28/08/2008
Much of the time drizzly with occasional breaks in the weather and then very atomospheric and alien. At all times still beautiful! That's the weather.
Big sightings of sea eagles doing various things, golden eagles same and otters steady and reliable. Occasional porpoise, waders going through. Island is lush and waterfalls are tumbling.
26/08/2008
Chasing the weather like an eagle today. 'Brilliant' find of a sea eagle in an unusual place. Two further sea eagles in a window of weather striding out to sea and taking what looked like an Eider and flying back to shore with it.
The weather then got the better of me and we were sometime until we found a distant otter but then a close one as we all got very wet and he wandered around little islands and occasionally onshore. Two lovely keen kids on the trip today.
25/08/2008
Driving wind and rain start today with the predictable phone call at this time of year of 'Is the trip still on'. Do these people ever check the westher forecast because sunny all day is not good for wildlife spotting. Bad start and
clearing, like today, or sunshine and showers, is best.I think the BBC could do less dumbed down stuff and more of the 'thinking persons stuff' with real information about how to see wildlife.
24/08/2008
Hebridean day today, windy with showers. I spent most of the day halfway up a cliff face cutting out invasive cotoneaster from the hillside to improve habitat for the Slender Scotch Burnet Moth which
is only found on certain cliffs on the west of Mull and the Isle Ulva. Sitting having lunch with another shower heading our way we reminded ourselves how lucky we were to be there and not in suburbia trying to park the car!
22/08/2008
Tonight we have a golden landscape, no wind, mirror calm sea and paradise to the eye. Another really good day out today with both species of eagle, otter and a humorous bus load! The beauty of Mull and the islands around us
has stolen the show all year. It's impossible to ignore that every single day is different and whether leaning into wind on some storm lashed beach, or paddling in the sun the next day, it has to be one of the most inspiring places on planet earth.
19/08/2008
Happy customers today and more good weather here.We waited for a golden eagle and were rewarded as one broke the skyline a mile out to glide along ridges pestered by a female hen harrier. Porpoise, seals, deer and
dramatic views of golden eagle and sea, sitting close and latterly red throted diver in summer plumage and top view of another sea eagle.
17/08/2008
Been in the Highlands with my two small grandchildren for a few days and though the forest is something else up there, coming up the road toward our house it was impossible not say but
how do you beat any of this !! Pretty good weather at the moment and certainly better than England again and rather like last year with bad weather fronts going south of us again. Thankyou global warming.
11/08/2008
Another big day of the usual sightings but probably best was the two sea eagles coming overhead to land on the shingle spit at Loch na Keal and lean into wind to look up the loch. After 10 minutes they were off windward on a
jaunt out to sea and being mobbed by gulls. Laterly we had another sighting of golden eagle chasing a sea eagle off her territory. I say her because I know her well and she bosses her boyfriend around a lot too!
08/08/2008
Another beautiful day here off the north coast and looking to Rhum, Eigg, Muck, Canna, Coll, Tiree and everywhere else out there !!
Collected lots of chanterelle mushrooms which went down really well with the plaice. Soon as there's an R in the month I'm off for oysters which I love with a little tabasco sauce and lemon, dont you? Food's for free here, so why live in suburbia?
08/08/2008
Beautiful flat calm and sunny morning here and forgot to mention my drive home the other evening when the entire sea, mountains and sky, were entirely red as far as the eye could see.
I cant beleive that there is anywhere in the world where every single day there is such a variety of natures elements.From my office its like I'm looking out across a huge tropical lagoon right now. Tomorrow it could be Iceland!
07/08/2008
Variety was the spice of life today, with golden eagles, white tailed sea eagles, otter, male hen harrier,
lots of kestrels and buzzards, red dear, seals, greenshank and very good views of flying and sitting short eared owl, very close. Nice children from Germany on the trip. Who can't like children who show an interest in nature?
06/08/2008
Best sighting today was an otter which came from offshore and started wandering around on the shoreline below us.
He repeatedly turned large rocks over looking for whatever!! and occasionally rolled on his back to have a scratch. His nose was very pink and probably the result of a lot of rock turning!
06/08/2008
Can someone explain to me just what it is about the sort of visitor we get at this time of year? What is this obsession with 'touring' Scotland? And why come somewhere as massive and varied as Mull for one or two days!!!!!
Would I 'tour' Russia,England,Outer Mongolia and visit Tibet for a day trip !!!! Is it the better attention span of our off season visitors?
05/08/2008
Plenty of sightings today and great to see my sea eagle friends from Grasspoint back in action and landing on a small islet with a fish probably taken from an otter. Porpoise were offshore on the calm sea as was red throated
diver and tite around us on the grassland.Unique sighting of a young golden eagle splayed flat out on the highest rock on the highest peak of mums territory? Otter wandering around in the seaweed. Happy and inspired customers.
05/08/2008
Plenty of sightings today and great to see my sea eagle friends from Grasspoint back in action and landing on a small islet with a fish probably taken from an otter. Porpoise were offshore on the calm sea as was red throated
diver and twite around us on the grassland.Unique sighting of a young golden eagle splayed flat out on the highest rock on the highest peak of mums territory? Otter wandering around in the seaweed. Happy and inspired customers.
04/08/2008
Really dramatic sightings of godlen eagles today. Our first bird was sitting on the skyline and two others on a different territory doing the same.
