     
     
2012
2011
Oct 31st
Weather nice warm morning
rain after lunch - I went to Calgary and Cailaich this morning and saw
12 ringed Plover at Calgary and about 30 Gannets and 50 razorbills and
even more Kittiwakes at Cailaich, this is more than I ever saw there during
the summer, very strange.
Oct 30th
Weather more of the same
- Did not do much today but sad to report a Whooper Swan with a broken
wing at Dervaig, the appropriate organizations have been informed.
Oct 29th
Weather sunshine and heavy
showers all day windy - White-Fronted Geese in field with Greylags
at killiechronan, 2 Iceland Gulls at the Salmon Hatchery. Manchester City
won again, all's well in Arthur's World.
 
Oct 28th
Weather dry but cloudy and
fairly warm, rain in the evening - Great sightings of Otters, Red Deer,
Fallow Deer, Grey Seals, Common Seals, White-tailed Eagles, Golden Eagles,
Hen Harriers, Black Throated Diver, Snow Buntings, Bar Tailed Godwits,
Grey Herons, Curlews, Wigeon, Turnstones, Ringed Plover, Kestrels, Buzzards,
Peregrine Falcons and lots more. Just another fantastic day of wildlife
on the wonderful Isle of Mull.
 
Oct 27th
Weather frequent heavy showers
- Late birds today and new arrivals , we saw a Lapwing at Cailaich
this morning the first I have seen for some time and later a late Swallow
was seen so autumn is clinging on. Winter is on its way however as a Family
of Whooper Swans flew into Loch Cuin and too tired to eat immediately put
their heads under their wings and went to sleep. We saw 4 Snow Buntings
at Reudle today in separate pairings.
Oct 26th
Weather cloudy - Another
good day with a great display of interaction as a pair of Golden Eagles
saw off an intruding White-tail Eagle out of their patch. We had good views
today of Great Northern Divers, Goosanders, Slavonian Grebes and Hen Harriers
which we have been seeing all week and the Snow Buntings were also seen
again today. A Barnacle Goose was seen in with a group of Greylag Geese
and an Otter put in a very brief appearance, some times you wonder how
they can disappear so quickly.
Oct 25th
Weather Rain in the morning
then warm Sunshine, guests were shocked and so was I - Whimbrel at our
first main stop and Snow Buntings again, I got pictures this time and a
Great Northern Diver in summer plumage were the highlights of another great
wildlife watching day, Eagles and Otters and the Red Deer rut also seen.
It is good to be out and about again and I just discovered I have hit my
150 bird species on Mull target with the Snow Bunting.
 
Oct 24th
Weather cloudy with rain
in the morning improving as the day went on very, very windy - Another
good day with a lot seen when we were able to stand up without being blown
over. We saw late Gannets, an Arctic Tern, Whooper Swans, a Merlin, a Sparrowhawk
and a Great Skua and TARRAH a first for a Discover Mull Tour SNOW
BUNTINGS. We also saw Eagles and Otters et al.
Oct 23rd
Weather Cloudy but no rain
we are worried about drought - The first tour since the 1st and all Mull's
speciality species were there to welcome us back. We had brilliant Eagles,
Otters and Deer as well as Hen Harriers and Seals. our guests were well
impressed all they had expected to see was rain, I wonder why?
Oct 19th
We have had a lot of rain
since returning to Mull and so we have not been out and about much, just
having a good rest after the busy season and the weddings. Our regular
guests will be pleased to hear that I have been busy making lots of home-made
chutney for the tours next year with some apples picked from my Dads garden.
I have managed to get a nice photo of Arthur and I in our finery at the
English Wedding for you to see, with Richard, Sheetal, Ram (Sheetals father)
and Gul (mother) out side the very old part of Baddiley church.
We will be doing a few tours
again next week for the half term so lets hope it stops raining.
Oct 8th
After a couple of days rest
when we managed a nice walk with the grandchildren our son had his second
traditional English Wedding at Baddiley Church near Nantwich.
Richard and his groomsmen
left for the church in an old jeep and the bridesmaids were Sheetals sister,
Shalini Mehta and our 2 granddaughters Lauren and Emma who were very exited
in their 'princess dresses and gloves'.
 
