Sandra (Taylor)
Well-known member
25th September - 8th October
Isle of Mull
w/comm. 25th September
We stayed overnight 24th at a comfortable guest house in Gretna – this was in order to get a few miles under our belt ready for the long drive north. Woke up to a glorious sunny morning, cold & frosty.
Made good time driving to Fort William to pick up provisions. On the shingle shore of Loch Linnhe were a dozen or so pied wagtails (white race). Their faces had a ‘creamy’ colouring. Then to the Corran ferry where we had to wait for it to do two trips before we reached the front of the queue. I think this is the longest wait we’ve had here in many, many crossings. To Lochaline next for the crossing to Fishnish, then onto our cottage on the Gruline estate.
Sunday 26th
While I was looking out of the window of the cottage soon after I got up, I saw a tabby cat walking nonchalantly on the lane outside our garden gate. I took a very bad photo from the window, which was a bit steamed up. The cat did look to have a long bushy tail with a large black tip – but then so has my Spike at home! (Later in the week I asked the lady at the big house (castle, more like) if she had a cat and she hasn’t. She didn’t think a cat lived at the farm either. Hm ………………….. :cat::cat:
After breakfast we drove straight to the pull-off by the side of Loch na Keal at Killiechronan and looked out over the loch to see a white-tailed eagle sitting on one of the shingle banks facing away from us. We watched it for 15 mins – loafing around not doing much. Oystercatchers , gulls (?) and red-breasted mergansers were in the channel in front of the eagle. (A bit of pressure off us now as we’d seen a WTE on our first morning!)
Next stop was the parking area by the loch through Salen to look for otters. The sun was dazzling us as we peered out to the small sandbanks. Cormorants and shags on a sandbank. Onto the Craignure road then where we pulled up by the cemetery. Piles of chippings had been put in the parking area we had used previously to scan for otters so we turned round in the council storage yard.
On to Grasspoint. No fieldfare flitting about in the trees as there had been last year. Lots of lovely highland cows & calves encroaching on the road. Stonechats frequently seen on shrubs & wires. Two or three buzzards around. Parked at the end of the road and walked to the edge of the water: curlew along the edge of the shore. Bob scanned the far shore and rocks and couldn’t see anything but I must have scanned further round and two white-tailed eagles were sitting on a mound looking over to us. Their plumage was quite pale. Again, they were just loafing about and didn’t take
off. We packed up the scope after a while and left them to it – many years ago if someone had told me we’d walk away from a sighting of WTE we wouldn’t have believed them! There was a good number of grey herons around here.
We drove through Glen More and stopped when Bob spotted a golden eagle over the hills on our right. We pulled off onto a stalker’s track and followed the eagle with the scope across the mountains until it disappeared over one of them. We turned right onto the Salen road at the plastic bus-stop. I saw a head moving in the water and we stopped, hoping it wasn’t a seal. It was an otter and we watched it for 10 mins. as it kept diving them showing itself as it munched on a fish. We pointed it out to a couple driving by and they were delighted. Another 10 mins. further on we’d stopped again to watch an otter on a pile of vegetation in the water. (Somewhere on our travels today we saw a small group of greylag geese but I’ve forgotten exactly where – may have been on the grassy edges of Loch na Keal). Lots of meadow pipits and rock pipits around this area.
We’ve never yet seen a dipper from the bridge near Knock and today was no exception. I think we had to wait until the second week for one. Drove past the entrance to the estate to try and get a signal for my phone, then back to the cottage to be greeted by the resident robin & wren. We admired the big flock of rams in the field opposite the cottage – the ewes are in the adjoining field. All they seemed interested in was eating! A house martin was seen.
Monday 27th
No eagles by the loch this morning. Canada geese in a nearby field. Followed the north shore of Loch na Keal, stopping frequently to scan for anything that moved. As the road went inland Bob picked out two huge birds soaring above the hills to our right. We parked up and watched these two golden eagles as they came quite close to the hill top and soon one came down in front of the hill and we could see the head was paler than the rest of its dark plumage. A buzzard and two ravens were nearby.
