Mull Holiday (1 Viewer)

[d.steeley]

Hi all, just spent our usual two weeks on Mull on a relaxing/birding/walking holiday with my wife. The weather was mixed with equal measures of dry and wet weather but most days it was quite windy, at times windy enough to make using my scope difficult. We stated in a cottage on Loch Na Keal near the Ben More footpath (we have stayed her for the last 8 years or so). I have included a list of what we saw but there were also lots of dragonflies that I am hopeless at identifying.

Some highlights were:

Two lifers for me, Whinchat & Twite.
Plenty of Otters along Lochs Na Keal and Scridain.
Close views of Golden Eagles especially along the cycle track from the north end of Loch Frisa to Glengorm (plenty of Whinchats here also).
White Tailed Sea eagles and their chicks in the usual spots.
First really good view of an Adder as my wife almost put her foot on one as it was crossing the path.
A Fallow Deer at the beginning of the Loch Ba walk.
Our only sighting of a Hen Harrier, a female at Grasspoint.
The colony of Arctic and Common Terns at Garmony Point.
Two Red Deer stags in the field next to our cottage.

We thought that there were very few midges and clegs around this year and rarely had to use the ‘Skin So Soft’. Also Mull seemed quieter to us than in previous years but Tobermory was very busy when we called in for a fish supper from the caravan on the quayside. We didn’t get around to visiting any islands this year so there are plenty of birds not on my list that you might have expected us to see.

If anyone is visiting Mull and likes a good cup of tea then we felt that the teashop at Glengorm Castle to be the best.

Cheers

Dave

Mull List 18/7/09 – 1/8/09

Robin
Chaffinch
Dunnock
Siskin
Greenfinch
Wren
Blue Tit
Great Tit
Coal Tit
Blackbird
Song Thrush
House Sparrow
Sand Martin
House Martin
Swallow
Great Spotted Woodpecker
Starling
Collared Dove
Stock Dove
Rock Dove
Wood Pigeon
Pied Wagtail
Grey Wagtail
Meadow Pipit
Rock Pipit
Linnet
Twite
Whinchat
Stonechat
Garden Warbler
Common Whitethroat
Willow Warbler
Yellowhammer
Reed Bunting
Wheatear
Pheasant
Turnstone
Lapwing
Redshank
Greenshank
Dunlin
Sanderling
Ringed Plover
Common Sandpiper
Curlew
Whimbrel
Oystercatcher
Grey Heron
Jackdaw
Hooded Crow
Raven
Guillemot
Red Breasted Meganser
Eider Duck
Red-Throated Diver
Greylag Geese
Canada Geese
Mute Swan
Common Tern
Arctic Tern
Black Headed Gull
Herring Gull
Lesser Black-Backed Gull
Greater Black-Backed Gull
Gannet
Shag
Cormorant
Kestrel
Sparrowhawk
Hen Harrier
Common Buzzard
Golden Eagle
White Tailed Sea Eagle

Mammals
Otter
Common Seal
Grey Seal
Red Deer
Fallow Deer
Rabbit

Reptiles/Amphibians
Adder
Common Frog

 

[Farnboro John]

This is going to sound daft but are you sure about the Rabbits? There are Mountain Hares (Irish race - don't change colour - introduced!) down to sea level.

John

 

[d.steeley]

Hi John, yes positive about the id. We have friends who live near Glen Forsa and they have a bit of a Rabbit problem there. I've seen quite a few Hares during previous visits (but surprisingly none this year) and these were obviously Rabbits.

I was talking to a local ghillie/gamekeeper from one of the estates and he said that he and another g'keeper walked the hills a few weeks ago to count the deer and saw only 3 Hares in 2 days. He also saw a WTSE trying to take a lamb and thought this may be due to the lack of other prey such as Hares.

Dave

 

[Dot Potter]

What a great list - we are off to Mull in Ocotober - so even a couple from this would do us fine