The two then launched themselves off the peak and like two arrows they swept down the mountain side by side for about quarter of a mile after some ravens, to then sit and enjoy the moment! Like we did!
02/08/2008
Another inspiring scene at Loch Buie today as the weather cleared to be glowing and almost tropical as steam came off the whole of the big grey sand beach there.
No one about as usual in the remoter parts of Mull but a young sea eagle up on a crag to my left and across the bay a lone golden eagle displaying off the highest mountain there.
01/08/2008
Look its confirmed, people are definitely getting more dopy. Or does the clean air and the uncomplicted nature of things here make you brighter!
01/08/2008
Our weather is more topsy turvy now but very good sighting of an osprey coming over us with a fish which I then tracked to find him on the ground eating it quarter mile away.
Very windy and dramatic views of golden eagles with young rising above a mountain and landing pretty close. Porpoise from the house recently.
28/07/2008
More great weather. Sea and golden eagles and otters and good sightings of all of them. But again the magical atmosphere of the islands with mirror calm seas and almost tropical looking beaches is just intoxicating. Despite being here
for almost 30 years I still find everyday on Mull to be magical, different from the last and pulsating with atmosphere. If anyone wants to know where God is,he is in heaven and paddling on an empty white sand beach on the southern tip of Mull right now.
25/07/2008
Today was nothing short of tropical in the south of the Island.Pink granite and green islands with huge rocks like the Seychelles lifting out of white sand and a crystal clear, shallow, pale blue sea.
On sunny days in winter or summer this area of Mull is as close to the idyllic reef strewn tropical, uninhabited Island, as you can get.
24/07/2008
Yes really good sightings again today but the beauty of the Island has to steal the show again this evening as a gorgeous golden sea wanders from here to Iona miles across the sea.
Mull and these islands are big, stunningly beautiful and as magical as any destination in the world could be. Everyone says I am lucky, but there's no such thing as luck because we all have choices, but regrettably little vision.
23/07/2008
I am an Aquarian and want to make the world a better place. Or is it just Mulls romantic nature that has that effect on me! Anyway I am so disappinted by our suburban visitors and how little they seem to care about the bigger picture for we humans.
Most seem to have nothing at all to say on the subject. Is life really so grey down there that it is pointless even trying? Then move out and come alive again in the Hebrides!
22/07/2008
Poor weather today but a tranquil evening now. Unusual sighting of an otter galloping across the beach opposite the Island of Inch Kenneth today. Went down to look at the tracks.
No golden eagles but sea eagle and a touching sighting of my lifelong sea eagle friend at Lochdon that lost its young because of the reckless behaviour of a photographer.
21/07/2008
Pretty good weather and wonderful light lately. Got most sightings today and porpoise also.
20/07/2008
Everything is different here. You can see the weather coming out to sea and make decisions based on that. You do not feel human at times as you feel so wild and PC free! Each day is different because of the ever changing light and weather.
On certaian days the light from the white sand beaches on places like Iona seems to fluoresce in some religious way. You cannot fail to wonder at a golden eagle soaring above some peak and remember life in the city. Its Alien to all of that.
17/07/2008
Another good day with wildlife where I hoped it would be! I wonder why our kestrels are seemingly so brave and wild, when on the mainland they seem to simply hover around motorways?
A group of yougsters were having a real go at some sitting peregrines and as usual one was dive bombing a golden eagle in the mountains. They seem a different creature here, as our visitors are having escaped from suburbia !!!
16/07/2008
Good day today with things where they should be !! All three seperate golden eagle territories up today in Glenmore.
First time in months, as the Ben Taladh birds failed this year but they are obviously up for another go and proclaiming territory for next year.
15/07/2008
Better day today and should have been a good golden eagle day after yesterday but no. Very good sea eagles sitting and flying across a shingle beach. Otter and then 4 peregrine falcons calling and interracting on sea cliffs.
Young sea eagle and sleeping otter. Highlight was little Eva who was on the trip, 6 years old and with her mum and dad from Ireland. We should only have children if we love them and find them interesting, as little Eva was.
14/07/2008
The weather is definitely on the turn now but its been a a really good year, so we can't complain can we? Otters, sea eagles, a few hen harriers. But the sighting of the day was the optimistic
chance of catching short eared owls in swirling mist on our highest road. So there he was clearkly supportive of eco tourism and diving at a hooded crow who had taken to the owls favourite fence post and you know how angry that can make you !!
13/07/2008
Just had a great week on the Rahoy estate across the sea, with my two little grandchildren who are terrific fun and love the freedom of it all here.
Scotland has vast and remote estates with big lodges,lawns running down to the shore and huge vistas of loch and mountains and lots of signs of pine martens !!It was very sunny also.
05/07/2008
We were down near the Island of Erraid[Robert Louis Stevensons 'Kidnap' island] today which is very Hebridean, with low landscape, pink granite rock,white sand and lots of little islets with no one for miles.
An otter suddenly trotted across the sandy shoreline with gulls and terns mobbing it. It was one of those evocative visual moments that you encounter very rarely and that leaves something indelible in your mind.
03/07/2008
Each day is rolling into the next now and maybe the island is at its most inspiring when you get bursts of warm sun and then all of life scatters as showers sweep in from the sea.
