HOLIDAY HIGHLIGHTS

MULL & KINTYRE

2-11 JUNE 2019

Guides: Julian Sykes and Sally Nowell

Guests: David & Yvonne Buckland, Melanie & John Parker, Linda & John Keating,

John Workman & Jeannine Collins, Stephen Evans, John Robinson,

Irene Phippen, Sary Davies

Day 1 Sally and Julian meet up with the group at George Square in central Glasgow

after driving their minibuses down from Aviemore that morning. It’s a decent

day now in Scotland’s largest city and we quickly make our way to the car park

where the buses are. We are soon loaded up and leaving the city, crossing the

Erskine Bridge, over the mighty River Clyde and out towards Loch Lomond.

As we travel along the western edge of this huge body of water we see

a Great Crested Grebe in the water along with Common Buzzard, Jackdaw,

Robin, Pied Wagtail, Herring and Black-headed Gull. Eventually we reach Argyll

and Bute, then at Tarbert we take the road south over the ‘Rest and

be Thankful’ pass dropping down to the head of Loch Fyne.

Here we make a detour to the sleepy hamlet of Cairndow where we hope

to find Mandarin Duck. We park, and it’s lovely now, as we make a short walk

to where the burn runs into the loch, but it’s running very fast – not great for

Mandarins. However, we do find some good species with Julian and Sally

pointing out Oystercatchers with chicks, Grey Heron, Common Sandpiper,

Grey Wagtail, Great Black-backed Gull, Mallard and a Red-breasted Merganser

in and around the water. In the adjacent trees, Sally finds a Spotted Flycatcher

along with brief views of Lesser Redpoll, Goldfinch, Blackbird and Woodpigeon.

It is a terrific wee interlude, made better by this lovely village with its quirky

19th

century church. After about 30 minutes we return to the minibuses and

continue along the road stopping again after 10 minutes at the famous Loch

Fyne Oyster Bar for hot drinks and using the facilities, which is most welcome.

It is around 5pm when we leave and make our final push to Ardrishaig and our

hotel for the next three nights, on the edge of Loch Gilp. We quickly get

checked in and have some time before we meet again for our first dinner

of the holiday, which is excellent Following this, Julian and Sally talk us through

the next couple of days, which are at the mercy of the weather – with the

forecast not being great! Once this is done we either head off to our rooms,

especially John and Jeannine who just flew in from their home in Georgia USA

this morning and now feel pretty jaded. Some of us go outside for a little walk,

including Julian, who goes to the harbour where he sees Common Seals

on an offshore island along with Gannets, Shag, Common Terns and an Eider

before heading back to the hotel for a good night’s sleep.

Day 2 After a decent breakfast we meet at the vans for 9am and we set off south

towards Tarbert, with a forecast of intermittent rain and strong winds but

improving later. We drive along the edge of Loch Gilp briefly calling in at the

harbour in Tarbert, which is a lovely wee fishing village. We cannot see any

Otters, so on we continue south towards Kennacraig, with Sally seeing

an Osprey briefly over Julian’s bus. This is a good bird here, so we eventually

turn round and check the old harbour at West Point but no sign - there are the

expected Common, Herring and Great Black-backed Gulls, Grey Heron and

Red-breasted Merganser. A little disappointed, we carry on south stopping off

at the entrance to the Islay Ferry terminal, again looking for Otters. The only

‘furry thing’ seen is found by John and Melanie (in Julian’s van) who have found

a Rabbit close to the Curlew spotted by Sally. Julian points out a few Canada

Geese here, which are not a common sighting along the Kintyre Peninsular.

The rain is now getting heavy so we carry on along the narrow coast road,

looking out and seeing both Islay and Jura, then the quaint island of Gigha.

The wind is really blowing and causing ‘white horses’ out in the open water but

at least the rain has passed. There are lots of corvids with Hooded Crows,

Rooks and Jackdaws frequently seen in the roadside fields along with Greylag

Geese, Oystercatchers and Starlings.

We have got quite a few miles down the peninsular when Julian decides

we need a leg stretch and pulls into the Westport Beach car park.

Here we walk out to the beach and look out to sea and find Gannets – lots

of Gannets! They are fabulous being close inshore, and with some fishing right

in front of us. There are also a few Shags here too, but not much else out

to sea. Sally points out a Raven to most of us and also some interesting plants

with Sea Rocket, Red Campion, Silverweed, Hoary Mustard and Tormentil

being notable, as are the Cuttlefish skins found on the beach. It has been

a lovely interlude and a very welcome ‘leg stretch’ in the beautiful location,

however, time is moving on and a public convenience is required! Julian takes

us into Campbeltown and stops at a large supermarket where we are allowed

to use the facilities, which is great.

A hot drink is now requested so we head out of town to the Machrihanish

Peninsular and the seabird observatory run by an interesting Scot – Eddie

Maguire. We park overlooking the sea and next to the observatory, which

is ideal as we immediately find a cracking Common Seal ‘hauled out’

on a concrete plinth, the usual gulls and a nesting Oystercatcher right in front

of us. We make our hot drinks while Julian is finding a lovely Rock Pipit, along

with Stephen seeing a Ringed Plover and Sally pitching in with a Grey Seal also.

