 
August 2012
August 2011
Aug 31st
Weather damp morning sunny
afternoon calm - I took time out to do some serious work in our woodland
today, primarily it was a day spent pulling Ragwort. This invasive yellow
flower is a noticeable plant as it is very toxic to certain animals notably
Horses but can now regularly be seen on grass verges and marginal land
throughout the country, very bad so I thought I should do something about
the plant on our land.
Aug 30th
Weather cloudy, cool but
dry with light breeze - Another great Eagle day with both White-tailed
Eagles and Golden Eagles showing well with the highlight being both in
the air together so we could spot the differences in shape. We had a very
good view of a Grey Seal which stayed on the surface bottling all the while
we were having our afternoon tea and cake break. It was a good Seal day
as in the morning some Common Seals had been Porpoising, leaping out of
the water like Dolphins, our guests had not seen this behaviour before.
 
Aug 29th
Weather best described as
unsettled - We went to the Bellachroy Inn last night with friends up from
Cumbria, we had a really nice meal and evening with them but I was glad
I had no tour today as I was not up to much, too many Beers. In the afternoon
I did manage to get to Tobermory and licence the car, it was a bit of a
write off day, on the wagon for the rest of the week. Thanks to David and
Catherine for a great evening, we both needed a good night out.
Aug 28th
Weather rain and strong breeze
in the morning, drier but very cold wind in the afternoon - In spite of
the weather we saw all of the Mull specialities except for Hen Harrier
today. the sighting of the day was of 4 red grouse on the hill road from
Dervaig to Torloisk the first Grouse I have seen this year taking my Mull
list to 142 for the year to date.
Aug 27th
Weather nice again - Wow
we are having our summer at last, the negative-lawns to mow, the positive-an
Otter in the loch seen from our self-catering kitchen.
Aug 26th
Weather another lovely day
- Although it was a beautiful day we had the first sign of autumn on the
tour today, A Slavonian grebe, the first I have seen since they left to
breed further north at the end of April. We saw the Otter with 2 very small
cubs again today a sighting which always makes our guests smile. It was
also another great day of views and Eagles.
Aug 25th
Weather the best day for
ages warm and sunny all day - White-tailed Eagles or Otter that was the
dilemma for guests today. Guests were watching 2 white-tails when I spotted
an Otter on some rocks close by, fortunately the Eagles flew round for
some time and the Otter for half an hour, see pics. Brilliant Golden Eagle,
a Hen Harrier and Red Deer including Stag provided us with a day as good
as the weather.
 
 
Aug 24th
Weather after a dull start
it turned out nice again - We had a terrific sighting of Hen harrier again
today and I was doubly pleased as it was a Lifer a first time some of our
guests had seen this beautiful raptor as due to persecution they are few
and far between in England. Another lifetime first were the 2 red Throated
Divers seen earlier in the day and the Otter although brief gave guests
a great thrill.
Aug 23rd
Weather the same as yesterday
with less wind - The wildlife was the same as yesterday as well but substitute
an Otter for the Hen Harrier and add a Sparrowhawk. Other notable birds
seen today were Arctic and Common Terns, Gannets and Kittiwakes and I saw
a Stonechat but most of our guests missed it. We saw this beautiful Peacock
butterfly and a Bee on Knapweed as well today.
 
Aug 22nd
Weather High cloud but dry
with light breeze - another great bird of prey day with both types of Eagle
being seen very well along with Hen Harrier, Buzzards and kestrels.
No Otter today but we did see Red Deer and Common and Grey Seals. All 3
types of heather to be seen on Mull are now in flower to see the difference
check out the pictures below. A new find on a Discover Mull tour in the
past couple of days is an Adder, the first I have seen in some time.
I nearly forgot a large party of Twite at Cailaich Point about 40 in total.
 