Ive travelled to so many beautiful islands in the world but the Hebridean Islands are by far the most romantic and I think. Its the sheer wildness of a place surrounded by water and a myriad of other islands to capture the imagination.
01/07/2008
Weather a bit up and down but still good here as always. Male hen harrier going past house and sea eagle too. The 3 young peregrines have fledged and are creating havock for mum. These young uns !!
Pretty good customers but bring back April and May because they become a bit townie now. I am convinced that the government are experimenting on all people south of Oban perhaps with some sort of stupifying mixture in the water.
29/06/2008
The ever changing drama of natures elements amid land sea and islands is what makes life so spectacular and special here. Today there is a brilliant blue sea, white horses and vivid sun with light cloud sweeping over the Isle of Inch Kenneth.
A walk on the Isle of Ulva yesterday was so special because it is a totally unspoilt and natural island with forests,sea cliffs and amazing meadows of wild flowers and there is almost no one there of course and that's also special here in the Hebrides.
27/06/2008
Yesterday was another super day and showed the value of perseverence and commitment to the cause! With a really interesting sighting of a sea eagle sitting low in a glen, as a male hen harrier repeatedly dived at it to then rest for
a while before having another go.In the scope both creatures looked really good and they were eventually off windward to cross the road at our highest point and away like us for more wild experiences.
26/06/2008
It is starting a beautiful clear blue sky, blue sea, white horses on the sea sort of day. I wonder whether I have one of the best views in the world from the house?
Just had another look, and its a probably!
25/06/2008
We are having really good trips now with otters, sea and golden eagles, harriers short eared owls and gorgeous view of three young peregrines
peeking from their ledge and shouting for mum and dad to bring food.
23/06/2008
Weather continues pretty good and with the fluorescent light you only get in the Hebrides. Top sightings in last few days of godlen eagles and today right over us with a young goldie been seen off by adults. Everyone was elated at todays eagle sightings.
20/06/2008
Lovely bright Hebridean day. Very close otter today foraging along the seashore below us. Two golden eagles were worth waiting for but I thought the lunch was particularly good today and don't you think home made soup is always
nice when you are in the great outdoors? In fact I think I am too generous and probably over cater to my lot. I feel more like a dinner lady than Indiana Jones. Still got them saying 'yes chef' as these southerners need some discipline I find.
19/06/2008
Mull is green and sunny! A good day with plenty of good sightings.The most interesting being two daft tourists walking their two small dogs among nesting gulls and oystercatchers. The young were running everywhere and eventually into the
talons of a sea eagle who had been watching events and launched himself from a hillside,swept low along the shingle bay and off with a gull chick. The dafter of the two tourists took the line that it was just nature !!!! Pity it wasn't her dog.
19/06/2008
Watch BBC 2 tonight at 8pm as Mull is being featured.
18/06/2008
Dodgy weather but not bad, so handsome short eared owl with big furry feet and winking at us from the hillside. Female hen harrier quartering a marshy area. golden eagles, relaxed otter !
Sea eagle mum with youngster getting ready to launch into her wild and free spirited life in the Hebridean Islands. Who would be a chaffinch in suburbia?
17/06/2008
Dramatic weather now with two sea eagles soaring into the wind and rain above us. They then alighted on a hillside and glanced endlessly around with their creamy white heads and big yellow bills scanning the area.
What an amazing sight they are amid the drama of these Islands. Every day is inspiring to me here and all on the planet should get to enjoy such awesome encounters with wild creatures.
16/06/2008
Today our fabulous weather broke and we have had much needed rain. But there are always pluses here because the Island is already looking far greener and more verdant. The sun on this will be quite tropical and it is far better
for my trips because like us our wildlife will be ducking and diving between the showers. I just dont need rain all day with a far more townie clientelle coming soon! In fact its a scary thought!
14/06/2008
Very blue sea, clear blue sky, crystal clear atmosphere, hills is every shade of green and white sand beaches to die for.
Ive been to many island groups in the world and I have to tell you that the Hebridean Islands are the most beautiful and probably least populated anywhere on planet earth. They are also inspirational and you can find your true self here.
14/06/2008
I neglected in yesterdays posting to consider the posibility that all of the young peregrines may have been girls !! In which case the racket was understandable.
13/06/2008
Good day with otters, sea eagles and golden eagles but I thought the peregrines again stole the show for me. The female bird was sitting on a cliff making a hell of an endless racket and sounded like she was telling him off for not bringing prey in!!
However she then lifted off and carried large prey to the nest where the youngsters also made a racket. She was then off to a sunny knoll to make a racket again!! Women !!
12/06/2008
Cannot keep up with every day of course but today was good with a golden eagle over our head being mobbed by a male hen harrier and the female the same, with a kestrel. Excellent short eared owl yesterday.
Female otter with advanced cuband great tracking by me to find an adult sea eagle today which lifted from a hill to give big views as she went off toward her nest site.
09/06/2008
No real highlights today except that as we stopped for lunch under seacliffs two peregrines came out swirling and calling, to then alight. The male then drifted off his perch and began chasing a meadow pipit along the foot of the cliffs.
Not much of a meal of course for a peregine falcon and he lost it anyway.
