08/07/2023 The Isle of Mull, Argyll and Bute

Golden Eagle: The Isle of Mull is the third largest of the Hebridean islands, and one of the most beautiful. Situated off the west coast of Scotland has varied habitats including mountains, moorland, sea lochs, hill lochans, damp boggy marshes, sandy beaches and open seas. 

On Mull the population of white-tailed sea eagles is as dense as anywhere else in Scotland, and the island also boasts having more pairs of the majestic golden eagle than anywhere else in Scotland.

Many other birds of prey inhabit the island, including good numbers of breeding hen harriers and short-eared owls. Red-throated divers can be seen on both freshwater and sea lochs, where great northern divers also regularly linger into the summer in their splendid breeding plumage. The same sea lochs are the home of otters, and indeed Mull must be one of the best places in Britain to observe these captivating mammals. 

I hadn't been back to Mull since my first visit with Dawn way back in May 2015. And with Gary Edwards celebrating his 40th birthday this month I conspired wit his wife Elise and organised a bit of a surprise weekend away so he could tick off golden eagle and corncrake which we saw on Iona.

After arriving on the inland we invested most of our time in search of golden eagles, concentrating our efforts on the 'Three Lochs' viewpoint in Glen More and the long winding roads around the south shore of Loch Na Keal stopping and scanning the mountain ridges.

Common Sandpiper: It wasn't until the Saturday that we connected with an adult golden eagle on the south road of Craig. We spotted the bird from the moving car and before we pulled over and jumped out the eagle had landed and we watched it take flight soaring over our heads before gaining hight and drifting high over the stunning valley and across the mountains. Magical. 

We spent hours driving and waiting at these hot spots with not even a sniff of a goldie, although we were joined by Kristian Wade and his family who were spending their last reminding days of their holiday also looking for golden eagles. 

Otter: Another highlight of our trip was picking up this dog otter foraging in Loch Na Keal on our first day, we watch dit fishing for a short while before it left the water and crossed the road presumably into a nearby halt. 

Short-eared Owl: Here is another one of our target birds that we were hoping to see during our short trip on Mull. 

Short-eared owls breed on the moors throughout the UK, though finding them usually involves a longer trip than watching during the winter. 

We struck luck on Sunday evening as driving early evening we saw a birder stood in a lay-by just past Ardachoil Farm north of Loch Spelve. We pulled over and could see that he was watching a single SEO quartering over the marshy field.

Short-eared owls mainly hunt during the daytime, flying low over moorland, grassland and saltmarshes where they feed on field voles and small birds. About the same size as the barn owl, but with long wings

One of my all time favourite birds Gary and I couldn't pull ourselves away from observing the bird floating over the grassy wet field and periodically turning mid air and punching on its prey, often without success. 

White-tailed Sea Eagle: Unfortunately we were unable to book onto the Mull Charters boat trips but still had some great views of white-tailed eagles and I even had one close to our hotel one morning while I was up real;y looking for otters along then cracky shoreline of the Sound of Mull.

Another good spot for them was along Loch Na Keal and the southern road near Tiroran Community Forest close to Balevulin. A little further south along this road we Loch Beg Bridge we had some nice views of both female and male hen harriers hunting. 

I would like to offer my thanks and appreciation to Rhys Richards who gave me a ton of gen and was a big help in my thinking process and planning of the trip. With a really short amount of time we had his advice and interest was very much appreciated. Cheers again mate. 

Hen Harrier: We had a quality time up here and despite the long arduous wait in the high winds for a brief sighting of a corncrake on Iona and the flat tyre just south of Glasgow on the way home It was brilliant, great birds, great food and some really great beers. 

22/02/2020 Strontian, Highlands of Scotland

American Black Duck: A few weeks ago the lads agreed to come with me on the epic journey up to see the famous American black duck that has been living on the west of Scotland for thirteen years. But, with the weather reports looking pretty awful and the restricted time we had it was going to be a bit of a gamble.

Hale showers, torrential rain, snow flurries, gusts of over 70 miles an hour winds and some skillful driving we made it in once piece, thankfully.

We stayed at The Inn at Ardgour, right opposite the Corran Ferry terminal, a lovely and very accomodating hotel.

After dodging breakfast and heading out super early we ended up spending seven long, fruitless hours searching the entire length of the river, the shores of the loch and came up with no American bcal duck. We even ended splitting up a number of times to cover more ground.

It was during one of these times towards the very end of the day I was scanning the banks of the loch that sits right in front of the Strontian Hotel I picked up the same male and female mallard that had been in this area all afternoon. I then noticed two other ducks appear from the further most outcrop of rocks that lead into the bay. 

At first they were silhouetted by the sun before joining the original pair and entered a more sheltered area, my jaw dropped and I struggled to steady the tripod in the combination of excitement and gusty wind that was pelting me.

The two new birds that had just entered the bay included the American black duck! Bingo!!!

I phoned the lads, who were further up the river still searching for the bird. I calmly told them to hurry up as I had just found the bird, not before long I could hear the familiar sounds of hurried steps and the sounds of trepidation. By the time they joined me the mallards followed by the black duck flew across the bay and in to the river mouth.

Here the bird peeled off from the rest of the mallard group and made its way up stream accompanied by a single male mallard. This brought the bird much closer the we expected giving us a great opportunity to reel of some images and see the bird up close. We were thrilled, the gamble paid off, the hours spent in less than perfect weather was all worth while. The bird was in the bag.

Hybridised Mallard x Black Duck: One of the the things we were keeping our eyes out for where the mallards as we knew the black duck was associating with them, we were also looking out for any birds that were the offspring between the back duck and mallards.

Patrick and I found one right up the far end of the river. Much darker bird with yellowish, but predominantly darker bill and much more feathering pattern similar to a female mallard then the pure black duck.

Otter: When you spend so much time in one of the most beautiful parts of the country you are surely going to stumble across other exciting wildlife.

We had this otter in the river mouth opposite Kilcamb Lodge, a highlight of the trip and something that gave us positive boost during the long search for the duck.

The otter was happily feeding close to shore catching small fish. We also had black guillemot near the ferry terminal, dipper on the river and some lovely looking male goosander.

Greylag Geese: A great if a a very long hard worked twitch. Thanks for the company Gary, Patrick and Tobie thanks for keeping me awake during the long journey there and back.