Some of our guests saw the
wedding cake in the making and asked to see photo's, well it made
it down to Cheshire safely
and was decorated with real orchids to match the brides bouquet.
The whole day was wonderful
and went without a hitch, the highlight of the evening was the
dance when we had 'bollywood'
music - the floor was bouncing.
 
Oct 5th
Today our son Richard has
his Sikh wedding to beautiful Indian girlfriend Sheetal. This has taken
place at the Guru Nanak Gurudwara, Warrington. Many of our guests have
asked to see some of the photo's, especially Arthur as you have never seen
him before. We had a wonderful ceremony, the people at the Sikh Temple
were very kind and helpful to us and all our guests were very respectful
of the Sikh traditions. After the ceremony we were given a traditional
vegetarian lunch at the Temple. There were some beautiful outfits worn
and everyone enjoyed the day.
On Saturday there will be
a traditional English Wedding.
 
Oct 2nd
We are off down south today
for our son's Wedding so there will be no updates for a few days. We thought
we would leave you with some familiar images from a 'Discover Mull' tour.
 
 
 
 
 
 
Oct 1st
Weather cloudy and calm just
how I like it - Perfect weather for wildlife watching and we saw Mistle
Thrushes, Stonechat, Wigeons, Red Breasted Mergansers, Oystercatchers,
Curlews, Slavonian Grebes, Red Throated Divers, White-tailed Sea Eagles,
Otters, Golden Eagles, Red Deer at Rut and finally 5 yes 5 Hen Harriers,
check out the photo's.
 
 
October
2010
Oct 31st
Weather nice morning normal
rain service resumed in the afternoon - We took the dogs for a walk at
Calgary this morning and had the beach to ourselves, that is except for
the dead Grey Seal washed up on the beach, probably why we were the only
ones there, it was not the most pleasant sight of the year, the dogs were
curious though. On a more pleasant note we saw a Great Northern Diver in
the bay and lots of small birds including a pair of Stonechats on the walk
to the pier.
Oct 30th
Weather back to showers
and sunny periods, very few sunny periods - The last tour of the year and
a real cracker thanks mainly to some more awesome guests and some great
wildlife which put in an appearance despite the weather. We saw 3 Otters
during the day 2 White-tailed Eagles, 3 Golden Eagles, both types of Deer
and Seals and lots of Mulls regular wildlife. Thanks to all our guests
once again this year without you on the the tours we would be very lonely.
Pam met Martin Hughes-Games from Autumn watch today and showed him and
the team where the White-tailed Eagle was sitting in a tree as they had
not found it, Martin was most impressed and said they would not have seen
it but for her spotting it. Now I am not at all jealous as I don't mind
who spots, but credit where credit is due I found this one.
Oct 29th
Weather pretty bleak and
windy - I went and had my hair cut today, I don't pay much for the cut
but the search fee is Quite expensive. We went for lunch to Glenghorm,
it was excellent as usual but we got very wet running back to the car in
a downpour. No birding today but we are having fun trying to count the
Chaffinches in the garden 105, 106, bugger the Sparrowhawk has just gone
through again.
Oct 28th
Weather the same as yesterday
with more cloud but less wind - We have had a Brambling in the garden today
a beautiful male, it was only the second one we have ever seen in the garden,
the futures bright, the futures orange. On a more sober note if you feel
as strongly as we do about the government threatening to sell off our forests
please sign the petition against it, we have a responsibility to look after
our remaining forests and the wildlife that relies on them, not destroy
them.
http://www.38degrees.org.uk/save-our-forests
 