08/06/2008
However the forecasts look, it is pretty sensational here with more tropical weather today. Some people are now out of water and the island is taking on the air of St Lucia in the centre
and perhaps Cape Verde Islands in the south !! Nesting turtles are expected anytime as are great white sharks!! Please don't eat my Bearded Seal.
07/06/2008
Mull has been like a tropical island with glowing light and very blue sea for weeks now.I am pretty excited about finding my new friend the Bearded Seal again having thought he was now in Canada.
He is in a new summer coat and looks happy as a sandboy here on Mull.
06/06/2008
Maybe best day of the year today with host of good sightings, in order.Otter,porpoises,bats,both seals,sea eagles,golden eagle mobbed by ravens,peregrine
falcon,sea eagle,two otters,male and female hen harriers overhead,golden eagle with deer and mobbed by kestrels,short eared owl. Lots of smaller birds.
05/06/2008
Golden eagle, otter, sea eagle today but for me the best sighting was the peregrine falcon at the most scenic view on the island.
She suddenly shot up screehcing and dashing around to threaten a buzzard and occasionally sit and give a good view before she was off to the seacliffs down the coast. Townie peregrines are fine but Hebridean girls are truly free spirited.
03/06/2008
I was a bit hard on my crowd today. Its just that everyone seems so dim, as if city life turns everyone into clones living half lives.
Compared to dolphins which are so happy and expressive human visitors here are so PC and subdued and could never leap and splash because it's just not done down there !! The Hebrides clears your head and you have to leap and splash!!!
02/06/2008
Probably was a typical day at the office today but my memory is already clouded by the wonderful mirror calm and golden sea stretching out from the house to Iona and the sight of a school
of common dolphins about a mile out splashing and leaping in the evening sun. Crazy that people travel all over the world to places like Kenya when we have such romantic and amazing wild experiences on our doorstep.
01/06/2008
Maybe 6 weeks of wall to wall sunshine now and flat calm seas to boot. Just saying goodbye to two guests at the house and spotted a school of common dolphins in the loch in front of the house.
They are always inspirational to me and most people I suppose and create and uplifting sensation always maybe because they always seem happy !!!
30/05/2008
Got a round of applause at the end of todays trip which was a bit embarassing but it must have been a good day !!
28/05/2008
Bit of rain at last! So it was chasing the weather today but we did get good views of otters, male hen harrier and sea eagle.
So off to the southern tip of Mull and the beach at Adarlanish where we saw a female basking shark with young well inshore off the beach.
26/05/2008
More sensational weather. Osprey again standing on a big fish and wondering why the sea eagles were not after it this year. I know why! Palmate newts,golden eagles, sea eagle close, hen harriers, sea eagles again, 3 otters.
Finally adult sea eagle gliding to sit on a hillside and then mobbed by a short eared owl.
25/05/2008
The days are getting longer and the sightings getting bigger! Its a typical May! Gulls were mobbing an osprey at lochdon today as we went to see two stags wading in the middle of the loch.
Crossbills, hen harriers, 3 otters, golden eagles and sea eagles, my bearded seal again! Im sure he gave me a wave today with his big rugged flippers. I wonder what he eats here when he should be with the Inuits?
24/05/2008
The most beautiful Hebridean day out on Iona today with my two grand children. White sand beach, waders scurrying along the shoreline, corncrakes calling and the translucent light and pale blue sea that you only get here.
The sheer variety of Mulls landscape, the size of the island and its myriad of smaller islands is truly truly wonderful to experience, whether in the height of summer or the depths of winter.
21/05/2008
Dry sunny weather again.Really good views of various harriers today sky dancing and getting excited about a golden eagle! As did the visitors with really top views today. Otters, short eared owl, sea eagles.
I am getting more and more enquiries from people with new digital cameras who have decided they are photographers. Can I please underline that the trips are NOT photographic days out and this is not Kenya.
20/05/2008
More tremendous weather here. Golden eagle spotted brilliantly by me sitting in a tree on a crag,arctic skua,otter,hen harrier endlessly sky diving,great northen diver.
For me the highlight was a young golden eagle pretty close initially and eventually being mobbed by a number of crows to the top of a glen and then racing back again chased repeatedly,young and adult sea eagles also.
17/05/2008
Quality sightings of sea and golden eagles. Good of short eared owl, otters as usual, great northern divers in full summer plumage around now.
Terrific weather again today and lovely to see house martins screaming around house and building nests, swallows have been here sometime. Good weather will continue and is a typical May.
14/05/2008
More top weather. Slavonian grebe and great northern divers in summer plumage. Golden eagle calling and sitting,sea eagles sitting, bearded seal and of cocurse usual seals here.
Peregrine falcon looking very white and barrel chested against the cliffs. Male otter rolling on a small bank of seaweed and later mum and cub having a nap with occasional preening.
12/05/2008
More sunny weather but not necessarily good of course as most creatures like to sit around in that, but short eared owls flying and sitting,grasshopper,sedge,willow warblers, whinchat. I susppose etc !
Male and female hen harrier, two golden eagles flying and sitting. Kestrels are very bold here and attack eagles readily. Late on sea eagle sitting but no adults in flight today. Very rare bearded seal again!!
11/05/2008
Wonderful calm weather and a day that started slowly, HOWEVER! Two young sea eagles, sparrowhawks,short eared owl,otter,female harrier displaying,palmate newts golden eagle being attacked by male and female harrier, further otter,
divers in summer plumage,sea eagle coming from well out to land spectacularly,grasshopper and wood warbler and yes I forgot the school of porpoise on my way to the trip.And more.