Our guide is on a roll as she now spots a Sandwich Tern heading along the

coastline. This is proving to be a popular stop as we all go and see Eddie in the

observatory (large bird hide really) and listen to his stories, but also searching

the area. Melanie and Linda have found some Eider in the next bay, as we get

our first proper view of these handsome ducks. Julian and Sally are very

conscious of the time and that Julian would like to have lunch at the iconic

Mull of Kintyre.

We leave Eddie counting the passing Gannets (at 647/hour apparently!) and

continue to drive south towards ‘Southend’ but turn off on to a 7 mile single

lane track with regular passing points (thank goodness). Along here we get

a great view of a Common Buzzard and several Meadow Pipits along the route.

It is nearly 2pm when we reach the Mull of Kintyre parking area with strong

winds battering the vehicles. We are undeterred and go to survey this scene,

realising we are actually looking out towards Northern Ireland, and feel

we could actually touch it, which is really bizarre. We have our picnics (in the

vans) before deciding on a walk down the hill to see the lighthouse.

This is superb as the views are simply stunning but we also see a few Sika Deer,

followed by John R. finding a gorgeous Roe Deer feeding on the heather.

This is brilliant as we add Stonechat to the list along with Green-veined White,

Bog Cotton and Milkwort to the list. We now need to head back to the

minibuses and return to our hotel as it’s a good two hours drive and we are

having an early dinner – going out later looking for European Beaver.

We set off but don’t get far before Sally points out a Spotted Flycatcher on the

edge of a small plantation. The journey back is seamless not having to stop for

anything unusual, so we can ‘crack on’ although Melanie does see a small flock

of Canada Geese in roadside fields, which is very interesting. Other species

seen en-route include Red-breasted Merganser, Common Buzzard and another

good sighting is a Jay flying across the road. Around 5:15 we get back to the

hotel with dinner booked for 6pm and the prospect of an evening visit

to Knapdale for European Beavers. After dinner we conduct our daily checklist

and then ready ourselves to go on this calm, muggy night – perfect conditions

for our arch-nemesis ‘The Scottish Midge!’ We (sadly without Jeannine and John

who are still fairly jet-lagged) leave and drive round to the Beaver Trail

at Knapdale Forest with a beautiful journey along the Crinan Canal. The midges

are starting as we leave the car park and soon we are watching a Willow

Warbler and Sary spots a male Blackcap, with Linda and John hearing a distant

Common Cuckoo. The walk is great and we are seeing fantastic evidence

of European Beaver around the loch and Julian points out the lodge - but the

midges are voracious! We abandon our vigil and make our way to the car park

with Julian getting a brief view of a smart male Common Redstart. It is back

in the minibuses quickly and we set off back towards Lochgilphead but stop

as our guide hears a Grasshopper Warbler from the van. Sally spots a bird,

which Julian confirms as the ‘gropper’ and we get some fabulous looks at this

normally secretive bird. It is time to get back to the hotel and a little after 10pm

we arrive, having had a very full day in Argyll and Bute.

Day 3 We awake to another fairly grey day but at least it’s not raining, but

it is forecast for later in the day. John, Melanie and John R. make a pre-breakfast

walk from the hotel seeing the first Common Swift of the holiday along with

Common Tern and some Eider around the harbour. We are ready to leave

an hour after breakfast and we head back the way we had driven the night

previously. It is a lovely drive along the Crinan Canal, seeing some beautiful

houses and gardens along the route until we reach the bridge over the River

Add. Here we park and walk to the old bridge and look out over the estuary

with the low tide slowly rising. Here we see lots of Canada Geese and some

Greylag Geese plus plenty of Mallard with their young. Our scanning continues

and we soon find Sand Martins with the Barn Swallows, distant Curlews and

Common Sandpipers, Grey Herons and Shelduck. Stephen now finds

a Common Redshank and Sally picks out a Goosander as a Cormorant flies

through. Julian is checking the salt marsh and finds a smart male Stonechat, plus

a Skylark song-flighting, which is great. Then Sally shouts “Osprey - over the hill”

and in her scope she shows us this uncommon visit to the northern Kintyre

area – a really great find. We stay a little longer but the morning is moving

on, eventually so do we.

We drive down past the ‘beaver lochs’ and continue through to the fantastic

fishing village of Tayvallich, having checked the bays for Otter along the route.

After a welcome stop at the facilities we drive on the short distance to the

parking area of Taynish NNR. This is a wonderful deciduous forest reserve

on the edge of Loch Sween and we are planning on spending the remainder

of the day here. However, it’s hot drink and biscuit time! Sadly on this calm,

humid day we also encounter the ‘Scottish Midge’ and they are out again

in force, so most of us sit in the minibus avoiding the tiny beasts. After this

we ready ourselves, firstly for a short walk to the edge of the loch some 400m

away. This is lovely as we see (and hear) Willow Warbler, Robin, Chaffinches

and Blackbird before getting to a small pond where we see our first dragonfly

– Broad-bodied Chaser. We stand from the watchpoint and see a male Reed

Bunting fly in, followed by a family of Blue Tits moving through the willows.

