Wildlife Summary:
27th Afternoon - day 1
We all met up at 2pm at our accommodation house before heading out for the afternoon, a Treecreeper was calling in the driveway. A windy and rainy afternoon was on the cards so we headed to more coastal areas, firstly stopping off at Salen bay, finding Bar-tailed Godwits in with the common waders plus a Goosander and a small Wigeon flock.
Next we headed for a western Loch, heading along the north side we found a few more Bar-tailed Godwits, Ringed Plover and Red-breasted Merganser before spotting an Adult White-tailed Eagle (WTE) flying over the hills. Flying and landing a few times giving nice views before its mate, a 2nd WTE flew past! A few Red Deer were on the hills below. A lone Whooper Swan was in the nearby fields on our way to the south side, and a herd of Fallow Deer further on.
Moving onto the south side of the loch, the weather sadly closed in, seeing a few more R-B Mergansers and Curlews before heading for Tobermory as the light was fading and rain lashing down.
28th -
Light winds but sadly quite a murky day to start, we headed out on the calm seas to try for some marine mammals aboard the Sea Life Mull boat.
On our way out of the Sound of Mull we spotted our first cetacean species with a pod of Harbour Porpoise and the crew spotted a pair of WTE’s perched on the hillside.
Another pod of Harbour Porpoise surfaced as we headed further out to deeper waters beyond the Cairns of Coll, where we quickly found a Sooty Shearwater before more started materialising including 65 Great Shearwaters, 3-4 Manx and 20 or so more Sooty Shearwaters, a real trip highlight. One of the crew spotted another local scarcity, a 1st winter Little Gull with the Kittiwakes and a few of the common seabird species were around clearly feeding on what was below including Razorbills, Guillemots, Gannets and a Great Skua.
2 Minke Whales surfaced in with the feeding seabirds along with a pod or 2 of Common Dolphins which joined the bow of the boat as we were moving around giving lovely views!
On our journey back we found a few more Harbour Porpoise and an Adult WTE was perched in the trees above the shoreline. Back to the house for lunch before heading out to the north west of Mull for the afternoon.
The weather didn’t clear into the afternoon, but we fairly quickly found our first Ringtail Hen Harrier of the trip with a few Buzzard and Kestrel around on some nearby moorland before moving on where we saw another Ringtail Hen Harrier.
The visibility worsened and after a wander along the beach we headed back to the house.
29th -
Another calm day but sadly foggy day, so we headed for the SE of the island to focus on water-based habitats. Driving through Salen Bay, we spotted a WT Eagle sat on the offshore island, a good start.
We then stopped further south at Scallastle bay and managed to see a distant WT Eagle and Great-northern Diver, along with 2 Red-breasted Mergansers close to the shore. Curlew and Oystercatchers were seen along with Rock Doves and Starlings on the shingle island.
We arrived at our main focus area for the day. As we started our pre lunch walk, we spotted 3 Otters further down the coast. Further to the east, we admired the rare Hazel Gloves fungus and also the very unusual Pretzel Slime Mold. As we arrived at the beach, we watched 5 Purple Sandpipers, 4 Turnstones and Ringed Plovers out on the nearby reefs.
We had lunch back at the van, and then we were privileged to an overhead adult Golden Eagle which was catching the golden light, showcasing its wonderful golden and tawny tones.
30th-
A completely clear/sunny morning! In a different sort of day, we headed for the mainland from Fishnish to Lochaline just as we got on the ferry we spotted an Otter fishing tight inshore in the shimmering water. A few Harbour Porpoises, A Great-northern Diver and a flyby Eider duck shortly after, before coming into Lochaline when another Otter popped up in the calm waters as we sailed by! A strong start.
We headed straight for the scenic Loch, quiet there other than 3 Bullfinch. Continuing driving north, we were driving along the south shore of the Loch before spotting 2 more Otters, a mother and fairly small cub fishing tight inshore. We watched them feeding on small fish in the weed from the roadside for some time!
Onto the north side and the fabulous orange and red autumnal Sunart Oak woods before arriving at a hide, finding a few Harbour Seals there and a Raven eating the remains of a Small Spotted Catshark in a tree! Clearly the remains of an earlier WTE catch…
We continued north for a wander in the native pines, before even entering the woods, 2 Red Squirrels appeared briefly in front of us. Further up the track, we had prolonged good views of at least 1 more foraging squirrel.
Lunch overlooking the highland hills rewarded us with distant Golden and White-tailed Eagles and huge migrating flocks of Redwing and Fieldfare high over the hills.
Checking Loch Shiel on our way back south we found 2 Goosander, a Tufted duck and 5 Little Grebes.
A scenic drive west along the north shore of the sea Loch before arriving further west for a scan of the hills and cake. More migrating thrushes, a Kestrel and a Juv WTE flew by, joining 3 more immature WTE’s distantly by the summit!
We headed for Kilchoan bay and the ferry journey home to Tobermory, spotting 2 more Harbour Porpoise in the fading light.
31st - last day
A wetter and windier day, so we started with a woodland wander with Chaffinches, Siskins, Redpolls and Goldcrests before a single and a flock of 4 Crossbills flew over. Further down, the Crossbills reappeared and alighted in a spruce to feed for us all to see!
Next we headed to the north of a sea loch and spotted a distant male Hen Harrier and an Otter briefly showed in the corner of the loch.
Sadly Glen More was fog bound so we powered through to Loch Beg, finding a Mull scarcity there, a Little Egret along with a Rook, Goosander, Redshank and a few Turnstones of note. Heading round the western sides, we had a dog Otter feeding on the small offshore islands before another brief Otter encounter under the coastal cliffs.
Along the south shore of a sea loch, we spotted yet another Otter snoozing on a just offshore island before swimming to another larger island and having a good scratch and preen for us!
A lunch highlight was a flyby flock of Teal before heading back to the house to say our goodbyes after a great Mull adventure!
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