09/05/2008
Its been a terrific spell of weather hasn't it? Though tonight is a bit drizzly with cool relief. Next week will again be very good though! Very good views yesterday of a golden eagle sitting on top of a crag. Top otter and nesting short eared owl.
Today while I was collecting shellfish two great northern divers were wailing and making a heck of a din just offshore. The land of the midnight sun and Iceland was obviously beckoning.
07/05/2008
Divers, tawny owl and short eared owl nesting,golden eagle high and sea eagles close. peregrine falcon soaring overhead,
whimbrels,guillemot,twite, plenty more of course and still stunning, almost tropical weather with Mull looking golden and arid in the mountains.
05/05/2008
Really good day with big species sightings. First off two golden eagles coming from a mile out, above us and over us again 30 mins later as they crossed above a wood.Sea eagles sitting and one flying in the mountains.
Male otter swimming and then rolling around on a small islet. Cuckoo and palmate newts, further golden eagle. Finally two short eared owls pretty certainly nesting.
04/05/2008
It has been misty and drizzly all day but an hour ago it began to clear in a sort of religious way as golden light rolled across the sea from Iona.
There are so many days here when it isn't difficult at all to understand why St Columba settled and brought christianity here. You simply cannot stop looking at natures wonders and its going to be a wonderful sunset.
03/05/2008
Had a load of females on my trip today and I feel I should make some sort of witty comment about that, but perhaps not. Anyway !! Golden eagle,sea eagles and really good otter sighting.
Bumped into a chap that had seen my male merlin sitting on a post earlier in the day and so hope to spot him Monday perhaps with another load of females?!
30/04/2008
Got the usuals today I suppose but highlight for me was the first serious short eared owl sighting on breeding territory.
He repeatedly flew up and hung on the wind to then descend and sit on a small hillock. A few whimbrel about also today and another sighting of the bearded seal in the same place as last time.
29/04/2008
Pretty good weather and sometimes very good. And as many will know even pretty good weather makes these islands look absolutely magical! So plenty of otter sightings lately,various eagle sightings of course and today very close
golden eagles and as one drifted across a glen the two resident harriers gave him a big telling off and for some time. Mull is 'Eagle Island' for certain and its such a compliment to see regular visitors coming back year after year to enjoy it.
24/04/2008
clearing day with otter at the ferry point, fallow and red deer,divers,sea eagle sitting and young one flying, goldene eagle as the guardian newspaper said hello!
finally male and two female hen harriers courting and chasing each other off. Sparrowhawks, kestrels, ravens and lots of buzzards of course.
19/04/2008
Have to forget the wildlife just lately because the clear sunny weather is the highlight of late. Tonight for instance across the sea Ben More is sprinkled with snow and the moon is glowing gold directly behind its peak.
Living so enveloped in the natural environment definitely gives me and insight into how ancient people became so preoccupied with their natural environment because it seems so 'other worldly' here at times.
15/04/2008
Sunny weather and snow capped Ben More continues here. Really good sighting of a sea eagle enjoying the sun and then flying high, Golden eagles soaring on sea cliffs and female otter
with cub having a nap until a male came along and got some nasty looks from her. On my way home I saw a Lapland Bunting which is my first here and this remote sighting shows just what can be missed on a massive sparsely populated island like Mull.
14/04/2008
Typical day I suppose for me but as a guide you are always looking for new experiences and maybe a moment in a day that's a little different for you.
Today it was two sparrowhawks well away from normal habitat chasing and calling to each other with the male fanning out his white undertail feathers and then off they went clearly 'crazy' about each other !!.
12/04/2008
All specialists in their field like to mingle with like minded people and that is why I had a good day today with an environmental crowd from Seil Island which is just south of Oban. We had lots of sightings but the hen harriers again stole the show with
lots of females but tantalising glimpses of Britains most handsome bird of prey I feel, the male hen harrier. An Otter curling up for a nap on a seaweed boulder was a suitable climax to the day amid super weather.
11/04/2008
Top day with lots of sightings, snow capped peaks and sunshine. Harriers were the highlight again as we eventually found a single male being courted by at least 4 females. He should be so lucky!
Also golden eagle soaring overhead which landed on the top of a peak and gave really dramatic views in the scope particularly as it launched off golden head first into the telescope view. Wild things in wild places !!! Can't beat it.
10/04/2008
Typical day today but with a highlight for me in seeing my first food pass between hen harriers this year.
I think that this is one of the UK's top wildlife moments, possibly because of the build up up tp the pass of prey as he sets off lickerty split toward the female who then rises and is thrown the prey in mid air.
07/04/2008
Just a short trip out today to see what the peregrines were up to on the sea cliffs across the water. Anyway there was plenty of noise and the male shot out to sea and caught something and returned to pass the prey to the female in flight.
It was all pretty spectacular and I later saw a young sea eagle with white wing tag and then an otter on a small islet. It's still very wintry here.
06/04/2008
Sparkling weather today with the Hebridean Islands at their most beautiful. Highlight today has to be the two golden eagles that came from range to glide right over our heads, sail away
to the edge of a mountain range and then come back again for another flypass. With snowy peaks waterfalls and sun dappled mountains it's just great here.