Oct 27th
Weather sunshine and heavy
showers very windy - Great views of 2 Golden Eagles hunting right by the
road was the highlight of the day, it was certainly the best views we have
had of Golden Eagles this year. Earlier in the day we had a good sighting
of a Golden Eagle carrying a very large Hare after the awful rain of the
last 36 hours they were certainly after some fresh meat and a good meal.
Other highlights were Great Northern Diver and 2 Slavonian Grebes, our
winter visitors are starting to arrive in good numbers now.
Oct 26th
Weather not great after
lots of overnight rain we had all day rain with 1 hour off for good behaviour
- Typical we have had some great weather recently and no tours, today lousy
weather and a tour. Whoopee a first for Discover Mull tours not 1 not 2
but 3 WAXWINGS
a real treat for us and
our guests. A poor day for Otters today we only saw 5 and we also had 2
White-tailed Eagles during our respite hour without rain. We saw over 40
species of birds today which considering the weather was very good and
we were delighted as our guests today were excellent and very good humoured
in spite of the conditions, thanks to all. Oh and thanks to Sandra for
spotting all the cars on the road, I don't know how I have managed to miss
them all during the summer it must have been by magic.
Oct 25th
The good weather continues
- Today I saw a Jay not too common on Mull so I was quite chuffed. Pam
and I counted at least 30 Greenfinches in our garden this morning and as
this species is struggling in some parts of the country we are very pleased
to be doing our bit. We took the dogs on a good walk today and although
we did not see a lot of wildlife we did see a couple of Buzzards a Kestrel
and a Goosander so it was all worth while in the beautiful autumn sunshine.
Oct 24th
Weather another lovely
day - A lot of Scandinavian are appearing on Mull, today I saw a large
flock of Fieldfares fly over the garden and some landed for a rest in surrounding
trees. Redwings are being seen regularly with Song and Mistle Thrushes
and there has been an early influx of Waxwings which I have yet to see.
The other Scandinavian species arriving are Brambling seen in several places,
last year they were very thin on the ground so it could be we are in for
a fall this winter with lots of this beautiful bird a cousin of the Chaffinch
wintering in Britain , so watch out for them when out walking,
Oct 23rd
Weather a gorgeous Autumn
day sunny cool but calm - We went out today and had a fantastic day of
Mull sightings 3 Hen Harriers both male and female, 4 Golden Eagles one
juvenile flying right over the car close to the road a great sighting,
2 White-tailed Eagles, Rutting Red Deer everywhere and a total of 6 Otters
the best of which were a mother and cub which we watched for some time
playing and grooming before going to sleep in the glorious sunshine.
Oct 22nd
Weather a very wet day
with a breeze - Not a great day for wildlife watching but as we had to
clean the larger self-catering house it helped focus our minds on
the task in hand. When I say we had to clean the house I really mean Pam,
but I give her lots of moral support and the odd cup of tea, as you can
tell being in business together is all down to teamwork and one of us has
to make sure the birds in the garden are doing OK.
Oct 21st
Weather typical Autumn
day cloudy, breezy, occasional showers but warm - A short trip out this
morning and I had 2 Otters a couple of White-tailed Eagles and rutting
Red Deer everywhere. I also had lovely views of Redwings, Mistle Thrushes,
Goldfinches and Slavonian Grebes. There was also a Great Northern Diver
In Calgary Bay they are starting to arrive to spend the winter in and around
the sea Lochs of Mull.
Oct 20th
Weather lovely morning
turning showery - We went out early this morning with the dogs to look
for some Brent Geese seen yesterday, we did not see any but did get some
good views of Bar-tailed Godwits and a single Dunlin with Ringed Plover.
Bird of the day had to be a Black Throated Diver at Langamull but it was
a close call as we had a good sighting of a single Twite on our way home.
Oct 19th
Weather cloudy and cold
but mainly dry - We went to Oban today the first time I have been since
March, we saw Gannets and Kittiwakes on our ferry journey across but no
Porpoise which Pam always looks out for on ferry journeys, she did
however see an Otter on our way down to Craignure so all was not lost.
