Wild About Mull

Another pleasant run out started off quietly with a few of the common birds with Common Whitethroat, Golden Plover, Greenshank and plenty of Stonechat being the highlights.
A look for Otter was interrupted by a close view of an adult WT Eagle flying past.
While we watched it soaring away two Golden Eagle put in an appearance. They all managed to do all their circling right in front of the sun!
You could also see that they were sub adult birds with similar wing moult going on.
A Slow Worm was a good find on the day. There were plenty of Swallows still to be seen, Linnets are gathering into flocks...
...plenty of Skylark...
...and the Adders are still showing but it looks like they may be thinking about hibernation soon.
We managed to catch up with a couple of Hen Harriers and when we thought one of them was sitting on a post we all jumped out to find it was a Buzzard. You win some, you lose some!

Another cracking day in paradise. We started the day with a brief view of an Otter before moving on to some of the migrant birds - Common Sandpiper and Northern Wheatear. Most of the Great Northern Divers are in their summer plumage now.
We got superb views of three WT Eagles with one of the birds flying straight overhead. I'd left my camera in the motor but it's the memory that counts. Another WT Eagle was seen when we went to have a look at the Tawny Owl - awesome stuff! Golden Eagle, Dipper and Sparrowhawk were all seen while we had lunch.
A few Rock Pipit and three Linnet were the best we could manage at the next stop.
We witnessed a fight between two Hooded Crows - another three corvids stood around watching!
A few Turnstone were seen and the Golden Plover flock had increased to about 200.

A lovely day and a good start to the tour as we came across an Otter within 10 minutes of setting out. Better still was the other Otter that was fishing in the seaweed just below us.
I've not seen a Yellowhammer this year so when this one started singing next to the motor it had to be found and looked at!
Next up was some WT Eagle viewing. Brief views of a bird on the nest were bolstered by a group of five birds over the hillside with one of the birds giving us a fly past.
It was just 5 WT Eagles as a couple of Golden Eagles joined the group too. A few Swallows were flying around outside the barn where the Tawny Owl was on show.
A sub-adult Golden Eagle...
...was seen off territory by the resident adult.
Plenty of Rock Pipit were at the beach but a couple of Linnet brightened things up.
Twenty-one Whooper Swans were preparing to continue their journey north by doing a bit of preening and stretching their wings. A few of the Lapwings are on the nest so we'll see how they get on over the next couple of weeks.
A good showing from the Mountain Hares as this pale individual ran off...
...to see his darker coated mates (is that a Wallaby on the right?).

It was nice to catch up with a Willow Warbler again - the song of this bird is always the sound of summer for me. No sooner had I published the last post where I mentioned the Greenshanks had moved on and there were three birds back on the loch! A pair of Grey Wagtails were getting frisky on one of the burns.
It was nice to catch up with the mum and cub Otters while they were reaping the rewards of a few Dogfish. They were seen to bring two ashore in about 20 minutes.
The Highland Cattle are always popular with the guests.
A few more Northern Wheatears are being seen now.
There was a decent breeze blowing while this Rock Pipit was trying to hang on to the fence.
Decent numbers of Linnets can be seen in various locations.
It was a bit of a struggle to get a good view of Golden Eagle until this one flew past the motor!

Some photos from the last few tours just to give some of the highlights. The Red Deer stags are starting to look good now and they should get rid of the velvet in July - I wonder if it'll be later with the cold spring.
The Tree Pipits have spent a bit of time being quiet but now they are back displaying again.
The Whinchat are still bouncing around but I haven't seen any young birds yet even though I do know that some are out of the nest.
The WT Eagle and Golden Eagle both have a large chick that should be on the wing by the end of July. Otters are still being seen on most days but we did miss out the day we saw this oiled Puffin.
It was a bit of a wet and windy day but we did find another auk - Guillemot.
The Linnets seem to enjoy the wet grass...
...and the Greater Butterfly Orchids are in flower at last. They don't seem to be lasting very long this year and a whole bunch of this species was munched by...
...Red Deer. Quite a pale looking beast on the right and a spotty youngster in the middle.
This female Adder has showed reasonably well over the last month.
I did say the Whinchats are showing well so here is another shot!
It won't be long before we stop seeing the Snipe on a post so here is, possibly, the last one for this year.

Another trip to Iona, with guests, for Corncrake. The trip over was uneventful with Kittiwake...
...and Gannet seen.
There were a few Linnets that came to have a look at what we were doing...
...and plenty of Song Thrush and this charming Blackbird sunbathing!
We spent some time on the island and it was exceptionally quiet so the best we got was a couple of calling birds - you can't win them all. Back on to Mull the highlights were Mountain Hare, Adder, WT Eagle, Golden Eagle and this splendid Stonechat.

With more poor weather to contend with a decision was made to go for Golden Eagle first - one bird was seen sitting on the nest. Next up we were tipped off about a Short-eared Owl sitting by the road. We missed it on the first pass but found it when we backtracked.
We couldn't find any sign of Otters so we checked out the WT Eagle and then headed back along the road. A Red Deer stag was seen grazing in a field before we got lucky with 2 Golden Eagle in flight.
A bird on a post wasn't the hoped for Tree Pipit but just a Meadow Pipit.
The clear spell we had was brief but we still added Hen Harrier and Whinchat to the list. A single Lesser Redpoll was nice to see as the rain came back in.
The good thing about the poor weather is that it grounds the migrating birds so a mixed flock of Dunlin, Turnstone and Sanderling was a nice find.
A flock of about 30 Whimbrel were seen too.
The weather started to clear at the end of the day but the wind was still blowing hard. Lapwing on the nest...
...good numbers of Rabbit...
...and a few Linnet were seen.
On the trip back a pale-eyed Common Buzzard was seen in a field...
...and a fly past WT Eagle with a Raven giving chase finished the day off nicely.