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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Hotspur" data-source="post: 1222000" data-attributes="member: 11053">Day 8 - Is it possible??The possibility of us both scoring all the birds we needed was mooted before the trip but there are some tricky ones. How do you get Caper in June. Already done. How can you score Corncrake on Iona and still have time for Eagles and how do you drive 650 miles in one day and score all required species.As a climax to a pretty mad holiday day 8 was awesome. Im still sleeping. A 3.30 am get up (after an 11pm heads down post beer) and we were off. Driving along some amazing roads Speyside quickly turned into something more rugged as we hit the Grampians and we arrived at Oban after nearly 3 hours whilst avoiding Deer and other suicidal mammals. Ben Nevis loomed above us en route and many mountains were still snow capped making it feel very chocolate box. At about 5 am the hybrid Carrion Hoodies started to become alot purer and we both decide that a very clean looking bird is the real thing. Hooded Crow being a lifer for me and a decent year tick for Marcus. At Oban the first birds we see are Black Guillemots. Another lifer for me. We drink some very tasty coffee contemplating finding White-tailed Eagle and Corncrake in the coming hours. A 45 minute crossing to Mulls gets Gannet, Raorbill and Shag onto the trip list and we land on Mull. For those that havent been, it is 37 miles to Phionnport from the ferry to get over to Iona on a single track road. Fortunatley we were first off and quickly get 20 miles UTB before Marcus sees a Short-eared Owl on a fencepost. I reverse and Marcus using his fieldcraft honed over years uses the car as a hide to get into position for some snaps. So i get out and flush it in my usual discrete manner. We did get good views though and the yellow eyes pierce the soul. We get to the site given for Golden Eagle but it is too early and a couple of cars overtaking us remind us that the journey across the remaining 17 miles wont be quick. We head on to the sea loch and a detour north has us looking for White-tailed Eagles over the forest. No luck bar a flyover Whinchat. We get in the car to go when it decides to not play ball. Nothing from the engine. Marcus appears to want to strangle me. I then look up and see an adult White-tailed Eagel flying over the forest. Out we get and see the bird land in a tree where it is scoped. I believe MArcus got some record shots of the bird in flight and as we were leaving a second bird probably of this species hit the skyline in the distance but wasnt seen well. If it wasn't for the vagueries of my little Peugoet we would have been long gone.With the Eagle under the belt only one bird remained of top priority. Corncrake. We got onto Iona for 10.30am. To the south of the village are a couple of meadows being managed for crakes with 27 calling males apparently. As we crossed on the ferry Arctic Tern was seen and more Gannets and Shag. We head south of the village and all is quiet. Crex crex. Crex crex. a single calling male at the rear of one of the meadows isnt showing at all and the vegetation is too high. We try around the village for more profitable spots but hear or see nothing that looks like paying off. We find an old gentleman who claims to have seen Hen Harrier and then thanks us for pointing out a Wheatear as it was a lifer. He slips from our thoughts as just another part time birder. How wrong we were to be. We relocate to the first set of fields and the single male is still calling. Then a second male starts calling from the Iris beds at the edge of the field. This is a big area but this bird may be easier to locate we feel so we get in position. The senior gentleman from ealrier locates himself by the fence close to the Iris beds and starts making a cacophony. Surely this will only make the birds shut up but he claims it has worked in South Africa. The Iris beds and meadow go bonkers with upto 6 males calling at once including one seemingly under our feet. Half hour passes and the noises doesnt abate but we still haven't seen a bird. An islander who appears to be in his 90s tells us that this is an awful spot to see corncrake from and that usually the monastry is a better bet. We continue to flog the field. Suddenly I get a short view of a crake throwing its head up. Much further away than anticipated and the final bird for my Highland clear-up. Marcus doesnt see it. Another half hour passes before Marcus gets poor views. We then split with me trying to seawatch (total 7 Arctic Terns) and Marcus manages slighlty better views of the crake. We return to Mull and try to jam in on some better views of Golden Eagle but fail miserably. A family of Whinchats sat in their finery were pleasant compensation and we press on leaving the island at 5pm. It was over and we had cleared the lot*. Final buzzard count for the day was 18 leaving the totalizer at 96. Marcus received his prize in a service station nea Preston some 5 hours later and he is returned home at midnight. A diversion through leeds means i get home for just before 2am after a 23 hour day. Awesome. In the end I saw 14 lifers and another 6 year ticks. I had some sights I will never forget and have seen Feral Goat which is obviously a highlight of any mammal listers life. Final roll call is 130 species.*RT Diver, Snow Bunting, Black Grouse, Arctic Skua and Bonxie already UTB prior to trip.</blockquote>

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