Aug 21st
Weather heavy showers then
low cloud and mist improving in the afternoon - What a day for the Mull
specialities, it started with an Otter with 2 very young cubs just what
one of our guests wanted. Red Deer stags next another request from our
guests and we had not had coffee yet, then the mist came down literally
putting a dampner on proceedings. We did manage to see a lot of Buzzards
and 2 very nice Red Throated Divers before lunch but our guests were getting
twitchy. I told them not to worry about seeing the big stuff but to let
me worry about them, if we had not seen them by 4pm start worrying. 2 Kestrels
and a few Ravens at lunch and just as we were about to give up a distant
but good Golden Eagle. soon after lunch at a Place I look for Otter I heard
a White-tailed Eagle call and there was a youngster not far away on a hill
and after some time it flew giving guests a great view of its size. Common
Seals and a Black Guillemot followed and then we went for tea. Just as
we arrived at our tea stop so did a Hen Harrier which was hunting and gave
us a special show. Homeward bound and a White-tailed Eagle very very close
and on the other side of the road appeared a very close Golden Eagle guests
did not know which way to look. After they had gone I checked my watch
and it was just 4pm.
 
Aug 20th
Weather lovely all day -
A day spent mowing lawns and looking for sheep, I got the lawns mowed easily
as the weather was so nice, it was not however easy trying to find two
sheep in Bracken as high as Triffids, Eventually I managed to find them
but it took some time to get them back home as our two wonder Shetland
Sheep Dogs our not that wonderful when driving sheep, although they do
enjoy trying and are very noisy as they get rather over excited. A White-tailed
Eagle and 2 Buzzards over Ardrioch this afternoon. I was woken up this
morning by a Tawny Owl calling from a tree right outside our bedroom window,
Pam slept on.
Aug 19th
Weather a nice day on the
whole before it started to rain in the late afternoon - A nice family of
Italians and delightful German lady on todays tour and as the italians
had little English and I no Italian we were extremely grateful to Regine
the German who spoke both rather well. I was also very grateful to the
White-tailed Eagles, Golden Eagles, Otters and Seals which all put on fantastic
displays for our foreign visitors showing Mull off at its wildlife best.
Ooh La Laa.
 
Aug 18th
Weather cloudy with a heavy
shower in the morning improving with sunshine in the afternoon - Highlights
of another good day for wildlife spotting were a group of at least 8 Red
Throated Dives with 10 being seen during the day. Great view of a Male
Sparrowhawk sitting on a rock and wonderful interaction between a
Hen Harrier and 3 Kestrels. Great spotters on the tour today but even they
could not conjure up a Golden Eagle.
Aug 17th
Weather warm with occasional
small shower - Many thanks to twins Charlotte and Louise who made my day
much easier with all the wildlife they were spotting for me, nothing got
missed. Whilst we ate our sandwiches at lunch time we were watching the
Golden Eagle eating his lunch of fresh Rabbit, see pictures below. A nice
treat was a stop looking at a variety of small birds including a handsome
male Redpoll sitting out well on a dead branch.
 
