SIX OF THE BEST

There's nothing like a good walk with some unexpected wildlife finds thrown in for good measure. On sunday, we tried just that and decided to give the Treshnish walk a try. This is a superb wildlife walk along the NW coast of Mull, giving good views of the not too distant Treshnish Isles and Staffa, uninhabited except by Puffins, Shags, Razorbills and Guillemots by the hundreds. All you really need is energy, it's quite long, and sunshine, it really needs to be done in sunshine. Then, if you're lucky, you might stumble across an Otter in the kelp and rocks at the bottom of the cliffs, or a Golden Eagle soaring over the crags above. Or even a Basking Shark cruising the surface water, sucking up the plankton like a giant sieve. We were lucky enough to find one near here a few years ago.
Anyway, after parking up at the start of the walk near Calgary, we stepped from the car only to be met with rain and a vicious wind, again. So, it was back to the car safari and a leisurely drive down to Loch Beg, where we were lucky eventually, to spot another Otter, below.

We found it on the shore of the loch, loafing on the seaweed covered rock after probably lunching on a nice local seafood platter. It certainly seemed relaxed, at one point rolling on to it's back and having a good old scratch, again seeming happy despite our presence on the road nearby. All you need to do is keep your distance it seems, although quite often somebody gets too near and off they go.

We stayed a while and watched, in the hope that it would come closer to us but it didn't, it was far too comfortable on the seaweed and looked as if it was yawning at one point. Or was it just baring it's crab crunching teeth at us. Left click to see what I mean. While there we watched this Pied Wagtail apparently nest building, seemed a bit late, maybe it was just running repairs.

On the way back from Loch Beg we stopped at a small layby to scan the distant forest where the White-tailed Eagles frequent and were really excited to be able to see two fluffy grey chicks teetering on the nest while being fed by the female. We had earlier chanced upon the male we think, flying across the loch quite close to us. It was an absolutely stunning sight watching him soar across quite low, his white tail showing really well and as usual being mobbed by the Hoodies who looked tiny alongside him. I would have liked to have got a picture at last, but of course, it was raining again at the time. The next day was the day of the storm and we were seriosly worried about how the chicks would fare with so many trees being uprooted or snapped halfway down the trunk.

Our last stop was at Salen, a sheltered coastal spot looking across the Sound of Mull to the Scottish mainland. This is a good area for sea birds like Shag and Eider, as well as Seals and Otters. We thought we'd found another one of the latter when the chap below popped out from behind the rocks. It looked smaller than an Otter and i'm pretty sure that this furry fiend is one of the many Mink which inhabit the 300 odd mile coastline of Mull.

Well, I finally got my picture of a White-tailed Sea Eagle (below) on Tuesday, just about. It was very distant and the shot is heavily cropped. The bird was sitting in a tree above Grasspoint near Lochdon, south of Craignure. Don't be fooled by the blue sky, a sucker's gap, I think they call it. Five minutes earlier we were sheltering in the car and five minutes later we were doing it again.

Grasspoint is seriously remote and the 'road' to it reflects that. You just keep everything crossed in the hope that you don't meet another vehicle coming in the opposite direction, which I did of course, just as well I can reverse reasonably well. With Red Deer in abundance, Skylarks singing, Buzzards soaring, Cuckoos calling and an Eagle perched in a tree, we could see that despite the weather this is a place to return to, on foot next time, in the not too distant future.

These two sawbills were a nice surprise as we crossed the bridge to rejoin the road towards Pennygael. I'm pretty sure they are Red-breasted Mergansers, I don't see these too often, so correct me if i'm wrong.

Last stop today was about five miles away from Pennygael where we managed at last to see a Golden Eagle, it was quartering the dark crags above the road where we think it has a nest. Once again it was raining and it also hailed so hard it hurt my ears! But a great sight anyway and a bonus was a Peregrine that also flew from round the back of the crag and off to the distance. We had previously seen a male Hen Harrier hunting the rough grass not too far from the road and when we got back to the cottage a Sparrowhawk came gliding over the house to make six raptors for the day. Fantastic.

I forgot to mention, we revisited the Eagle chicks on the way back and they and the nest had survived the weather. They're probably used to it.

