Hotting Up

Sunday May 8

After very little sleep, a 7.30 breakfast came too soon. Sheila and Blake joined us again - Pam looked in the visitor book when they'd gone to find their names. When we asked John where he suggested we could place our moth trap to-night, his immediate response was 'my back garden'. Excellent. I've just put it all together, discovering the wonders of attaching an invertor between the trap mains lead/battery. First time ever and.... it works. Trap in situ, grand switch-on at 9.00 p.m.

The forecast had promised good weather by mid morning. This changed to. by 4.00 and was remarkably accurate, at that exact time, it was 22C. with sun. The rest of the day was cloudy, quite dull with the odd few spots of rain. Not good for photography but, we had a lovely day.

A pause there whilst we watched a wonderful programme where Kirsty Young made a beautiful job (David's personal words at the end) of interviewing David Attenborough on his 90th birthday, introducing people and programme clips from the past.

Starting at Fidden as usual, we drove as far as Knockvologen, where the road ends in a farmyard. The track out was black-topped a week ago and John said that all the locals came to try out the new motorway. It really is compared with all the others. We saw two Ravens and a Sedge Warbler on the drive out. Most of the way back I was trying to photograph Wheatear. They're everywhere, flying away as soon as the car stops or gets near. 

I also photographed the bay and sea, with the island of Erraid on the left, this is where Daniel Defoe is said to have got his inspiration for Robinson Crusoe.

The biggest excitement was viewing an immature male or female Hen Harrier, unfortunately being severely harried by gulls, it didn't stay long.  
The campsite was fairly empty this morning apart from the group of Dunlin, a couple of Ringed Plover, Eider Duck and a Shag.

Ardtun, a left turn the other side of Bunessan bay, had been mentioned in a Facebook Mull Birds posting. As we took the turning, one of the myriad Grey Herons, statue-like in the stream, was startled by a pair of Red-breasted Mergansers. The male looked a little wary of that dagger beak but they passed safely.

We drove as far as we could west and then decided to do the round trip via Knocken back to the 'main' road. I told Pam that the far rocks had loads of sheep on them. She looked and laughed - a lot - they were seals.

Blake told us that the road to Carsaig was good for Wood Warblers. We drove as far as the estate office, turned there and made our way back down. The road edges and walls had, Violets, Celandines and a Wood Anemone type flower - must look them up. 

Pam heard a warbler, I got out and heard the lovely descending trill of a Wood Warbler's song. Great.
Pennyghael shop was closed, bits and pieces lunch then. It is Sunday. We made our way slowly around the shores of Loch Scridain, searching for Otters on the thickly seaweeded rocky shore. No luck. A Buzzard waited for me to take a few shots before its usual disappearing act.

Another hour or two on the Tiroran road gazing up to the forested mountainside hoping for eagles. Entertainment was provided by three energetic, loopy little lambs playing on a ditch cum grassy ridge.  It looked like taking it in turns to push each other into the ditch and then racing up the field and back again, pronking madly at times. Pam then got distressed because another lamb was one side of the fence, beyond the pool in front of us, and its mother the other, both calling in distress. It must have got out under the gate onto the road. As we were discussing how to rescue it, a car-full of three women and a man stopped beside us. They noticed and the man set off through the irises around the pool, holding onto the fence. He returned in triumph, clutching a remarkable calm lamb to his chest. He brought it to Pam for a stroke before taking it through the gate. It raced off and immediately fed avidly. It was still doing so when we left at least 5 minutes later. We drove as far as a lay-by overlooking the beginning of Loch na Kiel, before returning past the RSPB eagle watch site.

Pam stopped in the road - not the no stopping lay-bys - whilst we scanned the forest, Yes. There was the nest, where I thought it was on Friday, this time obvious because there was a White-tailed Eagle perched on the edge and another brooding. Brilliant.

Here's an already cropped very distant view.

On the home straight after Bunessan, Pam called Golden Eagle, our first Mull bird of this species after the two on Ardnamuchan, 
 We added two Grey Wagtails and a Reed Bunting to the list before our evening call in at Fidden Campsite. Our first Whimbrels since Saturday morning and the usuals.

We checked for the P's car at the cottages outside Bunessan, they have either not arrived or, more likely, out birding.

Off to Cathy's in Dervaig to-morrow. Hope we have some moths to share with John.