Aug 16th
Weather heavy rain all morning
clearing up after lunch but breezy - Otter at our second spot, drat, we
had to stand out in the rain to see it and got soaked. At the next stop
a very wet looking White-tailed Sea Eagle sitting on a hill and then we
spotted another Otter, we got even wetter if that was possible, a scrabble
for wet weather clothing and great views of the Otter and then we spotted
a White-tailed Eagle fledgling in a tree, joy of joys as the rain poured
down relentlessly. Then someone with a sense of humour said that there
was a hint of blue in the sky ahead and thank goodness she was right, by
lunchtime the rain had eased and low and behold 6 Buzzards appeared and
then 2 Kestrels and then a Golden Eagle very close then double drat the
rain returned and the Eagle flew off. Passing the waterfall we noticed
it was in full spate, now that was a surprise, then an even bigger surprise
the rain stopped, the views appeared and all was well in my world. " more
Golden Eagles, lots of Red Deer including some good stags and 3 Hen Harriers
later my world and our guests wishes were complete. who says wildlife cannot
be seen on wet days, well today they were definitely proved wrong.
Aug 15th
Weather mainly dry with breeze
but still warm - Another good day for the Mull specialities but we had
to show a lot of patience before we saw a pair of Golden Eagles. We saw
2 Otters again today and had good sightings of a group of Red Deer stags
, which although Britons largest wild land mammal still take some spotting
when the are against a heather covered hill. I saw a Great Skua and Twite
at Cailaich Point but guests missed them as they had gone to take in the
views and look for none existent cetaceans as I tidied up the afternoon
tea cups.
Aug 14th
Weather mainly sunny but
breezy, warm - A group of very good spotters today which meant we saw everything
that was there to be seen, as I keep saying the more eyes looking the more
you see, it's not just down to luck. We saw 5 Golden Eagles, 5 White-tailed
Eagles, a family of 4 Sparrowhawks, Kestrels, Buzzards, Goosanders, Kittiwakes,
Gannets and Red Throated Divers as well as lots of other birds. We also
saw both Red and Fallow Deer stags and 2 very good Otters one in particular
fishing, Gambolling over rocks, oblivious of our presence and behaving
in a normal wild way, just the way we like to see them. Another nice sighting
today was of the Highland cow, bull and calf in the photo below.
Aug 13th
Weather rain in morning drier
as day wore on - Watched England beat India in the morning after a few
regular Saturday chores and too wet to mow the lawns. I took the dogs on
a short walk to the loch this evening seeing 5 Goosanders, 6 Greenshank,
4 Redshank, 12 Curlews and a Buzzard, earlier in the day 52 Rock Doves
were waiting to be fed on power lines around Ardrioch.
Aug 12th
Weather cloudy but predicted
rain did not arrive until 3pm - Back on Mull after family wedding and nice
time being pummelled by our young grand children. On the tour today Otters
3 of them showing well, where have they been for the last few weeks. Amusing
sighting of the day, a newly fledged White-tailed Eagle landing on a not
to stable branch, slipping round it like a gymnast on the parallel bars
before loosing go and flying back to the nest site much safer.
 
August 4th to 11th
We are taking a week off
to go to a niece's wedding in Cheshire leaving Ardrioch and the animals
in the capable hands of our good friend Jacqui. So here are a few photo's
of a beautiful early morning in August around the garden.
 