On we go to the loch edge, hearing a Common Redstart en-route but the calm

waters are pretty devoid of birdlife. Julian notices something on the edge of the

loch and is surprised to find a Great Spotted Woodpecker, which is also seen

by Linda and John. We now decide to walk back to the minibuses as it’s nearing

lunchtime – the return does not take long and on the way Irene finds

a fabulous Common Toad crossing the track. We reach the car park and Sally

breaks out the picnic lunches and again the voracious midges force us to eat

within the confines of our vans, which isn’t great but necessary.

After lunch, Julian warns us we are going on a long walk, so again we make

ourselves ready, getting protected from these pesky insects. We set off but

soon stop as there is a Tree Pipit singing and song-flighting from the top

of some nearby trees, which Julian makes a mission to find – and eventually

does! Also here along the water channel we see Large Red and Common Blue

Damselflies, Orange-tip butterfly and hordes of Common Toad tadpoles

– this place is awesome. On we go but John W, Yvonne and David are

struggling a little and decide to return to the buses until we get back. Our walk

is punctuated with stops for wildlife as we clearly hear Wood Warblers,

Bullfinch, Common Redstart, Blackcap and Tree Pipits along the route.

We have gone a couple of miles when we get to the junction to The Piggery

and down we slowly walk seeing lots of Song Thrush and Blackbirds. At the

end, Julian hears a scratchy familiar song and says “Whitethroat” as we get initial

views of it in song-flight before finding it on top of some nearby gorse.

Now Sally announces “I’ve got an eagle!” and sure enough there in the distance

is a circling adult White-tailed Eagle being mobbed by a Hooded Crow and

Herring Gulls – superb. This is another fabulous find in this area, a species

which is starting to show up more regularly having reached full density

on islands such as Mull. It is now mid-afternoon and we start back to the main

track where we make the decision to continue the long way back to the

minibuses – we hope it’s not too strenuous?

This second half of the walk, starts well as we pass Taynish House, seeing

a couple of male Lesser Redpoll in the trees. This track now narrows and turns

back north but also starts to get a little difficult with some steeper inclines and

big steps, which are not easy for some of us. We do make regular stops

for another Tree Pipit and Sary finds a fritillary, which turns out

to be a Pearl-bordered, which is another good find. Jeannine is starting to tire

so Sally and John P. stay by her side and make sure she reaches our destination

with a little help and encouragement. Sadly John K. does take a wee tumble,

thankfully it’s not too bad and he continues the final section of the trail in good

humour. We reach the picnic area, pretty tired and thankful to be back but

in one piece, it is nice of Yvonne and David to meet us there. After a short rest

we all walk to the car park, where we have another welcome hot drink before

driving home to the hotel, as the rain starts to fall. We have all enjoyed this

excellent day but now we need to make ourselves ready for moving on to Mull

the next day – another adventure begins…

Day 4 We have breakfast again at 8am on this really overcast and rainy day,

it’s actually quite good we are travelling to Mull later. After we have eaten,

we finally pack our luggage and make ready to leave our very good Ardrishaig

hotel. Making sure we fit everything in proves a challenge, but we are up for

it and by 09:30 we are saying goodbye to Jason and his staff. Julian and Sally

need to get fuel and after one failed attempt due to a refuelling lorry we find

a suitable one just outside Lochgilphead. Now we drive back along the Oban

road again to the lovely bridge over the River Add. We park and as soon

as Julian gets out into the light rain he shouts “Cuckoo” pointing above

us. Sure enough there is a Common Cuckoo flying directly above the minibuses

being pursued by a Meadow Pipit, which looks tiny in comparison. It’s a good

start and we now make our way on to the bridge and start scanning with our

binoculars and telescopes. Sally spots a group of gulls and is able to show us the

differences between Great and Lesser Black-backed, which is brilliant. Julian sees

a couple of Cormorants flying over, Stephen spots a Red-breasted Merganser

and Linda finds a Common Sandpiper along with the other usual species seen

previously. After a wee while Sally and Julian have a discussion on the day

ahead considering the inclement weather, arriving at plan shortly after. It is time

to leave now according to our guides, and after a quick chat with another local

birdwatcher who’s just arrived we set off along this single track road.

After about a mile we again pull over and after a few minutes Sally finds

an Osprey sat on top of a dead tree in the distance. So she gets out and using

the bus’s tailgate gets it in the telescope, which is brilliant. Julian is still looking

through the ‘chats’ and only seeing Stonechats but he sees something different

and through the telescope confirms it to be a fabulous Whinchat – the main

target species for this area. We carry on searching and a second Osprey

is found near the original and conclude there could be a nest nearby and

possibly young – who won’t be enjoying this awful weather. We get back into

the bus as the rain is getting a little heavier and only drive a short distance

to the Kilmartin Burn, where we have a welcome hot drink in the company

of the incessant midges. It is another lovely place, which is surrounded by ‘clear

fell’ and the Sand Martins are enjoying the flying insects associated with this

environment. We go in varying directions to check the stream and the

immediate area, with Julian and John R. seeing a Tree Pipit amongst the

commoner woodland species and Sally with Stephen and Linda seeing a Grey

Wagtail, possible Garden Warbler and a couple of Redpoll. It is now around

11:30 and time to set off north along the coast to Oban.