Arriving at the beach in Calgary, we had a picnic in lovely sunshine. Pied wagtails around us. We took the road from Dervaig through Glen Aros where Bob said a great swathe of fir trees had been chopped down and cleared since we were last in this area. As we approached the area where forestry was on both sides of the road, a flock of thrushes flew across the road onto the telegraph wires and some rowan trees. My first thought again was ‘fieldfare’ but on close look they were all mistle thrushes. Stonechats were on the wires. Nothing much else was seen until we reached the Aros and the main road. Mallard and teal were dabbling in the bay. Lots of seals were lying around on the small island out from the beached boats (I once thought these boats were very photogenic and have lots of shots of them but now they just look very scruffy and untidy – maybe it’s time they were burnt, or something). Then to Lochdon & Grasspoint. A big buzzard was ‘hovering’ above the heather, holding itself perfectly still in the wind just like a kestrel. A red-throated diver was out on the loch from the point – we almost dismissed it as a shag before taking a look through the scope. Returned to the cottage and I went straight out again to walk into the woods on the private estate on the banks of Loch Ba. At one point I could see over to the row of pines where the first white-tailed eagles came to Mull and chose to nest 25 years ago. We had talked to the lady at ‘the big house’ and after the resident pair moved away to nest last year, another pair had reared young this year not a million miles away. Saw swallows feeding over the loch.
As I was in the kitchen two fallow deer came from the track to the woodshed in front of the kitchen window. When they saw me they scuttled into the copse of trees at the side of the cottage. (They both looked like Bambi – very pale and spotty).
Tuesday 28th
Dull and cloudy this morning. Called at the Red Cross book shop in the village : I’d found the third book of a trilogy on the bookshelf in the cottage and wanted to read the first two as they were about a family who lived on Mull some years ago. I left a book in exchange at the cottage and brought the other back home with me. The other two I’m buying online.
Drove down the main road past Craignure then later turned left to Loch Buie. We’ve never seen much wildlife on this road, except a WTE while we were looking at the standing stones much further on! But it’s such a lovely drive alongside the loch; fields; old oak woodlands. A tiny, tiny mouse scuttled across the road in front of us – looked just like a fluffy button! Bob thought it was a shrew but I thought it was too ‘gingery’ for that. Would have thought a shrew would be grey. We’ll never know! Saw our first goldfinch of the week, and a sparrowhawk. On retracing our journey we carried on through Glen More – the cloud was quite low over the hills. Then onto the Salen road, leaving Loch Scridain behind and reaching Loch na keal. We soon spotted an otter on a mass of vegetation and while I got out my (new) camera Bob watched the otter while I faffed about. By the time I’d switched it one etc. and looked up, the creature had gone. I think you have to be either a bird/nature watcher or a photographer – being both isn’t easy. On returning to the cottage, a big blue dragonfly flew past the window.
Wednesday 29th
Woke up to light rain so we had a full breakfast and weren’t in a hurry to leave. The rain stopped and while we were still on the drive from the cottage, a male hen harrier flew from the trees behind us, flapping slowly and quite low, towards the mausoleum. Sun was out now and we drove to the loch. Saw otters as we approached the end of the loch. Had picnic on a bench near Bunessan. Pied wagtails and chaffinch in good numbers. Drove to Uisken and on the way back Bob saw a WTE above pine trees to our right, before it disappeared over the hills. As we drove back towards Salen we spotted three little heads bobbing about in the water. An adult and two juvenile otters being very playful. We watched as they left the water and joined a heron on an outcrop of vegetation. I took loads of photos (30x zoom) but I’m sure lots will be blurred and useless. Then to cap it all the batteries went to ‘low’ and I couldn’t take any more until I’d switched it off then on again. We watched the otters as they frolicked on the island and in the water. (One of my photos should have had the two otters, a heron & a hoodie in the frame!) We tore ourselves away from these delightful creatures after half an hour. We pointed them out to a passing car then to a wildlife tour bus – but then I wondered if they’d rather find their own! Two gannets were over the loch as we approached Knock and a wheatear flew across us. As soon as we got back Bob went to the woodshed to chop firewood and I had a G&T!