 
Aug 3rd
Weather sunny, hot and calm
-A raptor fest today with White-tailed Eagles, Golden Eagles, a Peregrine
Falcon, Buzzards, Kestrels, Hen Harriers, Sparrowhawk and Merlin all being
seen. Red Throated Divers, Gannets, a brief Otter and Red Deer in large
numbers including stags were also seen in a very good day. The Scotch Argus
Butterflies are now out in good numbers and the views today were spectacular,
Mull at its best. Pam has put some pictures on the site all taken from
in or around our garden pretty aren't they.
Aug 2nd
Weather cloudy with the cloud
getting lower as the day wore on - great Golden and White-tailed Eagles
today and a very good Otter although it did miraculously disappear in kelp
as it brought in a large fish it had just caught. Birds of note today were
2 Great Skuas and 2 Manx Shearwaters, lots of Common and Arctic Terns,
a family of 4 Kestrel mobbing a Golden Eagle and a grand total of 6 White-tailed
Eagles. Just a quick mention for the humble Meadow Pipit seen on nearly
all our tours, bottom of Mulls bird food chain and so often overlooked.
Aug 1st
Weather cloudy with some
sun, rain in late afternoon - Unusual sighting of the day a Piperstrel
Bat at Calgary as we were visiting the toilets, it kept flying right past
us chasing Midges as we watched on in amazement. Later in the afternoon
we watched a small group of Porpoise about 5 in total as we were looking
out for sea birds. Brilliant Red Deer stags and a female Hen Harrier had
started the day and a Merlin with White-tailed Eagles was the star at coffee
break.
Aug 31st 2010
Weather the same as yesterday
- A second day with Hen Harrier, we also saw 3 Golden Eagles in the air
at the same time really close , 3 Otters, lots of Red Deer including stags
and 2 White-Tailed Eagles. As we were looking at Common Seals and Curlews
we noticed that amongst the Curlews were 2 Bar-Tailed Godwits always nice
to see. We were watching Basking shark in the morning and at the same time
Kittiwakes, Manx Shearwaters and Gannets and I saw more Shags over 200
in one group than I have ever seen on Mull Before.
Aug 30th
Weather sunny, calm and
warm - Grim, gripping, exciting, exhilarating and alarming, a great fight
between a mother Otter and a Dog Otter, the mother protecting her 2 offspring
from what could have proved a fatal confrontation with the dog Otter. Do
not take on a mother protecting young as after 10 minutes of ferocious
fighting the dog Otter limped away to lick his wounds and pride, what fantastic
wildlife watching I can not speak for our guests but I was completely blown
away by what we were seeing. Lots of other wildlife were seen including
2 Hen Harriers at the start of the day but they all paled in significance
after the Otter encounter.
Aug 29th
Weather sunny but very
windy - We had more White-Tailed Eagles than you could throw a stick at
at our first stop and all of them gave us a great flying display. We stopped
to look at some Red Deer and a Golden Eagle appeared and it to showed off
its flying prowess. Otters we had to wait for but did manage a nice Red
Throated Diver in the meantime, the day finished with Basking Sharks becoming
a regular feature on Discover Mull Tours recently.
Aug 28th
 Weather
showers all day - Pam hates it when it rains on a Saturday she can't get
the washing dry, I love it I don't have to mow the lawn. Here are some
highlights from this week including a very sleepy Barn Owl leaning on it's
chick.
 
 
Aug 27th
Weather sunny with
light breeze - We started the day with a Goosander always a nice bird to
see on the tours, a nice flock of Linnets followed but we were struggling
to find White tailed Eagles until we came across the 2 pictured in the
tree. Golden Eagles and an Otter followed and 4 Basking Sharks very close.
the day finished with diving Gannets and lots of Kittiwakes, Manx Shearwaters,
a Great Skua and a lone Puffin.
Aug 26th
Weather warm, sunny and
calm - Great Baking Sharks at the end of another good day which had started
with a flock of Linnets my favorite bird. 3 Otters were seen in the day
but I must admit 2 were only brief glimpses as they tormented us with 'yes
we are here but you can't see us,' the third one was much more obliging.
we saw a Red Throated Diver but the bird highlight of the day was a brilliant
Golden Eagle which flew below us as we stood on a hill looking at views
of the Outer Hebrides, Treshnish Isles, Staffa, Iona ,Ulva Ferry and Ben
Mor..............................special!
Aug 25th
Weather lovely and warm
- No tour today so I did some BTO work instead which gave me some time
to watch the birds in the garden and particularly the Rock Doves. I watched
in stitches as this dominant Dove standing on the bird table taking on
all comers trying to steal his spot, the funniest bit was when one landed
on the roof of the table and tried to slide down out of sight onto the
table, unfortunately the roof overhangs quite a bit and so the bird slid
down the roof and fell off, it was a laugh out loud moment.
Aug 24th
Weather after more rain
overnight it became sunny and breezy for most of the day - What a difference
a day makes it stopped raining by 10am and all the birds of prey got up
we had seen 2 Golden Eagles Buzzards a Sparrowhawk and 2 White Tailed Eagles
within 40 minutes of starting the tour. We had more Eagles and Kestrel
2 Otters and the best for me a Bar Tailed Godwit the first on its return
journey from the far north. A lovely day with another great group of guests.
  