03/04/2008
A mizzly day to start which cleared very slowly but then we had seven eagles together of both species. Most interesting to me today was a
young golden eagle which set off in pursuit of a skein of geese as the passed by. They repeatedly changed direction to avoid the eagle and it eventually lost interest in the chase.
02/04/2008
Male and female harriers,divers,golden eagles, sea eagles,first whinchat,otters, wheatears,stonechats,ravens and lots more I have forgotten about !!
including golden eagle at our road end carrying prey.
31/03/2008
Another merlin day !! But also sea and golden eagles and otters, hen harriers and sparrowhawks with possible goshawk.
29/03/2008
The Merlin sightings have got me carried away because I forgot the very good sighting of a school of porpoise yesterday at Grasspoint!
28/03/2008
Another top day but with weather a bit more challenging. However sea eagle sitting, MALE MERLIN again!! both flying and sitting. Can I take any more excitment from this bird? Female hen harrier, crossbills, golden eagles displaying and being
suitably dynamic in the windy weather. Finally after much searching peregrine falcon and great northern divers of course. I assume everyone understands that we see lots of more obvious things as well as the biggy's?
27/03/2008
Sunny day with snowy peaks. Sea eagle sitting and soaring,purple sandpipers,greenshanks,lots of crossbills and golden eagles.
Male merlin again sitting and flying, peregrine falcon, great northern divers. Why isn't Mull the worlds most romantic national park. Are the government potty!!
26/03/2008
A mizzly cold day here but female otter with two cubs pretty close and playing on a small islet. Two seperate young sea eagles, one on shingly coast and one inland. No golden eagles but dippers
and my favourite bird again, a male merlin sitting on a small rock with mist and murk in the background. Very dramatic!
25/03/2008
Really good Mull wildlife day out. Kicked off with a perched sea eagle then highlight for me groups of crossbills in Glenmoreand golden eagle coming over us.
Two seperate sightings of femlale otters with a cub and great northern divers. Sunny light winds and yes really good day out.
22/03/2008
Gosh it was wonderful here today with an incredibly clear atmosphere, 'dazzling' white sand at Calgary where there was no one and its Easter! Tropical looking pale blue sea and all in all simply wonderful to behold
and to be Hebridean!! I don't care a dicky bird about some tropicl place, today this looks like heaven on earth. And why be so obsessed by hot sunny weather anyway when its actually bad for we pale skinned creatures of the north.
19/03/2008
More beautiful weather today and just had a sea eagle over the house and barn owl last night which must be getting interested in my barn owl box? What do you think?
It all suddenly feels like Spring here.
18/03/2008
Wonderful weathar here again and despite both species of eegle up and over our heads I was off after the Merlin which had just shot back up the road. As we turned and drove back there he was sitting on a small grassy tussock eating something.
A heart beating view then for a few of us in the scope as he dashed off across the glen. Dark blue backed and orange flecked chest he is definitely my favourite bird. He's fast, wild, small and a true individual and you just don't meet them !
16/03/2008
The Hebridean Islands are paradise on days like this, with no wind, sunny and warm, clear blue sky and sea to match. Is there anything more inspiring than nestling up against a rock set into a remote white sandy
beach, closing your eyes and hearing just the sound of the sea and the gulls and feeling that warm sun on your face. Did see an Iceland Gull there also!
15/03/2008
A lovely day today with a keen crowd. We saw sea eagles and golden eagles and much interracting between the two species but where were the otters? Were they after frogs inland!!
Well thats the theory of a pal of mine when no one seems able to find them. I just dont see this though. I mean what a waste of energy wandering the hills looking for frogs when there are plenty of juicy fish in the their normal habitat.
14/03/2008
At last the extreme weather has abated and Mull now looks like a Pacific Island with calm seas and no wind added to warm sun and it loooks settled for at least a few days.
I have a trip tomorrow with I think six keen people and as all guides will tell you, its great to have them keen. Whether it's the lady showing people the Magna Carta in Salisbury Cathedral or a young wildlife guide in Costa Rica.
08/03/2008
Excellent day with blue sky and big showers. Golden eagles and sea eagles, but highlight was two distant golden eagles locking talons and tumbling earthward.
05/03/2008
More murk and wet weather. Unfortunately all to do with westerly winds and not easterlies ! However if you are not here for the weather but to see wildlife then this is it, because we had
a number of sea eagle sightings both sitting, and flying very close in fact. Golden eagles were tough because of the low cloud but on the way home we had a very good sighting.
03/03/2008
Really top day today with no wind, sun and snow throughout the mountains. Probable rarity in a bearded seal today which has only been seen in Britain a few times and inhabits the high arctic. Long term views of a male merlin [my
favourite bird, well I think so] group of noisy crossbills and the usual hen harrier, sea eagle, golden eagles, divers, otters.
02/03/2008
A couple pf typical winter trips with really good views of both eagle species and otters, male hen harrier and female, divers and today a wonderful climax at Carsaig on the southern coastline, of spangled sea and black rocky
islets amid foaming water big ocean and cliff vistas and no one about but the seals watching us, for miles and miles and miles. Words have not yet been invented to describe certain moments in these islands.
26/02/2008
We are in a spell of vile weather though sunday and its big showers was a day of days with eagles. Possibly 30 eagles of both species. One chasing red deer, three young seas and goldies touching talons and then sitting on a hillside.