Cont/……….
Isle of Mull
w/comm. 25th September
We stayed overnight 24th at a comfortable guest house in Gretna – this was in order to get a few miles under our belt ready for the long drive north. Woke up to a glorious sunny morning, cold & frosty.
Made good time driving to Fort William to pick up provisions. On the shingle shore of Loch Linnhe were a dozen or so pied wagtails (white race). Their faces had a ‘creamy’ colouring. Then to the Corran ferry where we had to wait for it to do two trips before we reached the front of the queue. I think this is the longest wait we’ve had here in many, many crossings. To Lochaline next for the crossing to Fishnish, then onto our cottage on the Gruline estate.
Sunday 26th
While I was looking out of the window of the cottage soon after I got up, I saw a tabby cat walking nonchalantly on the lane outside our garden gate. I took a very bad photo from the window, which was a bit steamed up. The cat did look to have a long bushy tail with a large black tip – but then so has my Spike at home! (Later in the week I asked the lady at the big house (castle, more like) if she had a cat and she hasn’t. She didn’t think a cat lived at the farm either. Hm ………………….. :cat::cat:
After breakfast we drove straight to the pull-off by the side of Loch na Keal at Killiechronan and looked out over the loch to see a white-tailed eagle sitting on one of the shingle banks facing away from us. We watched it for 15 mins – loafing around not doing much. Oystercatchers , gulls (?) and red-breasted mergansers were in the channel in front of the eagle. (A bit of pressure off us now as we’d seen a WTE on our first morning!)
Next stop was the parking area by the loch through Salen to look for otters. The sun was dazzling us as we peered out to the small sandbanks. Cormorants and shags on a sandbank. Onto the Craignure road then where we pulled up by the cemetery. Piles of chippings had been put in the parking area we had used previously to scan for otters so we turned round in the council storage yard.
On to Grasspoint. No fieldfare flitting about in the trees as there had been last year. Lots of lovely highland cows & calves encroaching on the road. Stonechats frequently seen on shrubs & wires. Two or three buzzards around. Parked at the end of the road and walked to the edge of the water: curlew along the edge of the shore. Bob scanned the far shore and rocks and couldn’t see anything but I must have scanned further round and two white-tailed eagles were sitting on a mound looking over to us. Their plumage was quite pale. Again, they were just loafing about and didn’t take
off. We packed up the scope after a while and left them to it – many years ago if someone had told me we’d walk away from a sighting of WTE we wouldn’t have believed them! There was a good number of grey herons around here.
We drove through Glen More and stopped when Bob spotted a golden eagle over the hills on our right. We pulled off onto a stalker’s track and followed the eagle with the scope across the mountains until it disappeared over one of them. We turned right onto the Salen road at the plastic bus-stop. I saw a head moving in the water and we stopped, hoping it wasn’t a seal. It was an otter and we watched it for 10 mins. as it kept diving them showing itself as it munched on a fish. We pointed it out to a couple driving by and they were delighted. Another 10 mins. further on we’d stopped again to watch an otter on a pile of vegetation in the water. (Somewhere on our travels today we saw a small group of greylag geese but I’ve forgotten exactly where – may have been on the grassy edges of Loch na Keal). Lots of meadow pipits and rock pipits around this area.
We’ve never yet seen a dipper from the bridge near Knock and today was no exception. I think we had to wait until the second week for one. Drove past the entrance to the estate to try and get a signal for my phone, then back to the cottage to be greeted by the resident robin & wren. We admired the big flock of rams in the field opposite the cottage – the ewes are in the adjoining field. All they seemed interested in was eating! A house martin was seen.
Monday 27th
No eagles by the loch this morning. Canada geese in a nearby field. Followed the north shore of Loch na Keal, stopping frequently to scan for anything that moved. As the road went inland Bob picked out two huge birds soaring above the hills to our right. We parked up and watched these two golden eagles as they came quite close to the hill top and soon one came down in front of the hill and we could see the head was paler than the rest of its dark plumage. A buzzard and two ravens were nearby.