Aug 23rd
Weather Heavy Rain all
day - Apart from 2 very good Otter sightings and some Red deer, brief Fallow
Deer, Common and Grey Seals, a good Red Throated Diver, Eider Ducks, Red
Breasted Mergansers, Black Guillemots, Cormorants and Shags, Wheatear,
Linnets, Twite, Gannets, Kittiwakes, lots of Manx Shearwaters, Guillemot
with young fantastic Great Skua sighting, 3 Basking Sharks and a possible
Minke Whale it was a day to forget. Oh by the way Eas Force waterfall was
magnificent.
Aug 22nd
Weather after overnight
rain it turned out nice again - a good day for seeing the Mull specialities
plus a little history and geology thrown in. Great views of 4 Otters today
the best I have seen for some time, we also had 2 White-tailed Eagles and
both obligingly flew for us. The Golden Eagles we saw flew over our heads
but were quite high but we did get to see a lot of colour on this years
chick, lots of Red Deer with several stags seen really well, another good
tour with very nice guests.
Aug 21st
Weather warm, sunny, dry
and calm - A saturday with no rain can only mean one thing for me at Ardrioch,
Lawn Mowing and that is what I did for most of the day. I hate lawn mowing
I get so bored and it does not take much to stop mowing , unfortunately
for me nothing much happened so I had to keep mowing, at least I got all
of them done. On a happier note a Grey Wagtail complete with family turned
up here in the morning the first one I have seen for some time.
Aug 20th
weather rain for most of
the morning then nice but windy then later high winds - We watched an Otter
for an hour in the rain, Eagles both types in the nice weather and Red
Deer in the gales, not bad for such awful weather. other notable sightings
include Little Grebe, Greenshank, Curlews, Red Throated Divers, Gannets,
Kittiwakes, Goosander, Red Breasted Mergansers, Eider Ducks, Kestrel and
Buzzards, Linnets and Goldfinches. Lots of stuff.
Aug 19th
Weather showers all morning
lovely afternoon - No tour today as we had to deal with sheep all morning,
in the afternoon I mowed some of the lawns and enjoyed a rest, back on
the wildlife trail tomorrow. I thought I would show you some of the wildlife
I have managed to get a decent shot of this week and share with you some
kind words of some satisfied customers.
Thank you for our
fantastic day out on 7 August. The kids all said it was the best
day of the holiday. We are now back at home, where everything is very flat
and dry! Please thank Pam for all the great baking! Best wishes Louise,
Andy, Jemma, Henry and Felix+ Celia, Abigail and Gareth (now back in California)
HI Arthur, Just wanted
to say how much Janette and I enjoyed our day with you and the wildlife
of Mull. For us, it was a great mix of humour, company, food and birds.
Marvellous! Thanks for a fantastic Sunday, Paul and Janette
 