The drive isn’t great in the continuous steady rain on winding roads with heavy

traffic, but it is still incredibly scenic along the way. We reach Oban an hour

later initially stopping at the supermarket to use the facilities and buy provisions,

then on to the ferry port, where we join the queue for the 2pm sailing.

We have our picnic lunches now, sat in the van out of rain and also out of the

way of these hungry midges – and it’s not our butties they’re after! Julian looks

out over the bay and finds our first (of several) Black Guillemots along with the

usual gulls. At the allotted time we are invited on to the ‘roll on, roll off’ Calmac

ferry, setting off soon after with us all out on deck. The weather still isn’t great

but good enough to stand out scanning for birds and cetaceans for some

of us. As we reach open water, having had fantastic views of Black Guillemot

some of us go and find shelter in the lounge but there are a few hardy souls.

The crossing is always quicker than anticipated but we still manage to see

several Common Guillemots, Shag, Arctic Tern and a superb Great Northern

Diver, plus a Ringed Plover and a few ‘hauled out’ Common Seal on offshore

rocks. After about 50 minutes at sea we are docking at the Craignure Harbour

and very quickly we are on the island, driving a very short way to our hotel for

the next five nights. At the hotel Sally organises the check-in with reception,

while Julian and John P. help others get their luggage to their rooms, which is all

quite streamlined. Sally and Julian suggest we meet an hour and a half later for

an easy drive out north along the coast to Craignure golf course.

At 16:30 we reconvene at the minibuses and it’s still grey, overcast and

drizzling, but sadly there is still very little wind. We drive away from the hotel

and only 10 minutes later we are pulling up next to the coast on the edge

of 11th

green. Within moments of getting out Julian is finding an adult

White-tailed Eagle in the trees on the other side of the course. A great start

to our Mull adventure as we stand under the vans tail-gate looking at this huge

raptor through the telescope, shuffling position to stay under cover – like some

comical dance. Our attention is now shifted to the sea as there are a pair

of summer plumage Red-throated Divers close inshore, again looking fabulous

though our scopes. There are several dainty Arctic Terns on the rocks and

flying around, along with a few Shag and a Cormorant pointed out by Sally.

A little further out we identify another pair of divers, which are gorgeous

summer plumage Great Northerns and they drift closer showing off their full

glory. This fantastic half hour is somewhat blighted by the constant aerial

bombardment from the ‘flying teeth’ – aka the Scottish midge! We endure this

onslaught for a while longer but it’s tough and eventually we admit defeat and

take our shelter in the vans, as our guides take us back to the hotel. We agree

to meet for the checklist ahead of our evening meal, with Sally going through

the next day’s itinerary as this is her area of expertise. We head to the

restaurant a little after 7pm and we enjoy a delicious three courses before

retiring to our rooms.

Day 5 First full day on Mull and again it’s a pretty grey and damp start but Sally says

“things will improve” and she knows!. We are again ready to leave at 9am and

set off north to Salen along the coast seeing the usual waterbirds and waders

whilst looking out for our first European Otter. In Salen we turn west and soon

cross this narrow strip of land with a male Bullfinch flying across in front

of Julian’s van before reaching the edge of the mighty Loch Na Keal. At Gruline

we pull over for our first proper stop and stand on the edge of the loch seeing

Common Gulls with young, several Common Sandpipers and our first Rock

Doves of the tour. Julian and Stephen have heard a Whitethroat and go to try

and find it when Julian spots a large raptor sat in a larch tree and says “think

I’ve got a buzzard here?” Gets his telescope and now says “flippin heck it’s

a White-tailed Eagle!” We all now enjoy this fabulous raptor with its huge,

powerful, yellow bill, as it sits there occasionally calling. This noise is for a reason

as Irene now spots a second eagle flying in and lands next to her mate. We can

easily see this must be a female, looking much larger than the original bird

– superb. While this is going on and we are celebrating our luck, Stephen finds

the Whitethroat and we also get good views of this working its way through

a nearby Willow. What a great start to the day, even if the weather isn’t.