I was given an expensive book token for my birthday back in May which I
was able to redeem on 2 very large bird books which I have wanted for some
time but could not justify the expense, so now I have them many thanks
to al involved I will cherish them.
Oct 18th
Weather mixed sunshine,
showers and wind but not all bad - Happy birthday to my mum 86 today and
still going strong. We had brilliant views of a female Sparrowhawk this
afternoon which tried and failed to take a Yellowhammer which we had been
watching. I went for a short drive with Alan Spellman this afternoon but
apart from some seabirds and Gulls it was very quiet, we saw a lot more
birds in the garden.
Oct 17th
Weather A nice autumn day
- I was able to mow the lawns today so that is one job I will not have
to do again this year whoopee, it was difficult to keep my mind on the
mowing as the autumn colours are so spectacular right now, oh and the dogs
keep trying to bite the lawn mower tyres, most annoying. I watched my team
playing football on television this afternoon and we won, just, so not
a bad end to the day.
Oct 16th
Weather beautiful day,
sunny and calm -a perfect day for our Bird Club Field trip to the Ross
of Mull which over 20 members and friends attended. We were hoping to find
some of the rarer Geese and Swans that have been migrating over Mull in
the last few days but other then the usual resident Greylag Geese none
were to be found, the weathers been so good they have just kept flying
south. We did see 3 Grey Plover and 2 Bar-tail Godwits along with Redshank,
Oystercatchers and Curlew at Fidden and a beautiful male Hen Harrier on
our way down and a couple of Hares. It was great to catch up with our friends
after working all summer.
Oct 15th
Weather rain in the morning
but drying up later - feeling a bit better today and tried to mow the lawns
in the afternoon, I only managed one before I had to go and sit down. The
garden birds are back now I've started feeding again and as well as the
usual birds we've seen Goldcrest and Tree Creeper in the garden. Pam went
to our Bird Club meeting tonight and on her way home spotted a Hedgehog,
flying Barn Owl and lots of Red Deer down by the road sides, we have to
be particularly careful when driving at night during the rut as the deer
can run right in front of you when you are driving.
Oct 14th
Weather like yesterday
but slightly brighter - A sad day for us today as we took our old ewes
and ram to be sold, some of them have been with us at Ardrioch since we
came so it was like saying goodbye to old friends, still life goes on and
replacement ones will be arriving shortly to take their place. The lergy
lingers so still no wildlife watching for me, but I had a Visitor this
morning, a Robin came into the kitchen to see how I was getting on, wasn't
that kind.
Oct 13th
Weather cloudy but still
calm - We had a tour today but I am still not feeling great, we saw 6 White-tailed
Eagles today and 2 Golden Eagles our first Eagles since we went away. Our
guests really enjoyed the Red Deer rut now in good swing and also the very
good Otter we found, take it from me Otters are easier to see on
Mull than Shetland, we only saw 2 in 9 days on Shetland and we were looking
out for them. Thanks to Pam for taking over the tour after lunch as I was
starting to feel really grotty again.
Oct 12th
Weather still gorgeous
- Typical I have come back home with a chest complaint and had to go to
the doctor today, came home with pills and went to bed, so could not get
out in this great weather, darn it.
Oct 11th
Weather lovely and calm
- We have been on holiday to the Shetland Islands and Fair Isle, we had
a great time mainly bird watching and looking for some of the rarer migrants
that come to these islands in the autumn. Many thanks to Hugh, Dave and
Jon for all there help and local knowledge and for helping us spot 119
birds in the fortnight. To Tommy, Liz and Henry at Auld Haa on Fair Isle
your hospitality and Quisine could not be bettered anywhere, many thanks.
To Helen your company on Fair Isle was a joy you made the week special
for us. Finally to Pete - you won by one - Pete 120, Arthur and Pam 119,
we managed a Pallas's Warbler on our last morning but were out of time-
Well Done???
 
 
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This is the web site
of Pam & Arthur Brown, Ardrioch Farm, Dervaig, Isle of Mull. PA75
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