 
Aug 18th
Weather sunny and breezy
after early showers - After a quiet start to the tour we eventually had
great sightings of white-tailed Eagle. We looked for Otter and had a very
brief view of one but after yesterday I wasn't going to hang around and
hope it returned. As the day wore on we had very good sightings of Red
Deer and Golden Eagles and a distant Basking Shark. I went to look for
closer Basking Shark and picked up a great Otter which made the guests
day, as I say you can spend all day looking for the big species and not
see them, look at all Mull has to offer and you see much more. The day
ended with a terrific sighting of the Barn Owl Chick.
Aug 17th
Weather sunshine with light
breeze - A day spent mainly looking for Mulls specialities and we spent
2 hours looking for Otters that did not turn up, as I always say if you
look for everything you see more if you just look for the big stuff you
are not guaranteed to see them and miss out on everything else. We did
see Great White-tailed Eagle, Basking Shark, Golden Eagle, Gannets, Kittiwakes,
Barn Owl, Red Deer, Seals, Buzzards and Kestrel before we started
to just look for Otter, get my drift.
Aug 16th
Weather low cloud, drizzle,
rain later in the day but quite warm - It was warm enough for us to see
3 Basking Sharks in the morning with Gannets and Manx Shearwaters in the
same area. An otter provided some enjoyment for our guests despite not
being too close, Red Deer and Seals were all seen in a largely mammal day
as the weather deteriorated. We did see a miserable White tailed Eagle
looking at the rain and wondering where yesterdays great weather had gone,
we were doing the same as we watched the Eagle. Goosanders were my birds
of the day and a great Greenshank at our first stop.
Aug 15th
Weather sunny warm and
calm - What a day, it started with the Barn Owl, then a Bullfinch followed
by 2 White-tailed Eagles which were very close and both flew pursued by
Buzzards, then we saw 3 Basking Sharks and several Porpoise and all this
before morning coffee at 11 o'clock. 4 Golden Eagles were seen and Red
deer Stags, Hinds and calves, and we sat in the sunshine having lunch and
watching 3 Otters swimming, playing, running across rocks up streams over
islands you name it they did it. We saw both types of Seal in the afternoon
and the day finished with a fantastic Whinchat sighting. Many thanks
to Ian, Rachel, Sophie, Richard, Paul, Jeanette, Jerry and Sue for being
such a fun group and sharing with me one of the best day tours I have ever
had.
Aug 14th
Weather beautiful again
- Lawn Mowing, finding and sorting lost Sheep, cleaning the Van and checking
out the new Deer fencing, who said it was my day off. The Woodpecker was
back today as were all our regular birds and our Hedgehogs. What with the
Sheep, Dogs, Rabbits and Slow Worms this place is becoming a regular menagerie.
Oh and by the way the woodland is full of Butterflies.
 
Aug 13th
Weather beautiful - Another
great day out seeing 4 Otters, 4 White-tailed Eagles, 6 Golden Eagles a
very close Basking Shark, 2 Red Throated Divers, Black Guillemots, Red
Breasted Mergansers and even a Hedgehog in our garden, all our guests were
delighted with the day. when I got home at the end of the tour Pam informed
me that we had a juvenile Greater Spotted Woodpecker visiting our feeders.
Aug 12th
Weather cloudy but dry,
very windy and cool - Another day with all the Mull specialities showing
well except the Otter which only put in a brief and distant appearance.
Birds of the day were two very good Red Throated Divers which were very
obliging by not diving, so all guests got a good look at them, unusual
for these birds. Stunning views today and we even got to see the Outer
Hebrides from the top of a hill, but we nearly froze to death whilst we
were up there. I am still thawing out as I write this as I was wearing
summer clothes as it is still officially summer, same old story right weather,
wrong clothing.
Aug 11th
Weather cloudy, breezy.
drizzle and cool - Not really the best weather for a tour but our guests
today were great and determined to enjoy themselves no matter what. We
had a lot of laughs, a great crack about a White-tailed Eagle which I shall
use on tours in the future and some cracking sightings. A lovely day with
3 Otters, 4 White-tailed Eagles, 2 Golden Eagles, Seals, Red Deer with
a great sighting of a stags antlers, it was hard to see the stag but its
antlers were skylined. A great Little Grebe sitting on some seaweed, Black
Guillemot and lots of Shags and Kittiwakes at the same spot. It was just
a lovely day in great company thanks to all involved.
Aug 10th
Weather exactly the same
as yesterday after even heavier over night rain - Eas Forse even fuller
than yesterday making our guests even more delighted. They were also happy
to see the Barn Owl, Sparrowhawk, a fantastic Red Throated Diver and lots
of Red-breasted Mergansers with quite small babies. An Otter for 20 minutes
also proved to be quite a hit as were all the other main Mull highlights.
Aug 9th
Weather Weather beautiful
day after heavy overnight rain - The rain last night meant that Eas Forse
waterfall was in the best spate it has been for quite some time much to
our guests delight. Great views of all our specialities today and also
saw my first Grass of Parnassus flower this year. A late update of the
fluke tail we saw yesterday, it was almost certainly an Orca, Killer Whale,
as they were seen in the area we saw it yesterday.
Aug 8th
Weather another nice day
but slightly cloudier - We went to see my Barn Owl first stop this morning
and enjoyed some good views, we also had the first of many Buzzards we
saw during the day. We went to a possible White-tailed Eagle spot and had
great views of a bird which took off and flew round while we were drinking
coffee. Basking Shark was the next major spot along with Great Skuas, diving
Gannets and Manx Shearwater. It was when we were at this spot we saw a
great splash and a very large tail fluke of a creature from the deep, which
was repeated a few minutes later, this one I did not see, we are going
to check to see what was seen by the boats today to see if we can find
out what it was, it was all very exciting. Good golden Eagle followed and
another White-tail. A flock of 26 Curlew were other birds of note as was
the Red Breasted Merganser with some very late hatched babies.
Aug 7th
Weather fantastic warm
and sunny - Basking Shark, brilliant White-tailed Eagle, Golden Eagle,
Red Deer, diving Gannets
just a fabulous day with
a very nice family, I enjoyed it enormously.
Aug 6th
Weather light squally rain
all day, calm - I spent the morning cleaning and servicing our water supply
getting very wet into the bargain. In the afternoon I went out with a friend
and saw a very good Otter, a Sedge Warbler, a Whitethroat and a House Martin
the first I had seen for some time. As we drove round we happened upon
3 Golden plover and a Red Throated Diver which made the journey in the
rain very worthwhile.
Aug 5th
Weather cloudy
but mainly dry, breezy - A quiet day but we eventually saw 2 very good
juvenile Golden Eagles which lifted everyone's spirits. Soon afterwards
we saw both types of Seal and some Red Breasted Mergansers with Shags and
Cormorants on an island in the middle of of a large sea loch. We were scanning
to see what was about and saw some Ringed Plover and Buzzards. At lunch
at last we got White-tailed Eagle giving us good views both flying and
sitting, in the afternoon we saw lots of Red Deer and also diving Gannets,
so not a bad day after all.
 