We now move on and after a relatively short time, Sally pulls into a lay-by

at Killiemor as there are other people with scopes trained on the adjacent

hillside. It is another pair of White-tailed Eagles and they also look sublime sat

on their Larch tree, also looking huge and totally imposing. We are loving this

as we have now seen four adult White-tailed Eagles in the first hour – as they

say ‘Mull rocks’. While we are watching this pair, Julian and Sally are checking

the rest of this area and Loch Na Keal, finding a few Black Guillemots, Common

Buzzard and a few Goldfinches. However, we need to leave as it is getting

towards our mid-morning hot drink and comfort stop, with Ulva Ferry being

the nearest place. On we go along this narrow winding road, hugging the

shoreline of Loch Na Keal, stopping occasionally at a passing place for a quick

scan but not finding anything new. We arrive into Ulva around 11am and our

first stop is the toilets at the quayside, so we park to allow for this. While

we are away Julian spots our first Sedge Warbler along with Arctic Tern, Shag,

Shelduck and Curlew in the harbour area. Once the ablutions have been

completed we move back along the road and park a little more sensibly

to have our very welcome hot drink and biscuit. The drizzle has now stopped

and it’s quite nice but the weather still does look threatening. We are looking

down into Laggan Bay and see a few Common Seals, plus Black Guillemots, but

they are distant. We finish our drinks and climb back into the buses.

Our traverse of the north of this island continues as we head towards

Calgary Bay, carefully avoiding the sheep and the on-coming traffic. A couple

of Red Deer are seen from the van but Sally spots another large raptor above

the hill, which looks good for a Golden Eagle – but we cannot stop.

On we go continually watching the ridges as our guides try to find a suitable

stopping place but sadly the bird has disappeared before this can happen, which

is a shame. We carry on as the rain starts again and now it’s heavy, which is the

situation when we arrive into Calgary. After a brief toilet stop we carry

on to the car park on the edge of the beach in what is now torrential rain!

Julian and Sally are ‘seasoned professionals’ and position the minibuses so the

tailgates create a canopy for us to stand under. They now hand out the picnic

lunches and most of us can stand under cover with our butties - how good

is this? The rain is easing as we finish lunch and once everything is packed away

we are ready for a walk out to the beach. This is superb and the views now are

spectacular (as they have been all morning) and we are also finding some new

species with good telescope views of Northern Wheatear, Linnet and Raven.

It is a popular place understandably but definitely not overcrowded as we stroll

across the beach seeing Rock Pipits, Pied Wagtails and a family of Eider

on some offshore rocks. There is a wonderful area of Machair, which is full

of flowers with notable species being Northern Heath Orchid, Birdsfoot Trefoil,

Milkwort and Sea Rocket, as we make our way back to the vans.

It is now mid-afternoon and we want to spend some time in Mull’s main town

Tobermory so off we go again. We reach the estuary at Dervaig and stop for

a short while seeing Common Redshank (with John and Jeannine now seeing

their red legs!), more gulls, Common Sandpiper and Curlew. On we go and

soon after we are dropping down into Tobermory, stopping at the main car

park by the harbour. Our guides allow us an hour to wander round this

interesting town, which has come famous through the TV series ‘Ballamory’ and

after one of the Wombles! The time goes surprisingly quick, but still very

enjoyable as there are plenty of quaint, colourful shops, museum, harbour,

distillery and cafes to attract us. We are all back on time at 4:30pm and some

of us indulge in our second hot drink of the day, which is lovely, and the light

rain has now stopped completely. Sally though, is keen to try at least one more

place before getting back to the hotel so off we go.

The initial road south is two-lane but quickly comes single track, which slows

our progress somewhat as this is ‘rush hour’ on Mull and this is the main road

to their largest town. We soon get down towards Salen Bay but get stopped

briefly as Melanie sees a couple of Mute Swans at the rivermouth.

Then Stephen says “pretty sure this is an Otter” and at the next ‘passing place’

Julian checks and excitedly confirms his suspicions. This is superb as Sally has

found a great parking place and is watching these two gorgeous European

Otters with Sary and John R. They are moving slowly south fishing for eels and

crabs constantly and playfully interacting together, which is just lovely to watch

through the telescope. Yvonne and David are really enjoying these two

beautiful mammals, especially when they climb out of the water and onto

a wee island – what a treat, and as Sally predicted, the sun is now shining

(in more ways than one). As they move away our focus alters slightly and

we spend a little time scanning the water finding a few Great Northern Divers,

a drake Goosander, Red-breasted Merganser and more Common Seals before

finally leaving for the hotel. We get back at just after 6pm and 45 minutes later

we are doing the daily checklist followed by our evening meal – rounding off

a superb day on this wonderful island.

Day 6 After our usual breakfast time we set off on what is looking like a glorious day,

which makes everything seem so much brighter. We set off north again

checking the coast as we drive, but it’s high tide and there isn’t much to see.

Just beyond Salen we turn off on the minor road, which can take us directly

to Dervaig and inland. This opens up into moorland and we are now scanning

for raptors with a couple of Common Buzzards seen early on. Julian suggests

we make our first stop at a bridge crossing a river, Sally is dubious as it’s

forestry land but as they say ‘fortune favours the brave’ and she turns into this

metalled track. Almost immediately we see a ‘chat’ on a small exposed willow

and it’s a gorgeous male Whinchat – superb. This bird flies out of site and

we continue down to the bridge where we park and get out into lovely

sunshine. There are Goldcrests singing in the Pine trees and we get a brief view,

but a beautiful Green Hairstreak is well worth the stop. After a while

(as we have limited time) Sally says we must go, and into the minibuses we get.