More golden eagles sitting and flying and lots of sightings overhead on many occasions as young birds were chased off by adults on various territories. Also hen harrier !!
22/02/2008
Just asking people to support the following website as it is a group that fights large wind turbine developments. As some of you may know these large turbines do kill eagles and other birds of prey. www.argyllwindfarms.com
21/02/2008
Diabolical wind and rain all day today. But two sea eagles taking cover in some conifers. summer plumage black throated diver [why is their plumage always so early?] Great northern diver, sea eagle gliding overhead as it cleared a little.
Seals of course and red deer stags, dipper and usual regulars such as curlew,wigeon,geese etc.
18/02/2008
Really good day with various sea eagle sightings, golden eagles very close overhead and sitting on hillside showing golden head and legs. Otter was pretty good but when we see them they usually are !
Only minus was just two people for the trip today.
16/02/2008
Not so sunny but still very calm and with easterly winds the weather should hold for a while. We [I]could not find Golden eagles today but had various sea eagle sightings to compensate.Slavonian grebes, red and great northern
divers,eiders, deer, wintering ducks and seals of course. An otter was a bit out in a bay but she swam to shore with a fish and gave us views in the telescope for a while. Good to be out and about like an eagle again!
15/02/2008
Another warm and wonderful day here. It's been suggested by a friend that I am being a little hard on the townies who are after all my customers but I don't know about you but we should all be up for suggestions and
constructive criticism don't you think and I think less people need to live in the cities and suburbia when we have such space and opportunities in what is after all the human species NATURAL habitat!! But I apologise anyway cos I am a decent bloke.
14/02/2008
More wonderful weather and with easterly winds its looking a bit like last Feb which was terrific. Global warming is definitely bringing extremes of weather to Mull and Britain generally. Its almost like spring here today
with lapwings flying and really calm seas. My trips start to kick off in earnest from tomorrow with 8 keen people and out again on monday. Just need Sheffeild United to beat Middlesborough in the cup on Sunday !
13/02/2008
Miraculous sunrise and weather today with wisps of snow along the top of Ben More yet we were paddling in the sea at Calgary with almost no one about. Our white sandy beaches are just as spectacular in winter as summer and the sea just as blue.
The Iceland gull seemed unsure whether he had landed in the Hebrides or the Canary Islands.
12/02/2008
Just returned from a break in Glasgow,Sheffield and Cambridge visiting our children with good weather hotels and food! Sheffield United were rubbish.The city, millions of people thing, is really strange when you are so use to wild open and
very big country. Its actually tough to understand the point of it to be honest except to see that humans are a herd species.I am all for constrcuctive ineterraction but actual 'life' seems to be about trivia.
04/02/2008
Its raining its windy and its my birthday so what shall I celebrate?? Probably having three ispiring children, shown the way like me by this wonderful and uplifting place.
Maybe all mothers should come to places like this to have and to show their children for a time, before going back to 'reality' or is reality here.
03/02/2008
We are in a spell of rain and wind that has lasted for days now and it is tempting to use words like bleak, when it's really just like starring in another Turner painting!
No suburbia in mid winter is 'bleak' when you are in traffic in the rain and trying to get to some supermarket car park. Just reminding myself !!!
02/02/2008
Went to see the turtle getting tender care at Oban Sealife sanctuary and seems ok. Had 48 hours of power failure here and got through lots of candles and woken to 'Greenland' this morning but power back on. Not sure why people travel when here in the
Hebrides we have every landscape of every country seemingly. Today is Arctic to the eye, tomorrow could be like the Maldives, then the next day it might be the waterfalls of Niagra and the widlife of the Galapagos [see my turtle recently!!}
29/01/2008
Another day of big sightings with otter families and kids scrapping, sea eagles, slavonian grebes,numerous divers,twite and was close to a 'biggy' but missed it somehow though two sea eagles had found it I think. A loggerhead turtle
up on the shingle at Loch na Keal. It's now in Oban Sealife centre being cared for and hopefully will be released in Greece.
28/01/2008
A very good trip today with two sea eagles sitting out on a promontory, an otter and then another at the ferry point. Sea eagle sitting, hen harrier, close sea eagle flying over us in
spectacular locality, golden eagle, otter family wiht kids scrapping, divers and sea eagle and golden eagle together.
26/01/2008
Just had two stormy days of wind and rain but peace seems to have broken out again. Winter somewhere remote like this seems to make you profound and wise. Is wisdom taught by the place we inhabit or is it from within the person I wonder.
Surely its hard to be wise in the suburbs of Britan when it's just about existing and perhaps shopping for most people!! Here nature takes over and seems determined to send alien messages to we mere mortals.
24/01/2008
Last night was a most beautiful sunset as they always seem to be here. But different every time of course with dark grey sky out over Iona and streaks of straight orange lines going from left to right through it all like layers in a cake.
Not always so lovely here though because tonight is stormy. I hope my peregrine friend is ok even though he cheated in the race, because he was off the mark before I said go!
23/01/2008
No trip today but I enjoyed racing the fastest creature on the planet, the peregerine falcon, back to the house. Must have gone two miles with it as it zoomed over me as good as to say race you! and he was off along the coast looking back
occasionally seemingly to see if I was still up with him!Wild creatures in wild wild places. How on earth do you beat it when man and beast can enjoy this inspiring place together and say up yours to suburbia !