More Mull

I'll pick up today where I left off yesterday, on Lunga in the Treshnish Islands, Inner Hebrides. I've resisted the temptation to post more pictures of the Puffins, you can have too much of a good thing you know!

We walked round to the far end of the island to find somewhere peaceful to eat our lunch, passing Harp rock on the way which is a massive sea stack, home to thousands of breeding Guillemots and Razorbills. You need three hands here really so that you can put a finger in each ear to cut out the noise and the other hand to hold your nose to cut out the smell of the guano, it makes your eyes water.

SHAG

NESTING SHAG

We found our lunch spot but soon had to move when we realised we were sitting close to a rather irate Shag (above). We didn't want to disturb her any more so I took a quick picture and we moved away, leaving the Emerald eyed lady to nest in peace.

GUILLEMOT

GUILLEMOT'S EGG

Further along the path we came across this abandoned egg which I think is a Guillemot's. Their eggs are laid on bare rock ledges with no nest usually and it's thought that the eggs have evolved with a rather pointed end which means that if they roll on the rock ledges they roll in more of a circle, thus having a better chance of staying put. This may or may not be true but I choose to believe it because it makes for a good story!

COMMON SEAL?

Later in the week we decided to do one of our favorite walks from Langamull and back via the tiny, picturesque harbour at Croig. This is a great walk, we'd seen a dozen or more Crossbills before we even got our boots on in the small car park. The walk takes you down to the deserted white sand and rock beach at Langamull where we saw Common Sandpipers, Curlew, Rock Pipits, Buzzards, Pied Wagtails, Black Throated Diver, Great Northern Diver, Gannets and loads of Wheatears amongst many other species.
Continuing on to the back of Croig where the seals haul out on the low rocky outcrops, the Red Breasted Mergansers dive in the shallower water and the Lapwings and Oystercatchers nest in the tussock grass and beds of flag Iris. At this point we had walked probably four of the circa seven mile round and had not seen another soul. Such is Mull.

Of course one of the wildlife stars of this part of the world are the elusive Sea Otters. We usually manage to find one or two but it's by no means guaranteed so we were excited and a bit relieved to find this one below on a trip south from Dervaig on the shore of Loch Beg. I spotted it from the car as we were driving along and we managed to get on to the rocks undetected to take some pictures of him lazing on the seaweed covered rocks. Even better was to come when he decided to go hunting and every time he dived we edged a bit closer and eventually managed some closer shots of him eating his catch. Some of the pictures make him look fierce but this was just where he was chewing his food. Having said that I wouldn't want to be bitten by those ferocious looking fangs.

Without a doubt the avian stars of the area are the White Tailed Sea Eagles. In all we managed to see seven of these awesome birds, plus two Golden Eagles. There are ten nesting pairs on the island at the moment plus immature non breeding birds. Unfortunately the most famous pair who reside on Loch Frisa have failed in their attempt to breed this year. The first chick died in the unseasonally cold weather and the second egg failed to hatch despite the female sitting on it for the best part of sixty days, I think it usually takes less than forty days. Fortunately at least eight of the other pairs are currently successfully raising chicks. The pictures below were taken by me from a boat on beautiful Loch Na Keal and the male Eagle is picking up a fish thrown overboard by the skipper and taking it back to the nest in trees visible about 3/4 of a mile away to feed to the chicks. To say that this was an exciting moment wouldn't do it justice, I really struggled to hold the camera steady in hands that were shaking with excitement. That and the very poor light made it difficult to capture but i'm pleased with what I got. Click on the pictures to enlarge them.

WHITE TAILED EAGLE

The Isle of Mull is without doubt one of my favourite places. This is how I would like more places to be, places where you don't feel that wildlife takes second place but where you feel it's an equal partner and isn't consigned to reserves and small parcels of habitat surrounded by 'civilisation' and can be seen in places where it chooses to be, not where we choose to place it. I've been lucky enough to go to a lot of locations in the world over the years and the only other place where the feel is the same as Mull is Stewart Island off the southern tip of South Island, New Zealand. Luckily The Isle of Mull is a good deal closer!