Our meandering drive continues through to Dervaig, stopping periodically for

on-coming traffic and giving the obligatory wave of thanks! At Dervaig we turn

towards Calgary Bay seeing much less in the estuary as the tide is still high, but

it is a beautiful place. We now turn off this circular route around Mull and strike

across country again over an area which looks fabulous for moorland raptors.

We do see again Common Buzzard and do get some decent views

of Common Snipe at the side of the road but it’s generally quiet, which is good

as we don’t have much time now to get to Ulva for our boat tour. As we drop

back onto the coast road we drive through a lovely oak woodland, which is just

wonderful and back at the coast we now quickly make our way south.

We arrive at the parking area at Ulva harbour with 30 minutes to spare giving

us enough time to have a quick hot drink, gather everything we need and use

the facilities before getting on board.

Onboard we are split with a few of us being ‘up top’ and some of us ‘below’

(hope that’s appropriate John K?) as there isn’t too much space outside. We set

off in bright sunshine and chug along the blue waters of Loch Tuath passing

an Atlantic Salmon fish farm, seeing our first Shag, but generally it’s quiet until

we get out into the open waters of the Atlantic Ocean. More seabirds start

to appear as we are heading to Staffa with initially Black Guillemots, Common

Guillemots and finally a few Puffins as we get near to this incredible basalt

island. Our skipper gives us a very interesting input on the history and where

we are geographically pointing out places surrounding us. We get to the

incredible rock formations that make up this island with Fingal’s Cave at its

southern end. This is just an amazing experience as our captain negotiates the

boat right into the mouth of the cave, something even Sally has never

experienced in all her visits here. We now move to the small jetty and with

care, alight the boat, although John, Sary, David and Yvonne decide to stay

on board, getting a tour of the island from the sea, which is great. We slowly

make our way up the steps to the grassy area that makes up this rock and

go our separate ways with some of us heading for another look at the cave and

some of us yomping across the island to look for seabirds. We have carried our

picnic lunches and some of us sit in the sunshine and enjoy our sandwiches

looking out over such a wonderful vista. There are lots of birds around with

several Puffins, Fulmar, Guillemots, clinging on to the ledges with their eggs and

nest holes – just brilliant. It is all too quick a visit as our hour onshore is soon

over and we make our way back to the jetty and back onto the boat.

We now are told that next up is Lunga a journey of about 40 minutes from

Staffa, and now there are seabirds everywhere, with the usual auks plus lots

of Razorbills, Kittiwakes, Great Black-backed Gulls and Grey Seals. We reach

Lunga and this time our ordeal for getting onto the island is much more tricky,

having to use a pontoon then jump onto the the rocks at the waters edge.

These rocks have to be walked over carefully, with us helping each other

across, which is much appreciated by Jeannine and David. Our captain gives

us a recommendation for our two hours on land but warns that the Puffins can

be a little distracting. We climb slowly up to the grassed area and here are our

first Puffins, around their nesting holes and they are superb as the

photographers ‘fill their boots’ with images of these iconic seabirds. Some

of us strike out for the far side of the island and the massive seabird stack,

which takes about 30 minutes – as we arrive the sight, sound and smell

is simply arresting. It is amazing to be surrounded by Puffins, Razorbills,

Guillemots, quite humbling really. There are also Rock Pipits here in good

numbers along with a couple of Northern Wheatears plus Sally and

John P. have even heard a Corncrake back along the track. Again our visit is all

too short and before we know it we are heading back carefully to the boarding

area of Lunga. Julian has braved the walk to the extreme south end of the island

that looks out over the strangely shaped Bac Mor (or Dutchman’s Cap) with

the inhabited, low-lying island of Coll and Tiree to the northwest. Our guide

is slightly behind us as he is stopped by the very distinctive call of Corncrake,

just metres away in the bracken. Still we all manage to get back safely and

onboard in our allotted time, which is brilliant and we have all had a magical

time in this fantastic seabird island.

A little after 4:30pm we set off back towards Ulva but Sally sees a Great Skua

(Bonxie) on one of the smaller islands, which is brilliant, and another good

addition to our growing list. We are now heading into Loch Tuath when our

guide spots a White-tailed Eagle in the distance, which a lucky few get to see,

followed by some Arctic Terns. Linda now sees some Common Seals resting

on some small offshore rocks and we are treated to a brilliant fly-past by a large

flock of Eider. We arrive back into Ulva at 17:40 and make our way straight

to the minibuses as we still have a good drive back to the hotel. We wind our

way down past Laggan Bay with Julian and John R. seeing our first Lapwing

of the holiday. We now head across the narrow part of the island to Salen and

then south to our accommodation with time to freshen up ahead of our

evening meal and checklist. It has been another wonderful day!