Aug 4th
Weather fine morning showery
afternoon, windy - Velvet Scoter seen today a lifetime first for me and
obviously a first for our tours, fantastic. It was a good day for me as
we also saw Linnets, a particular favorite of mine, Ringed Plovers and
another favorite bird of mine Whinchat. Another good day of Red Throated
Diver sightings but we missed out on Greenshank today. Red Deer stags on
top of a hill rounded off a very enjoyable day.
 
Aug 3rd
Weather mainly fine with
cool breeze on coast - We saw a Greenshank today the first I have seen
for some time although Pam saw one last week. Goosander was another good
sighting today although they were some distance off. Brilliant views of
both White-tailed Eagle and Golden Eagle today and we gave up counting
Buzzards. On the water we had 4 Red Throated Divers 2 of them very close
and lots of Manx Shearwaters were also seen.
Aug 2nd
Weather cloudy with sunnier
breaks, cool but dry - Another tour with guests who wanted Otter as they
had been to Mull before and seen Eagles but not Otter, We managed to find
2 Otters for them but not as close as I would have liked them to be but
reasonable views through the telescope for quite a long time. very good
views of both types of Eagle with both newly fledged White-tail and Golden
Eagle seen. Notable sighting of a Buzzard taking a young Rabbit, this was
wildlife in the raw and a good view of a recently fledged Sparrowhawk.
Aug 1st
Weather mainly cloudy but
with only light wind, dry - A good tour today with an early White-tailed
Eagle which was sitting on a hill before flying and then landing out of
sight in tall bracken. We saw 4 Otters today with 2 of them giving really
good views which was great as 2 of our guests had been coming to Mull for
10 years without seeing one and were beginning to think they did not exist.
We saw 4 Golden Eagles today but none were really close but we did have
lots of Red Deer including a group of 8 Stags of varying ages. Black Guillemots
and Red Throated Diver were the other main highlights today, with Spotted
Flycatcher, Whitethroat and Stonechat the best of the little birds. On
our way home there was a feral cat with 3 small kittens walking down the
middle of the road. |