Arriving at the beach in Calgary, we had a picnic in lovely sunshine. Pied wagtails around us. We took the road from Dervaig through Glen Aros where Bob said a great swathe of fir trees had been chopped down and cleared since we were last in this area. As we approached the area where forestry was on both sides of the road, a flock of thrushes flew across the road onto the telegraph wires and some rowan trees. My first thought again was ‘fieldfare’ but on close look they were all mistle thrushes. Stonechats were on the wires. Nothing much else was seen until we reached the Aros and the main road. Mallard and teal were dabbling in the bay. Lots of seals were lying around on the small island out from the beached boats (I once thought these boats were very photogenic and have lots of shots of them but now they just look very scruffy and untidy – maybe it’s time they were burnt, or something). Then to Lochdon & Grasspoint. A big buzzard was ‘hovering’ above the heather, holding itself perfectly still in the wind just like a kestrel. A red-throated diver was out on the loch from the point – we almost dismissed it as a shag before taking a look through the scope. Returned to the cottage and I went straight out again to walk into the woods on the private estate on the banks of Loch Ba. At one point I could see over to the row of pines where the first white-tailed eagles came to Mull and chose to nest 25 years ago. We had talked to the lady at ‘the big house’ and after the resident pair moved away to nest last year, another pair had reared young this year not a million miles away. Saw swallows feeding over the loch.
As I was in the kitchen two fallow deer came from the track to the woodshed in front of the kitchen window. When they saw me they scuttled into the copse of trees at the side of the cottage. (They both looked like Bambi – very pale and spotty).
Tuesday 28th
Dull and cloudy this morning. Called at the Red Cross book shop in the village : I’d found the third book of a trilogy on the bookshelf in the cottage and wanted to read the first two as they were about a family who lived on Mull some years ago. I left a book in exchange at the cottage and brought the other back home with me. The other two I’m buying online.
Drove down the main road past Craignure then later turned left to Loch Buie. We’ve never seen much wildlife on this road, except a WTE while we were looking at the standing stones much further on! But it’s such a lovely drive alongside the loch; fields; old oak woodlands. A tiny, tiny mouse scuttled across the road in front of us – looked just like a fluffy button! Bob thought it was a shrew but I thought it was too ‘gingery’ for that. Would have thought a shrew would be grey. We’ll never know! Saw our first goldfinch of the week, and a sparrowhawk. On retracing our journey we carried on through Glen More – the cloud was quite low over the hills. Then onto the Salen road, leaving Loch Scridain behind and reaching Loch na keal. We soon spotted an otter on a mass of vegetation and while I got out my (new) camera Bob watched the otter while I faffed about. By the time I’d switched it one etc. and looked up, the creature had gone. I think you have to be either a bird/nature watcher or a photographer – being both isn’t easy. On returning to the cottage, a big blue dragonfly flew past the window.
Wednesday 29th
Woke up to light rain so we had a full breakfast and weren’t in a hurry to leave. The rain stopped and while we were still on the drive from the cottage, a male hen harrier flew from the trees behind us, flapping slowly and quite low, towards the mausoleum. Sun was out now and we drove to the loch. Saw otters as we approached the end of the loch. Had picnic on a bench near Bunessan. Pied wagtails and chaffinch in good numbers. Drove to Uisken and on the way back Bob saw a WTE above pine trees to our right, before it disappeared over the hills. As we drove back towards Salen we spotted three little heads bobbing about in the water. An adult and two juvenile otters being very playful. We watched as they left the water and joined a heron on an outcrop of vegetation. I took loads of photos (30x zoom) but I’m sure lots will be blurred and useless. Then to cap it all the batteries went to ‘low’ and I couldn’t take any more until I’d switched it off then on again. We watched the otters as they frolicked on the island and in the water. (One of my photos should have had the two otters, a heron & a hoodie in the frame!) We tore ourselves away from these delightful creatures after half an hour. We pointed them out to a passing car then to a wildlife tour bus – but then I wondered if they’d rather find their own! Two gannets were over the loch as we approached Knock and a wheatear flew across us. As soon as we got back Bob went to the woodshed to chop firewood and I had a G&T!
Cont/……….