Day 7 We are surprised by the weather, it being much better than forecast, and again

at 9am we are ready to leave, apart from John W. whose feeling a bit under the

weather. The initial plan is to drive through to Lochbuie but this changes

as we approach the turning as this is ‘raptor weather’. We now continue along

the road, stopping to scan a couple of times with some fabulous scenery and

seeing a couple of Jays en-route. Julian suggests a stop at the small car park

overlooking Loch an Eileen and Loch an Ellen, which is beautiful. As we are

scanning this area, Stephen sees a pale bird crossing the water and initially

assumes a heron but soon realises this is not the case and he is in fact looking

at a gorgeous male Hen Harrier, which starts to quarter the moorland below.

It is an easy bird to follow being like a ghost against a dark background and

a fantastic view even through the binoculars. It makes its way along the edge

of Loch an Ellen, disappearing from our view under the hillside but we are all

really pleased with this sighting.

Our parking area is starting to fill up with other people, so we climb back into

the vans and head off continuing up and over the pass. We now drop down

the mountain with Ben More in the distance and pass a fabulous old bridge,

seeing a Northern Wheatear on the way. We soon reach the junction with the

Glen Road and turn passing An Leth-on Bridge, which is superb and hopefully

we will get a chance to stop there later in the holiday. A little further we stop

on the edge of Loch Beg, seeing a few Red-breasted Merganser, with Canada

and Greylag Geese, Mallard and Grey Herons. Stephen now says “I have

an Otter’ and we get a brief look at this marine mammal before it disappears

underwater. We are looking carefully for the European Otter for a wee while

before Julian refinds it a little away from the initial sighting and it continues

to show well both in and out of the water. We are enjoying this as Linda

and Jeannine spot a male Reed Bunting showing well on a nearby willow along

with Skylarks, Meadow Pipits and Stonechat. It’s now 10:30 and a hot

drink is discussed but we feel it’s too early so it’s back into the minibuses

and off we go.

Julian takes the lead now and we drive slowly around the edge of Loch Beg

seeing Common Sandpipers, Grey Wagtail (sorry Stephen) and Raven over the

hillside, but not the ‘hoped-for’ Golden Eagles. Eventually we reach the junction

to the ‘Whitetail Gin Distillery’ overlooking the Kilfinichen Bay. We get out

of the minibuses and within seconds John R. calmly says “there’s an eagle above

us!” and we all look up. We see a stunning adult White-tailed Eagle right above

our heads and showing superbly, with us all getting great views. Yvonne now

says “I think there’s another one here?” and sure enough she has found another

adult White-tailed Eagle, this time a bit further away but clearly visible – superb.

We break out the hot drinks in celebration after a brilliant day so far and the

weather is still lovely before Julian finds a distant Sparrowhawk circling over

a conifer plantation, but it’s not easy to see as it climbs high into the sky. Sally

and Julian discuss the necessity for a potential site for an al fresco comfort stop,

deciding on the minor road to the distillery along the edge of Kilfinichen Bay.

Once we are ready we set off and slowly drive along this narrow road, seeing

House Martins collecting mud at the rivermouth before eventually finding

a suitable spot to relieve ourselves. It is a fabulous wooded glade with Eurasian

Treecreeper, Blackcap and Wood Warbler singing around us. Sally says

“crossbills here” and she has found a few in the adjacent Scots Pines and we all

manage to get some kind of view before they disappear. It is now time to leave

and drive back to the main road again checking the Loch Beg area again

as we make our way slowly along. Julian spots a distant raptor, which is clearly

an eagle and says we might need to look at this raptor. As it gets closer

it reveals itself to be an immature White-tailed Eagle and our third individual

in less than a couple of hours – brilliant! We now continue back to the Glen

More road as Sally is keen we go to Lochbuie.

We are continually watching as we move along the Glen More road, with

Meadow Pipits, Skylarks and Northern Wheatears being seen, but Julian spies

a couple of large raptors in the distance. We stop and our guide confirms that

at least one is an adult Golden Eagle but it’s drifting away. Sally is a distance

ahead and Julian speaks to her on the walkie-talkie and they pull over looking

for the eagle up ahead. We now come together but the trial has gone a little

cold, we stay a while hoping to refind the eagles – but no sign until Julian sees

an adult Goldie again in the distance and watch it land on top of the ridge.

We want to try and see it better and go along the road passing underneath

Beinn Talach with it’s impressive crags, we also pass a few people with

binoculars, telescopes and cameras. We stop too - Julian starts to walk towards

this group and sees an adult Golden Eagle above the ridge, showing much

better. Our guide points out this eagle and we all get a good look before

it disappears down the valley and out of sight. We stay for a while hoping

to get another sighting and find out there is an eyrie high above us with a single

chick, but no sign at the moment, even with constant scrutiny through our

telescopes. We do wait for a short while seeing a cracking male Stonechat

on the side of the road, but no more eagle sightings – hopefully we will get

a chance to return tomorrow?

On we go turning now towards Lochbuie and driving down along the edge

of Loch Spelve and Loch Uisg in heavy rain until we reach the coast

at Lochbuie and the rain stops – how lucky have we been with the weather?