21/01/2008
Bookings are trickling in now. Historically it's the case that as Christmas and New Year are over people start looking for something cheery again. Well today was cheery alright with warm sun and
little wind as I filled holes with gravel in our long drive.Right now we have a super sunset and I think tomorrow is the same. If the weather man says easterly winds come west to the Hebrides because its always sunny and fly drive deals are good.
20/01/2008
Another beautiful but empty Mull again, but that has a beauty in itself I suppose. Glorious sight of two sea eagles sitting out on a small islet surveying the scene on Loch na Keal.
Seems such a pity though that more visitors are not enjoying the Hebrides at this time of year. The peace and almost religious tranquility seems touchable.
19/01/2008
Enough of eagles and otters I say, lets have something meaningful and philosophical !!My tip for 2008.... Live in the Hebrides ! Big skys, mountains, islands with white sandy beaches and
blue ocean. It clears your mind out forever and you feel you can see it all.I know you become and true 'individual' here like an eagle. How can anyone truly say they are an individual in the suburbs and cities of Britain.
18/01/2008
A wild grey day today wih the Hebridean Sea looking very angry. No matter, tomorrow will be sunny and calm with the sea inviting us for a dip.
I remember swimming off Iona at this time of year and it was great and you do seem to remember such times. Could everyone please support the call for a ban on snares, to change the subject!!www.bansnares.com
16/01/2008
Just the most miraculous of days here with not a breath of wind, sunny warm and snow capped peaks. Magical view of an otter with mountains across th sea as backdrop, spangled black and
white sea with a sillhouetted otter running around on top of a little islet. Mull was poetry today.
13/01/2008
Well today has spoilt itself with mizzly drizzly stuff but it can still be exciting here even at the house with two sea eagles coming off the sea and chasing each other over the building and now long tailed tits feeding on the trees outside the lounge.
One extreme to the other of course but that's Mull for you.
07/01/2008
The weather today is one minute as beautiful as it can get and then black with rain lashing outside. There is something melancholy about Mull at this time of year I feel. It's as if the whole Island is waiting for something.
Are we all waiting at this time of year I wonder? Never mind it will soon be warm days and maybe I will be scattering up the hill to see killer whales coming into the bay!!!
05/01/2008
Wrong date below !! Today sea eagle perched quarter mile away then right over us. Wild and romantic views of male and female golden eagles as they displayed their life long bond and arced through the sky swooping and stalling on the wind before landing.
I think we humans should wonder which is best. To be two humans in suburbia going to the supermarket and with the annual treat of a holiday to the sun or being two golden eagles on a beautiful Hebridean island?
05/01/2008
Today Mull was like Greenland particularly in the mountains but it made for super photo opportunities with mountain and loch landscapes of black and white. No golden eagles showing there though but
we had sea eagles and harriers, greenshank, redshank, various other waders but agian in mid winter the overwhelming beauty of the islands came tops by far.
04/01/2008
Today Mull was like Greenland particularly in the mountains but it made for super photo opportunities with mountain and loch landscapes of black and white. No golden eagles showing there though but
we had sea eagles and harriers, greenshank, redshank, various other waders but agian in mid winter the overwhelming beauty of the islands came tops by far.
03/01/2008
Terrific day to day with weather and wildlife, though my customers were pretty townie and lacking binoculars etc ! But sea eagle coming right over us and then a peregrine falcon sweeping a watery inlet and taking a small fish
from the water!!!??? Five young sea eagles together. Two golden eagles low down flying and sitting and being pestered by ravens. Lots of red deer of course, harriers but no otters, then another sea eagle carrying a fish above us at the ferry point.
12/01/2007
The winter scene on Mull continues in its magical way with a flat calm sunny day and snow capped peaks. Another merlin today [my favourite bird]. Golden eagle overhead, sea eagle sitting, divers and two separate otters.
Wonderful wonderful time of year which awes the odd visitor if they catch the weather right. In fact by far the best.
Can someone explain to me just what it is about the sort of visitor we get at this time of year? What is this obsession with 'touring' Scotland? And why come somewhere as massive and varied as Mull for one or two days!!!!!
Would I 'tour' Russia,England,Outer Mongolia and visit Tibet for a day trip !!!! Is it the better attention span of our off season visitors?
11 women on my trip today and I feel I should make some sort of witty comment about that but its dangerous ground. Anyway !! Very good otter sighting and far beter weather than was predicted.
Golden eagle, sea eagles and bumped into someone who had seen 'my' merlin earlier in the day!! Hope to get him on monday perhaps with another load of females!
Another top day but with weather a bit more challenging. However sea eagle sitting, MALE MERLIN again!! both flying and sitting. Can I take any more excitment from this bird? Female hen harrier, crossbills, golden eagles displaying and being
suitably dynamic in the windy weather. Finally after much searching peregrine falcon and great northern divers of course. I assume everyone understands that we see lots of more obvious things as well as the biggy's?
Sightings from previous years
2008
David Woodhouse
Isle of Mull Wildlife Expeditions
Ulva Ferry, Isle of Mull
Argyll, Scotland
Tel/Fax: 01688 500121
Mull Eco-Charter
