlife watching today but
I did see a Peacock Butterfly a Buzzard
being mobbed by Hooded Crows and a Great
Spotted Woodpecker on our peanut feeder as
well as our 2 Cock Pheasants which appear to
have adopted us.
April
10th
Weather
just beautiful and warm a real Spring day -
Last night after the tour we went down to a
bird club meeting at Craignure to hear a
talk by Roy Dennis the man mainly
responsible for the re-introduction of
Ospreys to Britain, it was a great talk and
very enlightening and entertaining. Today I
cleaned the van then went out for a short
drive round and took a few pictures of some
of my favorite birds in particular Lapwings
which I can watch for ages.
 
April
9th
Weather
the same as yesterday but warmer becoming
more sunny as the day went on - A brilliant
trip today with the Benson family, the
children Harry, Sam and Lizzie were a joy to
take out. We saw 54 species in the day
including a mother and cub Otter doing all
the things Otters do best, very
entertaining. A great Golden Eagle flying
being mobbed and eventually landing giving
us amazing views through the telescopes,
another goldie was seen during the day. A
juvenile White-tailed Eagle was seen in the
morning and we had great views of an adult
both flying and perched in the afternoon.
Other good bird species seen in the day
included Redwings, Razorbills, my first
Swallow of the year on Mull, 2 Bar Tailed
Godwits, Wheatear a lot of Pied Wagtails and
at the end of the day Sam spotted this
delightful Bullfinch. Seals, Deer and
Rabbits were all seen in the day and we
missed nothing due in no small part to Sams
amazing spotting, he even found us some
Tadpoles . A wonderful day spent with a
delightful family, oh and by the way the
scamp who put clean me on the van will be
delighted to know it was cleaned on Saturday
morning.
April
8th
Weather
cloudy, breezy, cold but dry - The best
sighting of the day had to be the
White-tailed Eagles, we watched the male
bird circling as it came in from over the
woods, it eventually went in a direct line
for the nest about 50 yards away it was met
by the female leaving the nest, as the male
took her place she was suddenly attacked by
an irate Raven and an aerial duel ensued for
a few minutes before the Raven broke off the
attack and the female Eagle disappeared from
where the male had arrived. My other
highlights were of a Whimbrel and Sand
Martins the first i have seen on Mull this
year.
April
7th
Weather
good weather to start the day but becoming
colder as the wind level rose in the
afternoon - Mull at its majestic best today
fantastic views particularly of Beinn
Talaidh and Beinn More. We had fantastic
views of a Golden Eagle today circling
carrying a Rabbit before landing on a hill
and starting to tear at it, you felt you
could reach out and touch it through the
telescope. There were 2 children amongst the
guests today so we had afternoon tea at
Calgary Bay and a walk on the beach which
all the other guests seemed to enjoy as
well.
April
6th
Weather
a continuation of yesterday in the morning
improving in the afternoon - No tour today
but this gave me time to look at the birds
in the garden. We have lots of Chaffinches,
Greenfinches, a few Goldfinches, a resident
Cock Pheasant and as I was watching 5
splendid Siskins on the Nyger feeder a male
Sparrowhawk dashed in and got the one that
was to late leaving, not nice but exciting
watching nature in the raw. A trip in the
late afternoon to our 2 local estuaries
produced some nice regular species, Mallard,
Goldeneye and Teal ducks, Redshank and
Oystercatchers wading birds, Common and
Herring Gulls and of course the ubiquitous
Herons. I had a lovely half hour observing
these birds, never take for granted the
normal for the exotic we would all miss them
if they were not there.
 
 
April
5th
Weather
wet morning very windy with gale force gusts
but not cold - Not a great day to be out
wildlife watching as the wind was so strong
and the seas so rough but with perseverance
and patience we saw 2 Golden Eagles sitting
together on a tree branch out of the wind
for over an hour as we hoped they might fly,
I can't say I blame them for sitting tight.
Slavonian Grebe in summer plumage was the
next major sighting and of course Great
Northern Divers which are in the Lochs in
good numbers before returning to their
breeding grounds further north, Before lunch
a guest spotted some Red Deer Stags almost
invisible against the dead bracken, it was a
good spot and we had terrific views through
the telescope. On to lunch and 2
White-tailed Eagles another hour waiting for
a flying display that did not happen, but a
flock of Lapwings went through always nice
to see and an intrepid Buzzard showed it was
not impossible for raptors to fly. After
lunch the highlight of the day an Otter my
closest of the year and of course as the
weather was so bad in the morning I had left
my cameras at home, silly me. the beautiful
Fallow Deer were seen on our way home and
several Common Seals basking (I don't think
so) freezing more like on an island, so all
in all not a bad day in spite of inclement
weather.
April
4th
Weather
sunny with slight breeze but very pleasant
to be out in - Another tour today with
really friendly guests and we had a lot of
laughs. John was an inspiration as he
suffered from MS and had great difficulty
and pain getting in and out of the bus but
never complained and never missed seeing any
of the birds and mammals which we saw during
the day. We saw 4 Golden Eagles, 3 Otters
giving great views, 2 White-tailed Eagles
and all the other usual suspects. Birds of
the day for me were the Snipe, my first
Kittiwakes and a first Gannet of the
year.
April
3rd
Weather
a dry cloudy and calm morning with rain
setting in during the afternoon - Another
good tour today with sightings of 20 Great
Northern Divers in one spot which we saw
after watching a big dog Otter which had
brought a fish out of the water to eat it
within 30 yards of us. Earlier in the day we
had seen more Great Northern Divers and 2
Red Throated Divers at a different location.
Birds of prey were well in evidence today
with a Golden Eagle and Sparrowhawk in the
morning, Buzzards everywhere and brilliant
views of a male Hen Harrier and a Merlin in
the Afternoon. We saw the white Fallow Deer
today this is the first time I have seen it
this year. Another great day out with
splendid guests, some days this seems like
the best job in the world.
April
2nd
Weather
a beautiful Spring day after overnight frost
- No tour today but Pam saw The juvenile
White-tailed Eagles that are in and around
the Dervaig Calgary area fly over Ardrioch
this morning. We had visitors arrive for the
selfcatering this afternoon and as they were
admiring the view and small birds in our
garden before we showed them the cottage a
male Sparrowhawk flew round the corner of
Inch Hame and was only 3 or 4 yards away
before he saw us and veered away over the
fields. Our son who is a fully qualified at
everything heating engineer, yes I am a
proud dad has been up and replaced
broken pipe work and pump and refitted the
plumbing in the new kitchen which has also
been installed in the Shieling, along with
double glazing, he leaves on the first boat
tomorrow and so a bit of last minute parent
bonding today, we will miss his cheery smile
and humour.
April
1st
Weather much better
than yesterday but still breezy, cold with
the occasional squally wintry shower -
Another tour today and we looked at all
things wild, the highlights for the guests
being a Golden Eagle at coffee break and 2
Otters a mother and cub which we watched
travelling and fishing until they came out
on an island to eat a fish too big to
manage in the sea. We had both fallow Deer
and Red Deer with good sightings of 7 Red
Deer Stags, both types of Seal were seen
and we had an exciting encounter between a
Raven and Buzzard. Summer plumaged
Slavonian Grebes were the waterbird
highlight and 3 Lapwings in a field with
Starlings on our way home pleased at
least one of our guests and me as I love
to see this amazing and sadly slowly
disappearing bird.
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This is the web
site of Pam & Arthur Brown,
Ardrioch Farm, Dervaig, Isle of
Mull. PA75 6QR
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