We set up our telescopes looking south west down through Loch Buie, out

to Colonsay in the distance. A fantastic Great Northern Diver is close inshore

and showing superbly in the ‘scope’ before we hear it give it’s haunting call

– just brilliant. There are a couple of Red-throated Divers further out along

with Common and Black Guillemots, Gannets and John P. sees a couple

of Ringed Plovers fly past. Julian is busy searching the bay and spots a shape

in the water and says “Otter” and we all get to see as it swims across the bay,

fishing along the way. Sally finds it in her telescope and engages with some

young tourist by giving him a world-changing look through it. This is becoming

a very special day with all these fabulous experiences and we still have more

places to visit.

We soon leave Lochbuie and start back along the loch edges, deciding to stop

at this likely looking place on the edge of Loch Spelve. Stephen spots an adult

Golden Eagle over the opposite ridge and this gorgeous bird puts

on a wonderful, extended view, with most of us seeing it in our telescopes.

We cannot believe our luck today, especially Irene who (for the first time) gets

to see a Golden Eagle in full plumage colour against a dark background

– leaving a tremendous, lasting memory. This ‘goldie’ eventually flies over the

ridge and out of sight so we now need to head on as it’s late afternoon.

We move on, stopping for a young Lapwing at the side of the road, with its

parent arriving as we are about to leave, with more adult Lapwings a little

further on. Eventually Sally stops, with Julian following suit at this lovely oak

woodland and proceeds to get out (as do we) and walk slowly along the road.

Julian is further back with David and Yvonne looking at Heath Spotted Orchid

and some interesting Butterwort alongside the wee burn. However, Sally, Sary

and Linda are ahead and see a male Common Redstart coming to a nest box

– we stake this out and wait. The bird returns and we get some superb views

of a gorgeous male Common Redstart in this wonderful oak woodland.

It is now late afternoon and we need to go so Julian and Sally walk back for the

minibuses and drive them back to where we are – very kind in this tiring day.

Soon after we set off back to our hotel at Craignure, having had such a fantastic

and memorable day on this wonderful island.

Day 8 It is an earlier start today as we want to be at Fionnphort before 10am for the

first ferry to Iona. After breakfast we are ready to leave at 8am with a good

start as there is a Greenfinch singing from the hotel roof – first time we have

seen this species! The weather looks threatening as we leave Craignure south

along the mainland and before long it’s starts raining and quite heavily too

– thank goodness we are driving. We head up and over the Glen More road

passed the Golden Eagle eyrie and down towards the An Leth-on Bridge

junction seeing the expected Meadow Pipits, Common Buzzard, Greylag Geese

and Oystercatcher. As we pass along the southern edge of Loch Scridain, Julian

first spots a Great Northern Diver followed by an immature White-tailed Eagle

sat on the end of a rocky peninsula near Pennyghael. We stop here for a short

while to ‘scope’ this bird and while out of the vans, John R. finds a second

White-tailed Eagle nearby – superb. Also along this stretch of coastline we see

several Common Seals ‘hauled out’ and in the water plus Common Redshank,

Curlew and Lapwing. Time is moving on and we must leave, driving

in improving conditions and seeing a couple of Common Snipe fly up from the

side of the road. The weather is actually becoming quite nice as we eventually

arrive into Fionnphort and park right down by the harbour in readiness for our

departure in 40 minutes. We actually have time for a hot drink, while Sally and

Julian sort out our tickets for both the ferry and parking for the day. We make

ourselves ready with layers and coats, carry our picnics and any other items

we deem necessary as the forecast isn’t that great – but it’s glorious now!

At the allotted time we board the ferry as foot passengers and the crossing

takes an easy 15 minutes, arriving and alighting onto this historic island

on St Columbus day. We convene at the top of the jetty and Sally talks

us through the plan but essentially we have all day to ourselves should we want.

Yvonne is keen to go as she is attending service at the Abbey, which starts

in 15 minutes, and we wish her well. John and Jeannine are just going to take

it slowly around the centre of the island sticking mainly to the village and

outlying buildings. The rest of us plan to go with Sally and Julian to the north

end of Iona as this could be our best chance of seeing a Corncrake, something

most of us are keen on.

Off we go through the village, past the beautiful Abbey and slowly along the

tarmac road north to the edge of town seeing Meadow Pipit, Skylark, Rooks,

Jackdaw and Goldfinches. We get to the outskirts and the associated farms

where we find lots of Iris beds but no calling Corncrakes, which seems unusual

as we have been told they are relentless! We carry on slowly now seeing

Northern Wheatear, Rock Doves plus Shelduck and Curlew along the coast.

We decide to continue out onto the open grassed, farmland, which makes

up the last third of the northern end and soon we sit looking out to sea.

There are lots of Gannets offshore along with plenty of gulls, including

Kittiwakes dip-feeding out over the open water. Sally is busy scanning with her

telescope and finds Common Guillemot flying past and Julian sees a couple

of Cormorants and several Shag. Another great debate now ensues on the

identity of the surrounding islands, with maps, mobiles and compasses being

sought to finally come to a conclusion, which is fascinating. Stephen decides

to go and check a beautiful sandy beach nearby for waders as the rest

of us break out our picnics for an early(ish) lunch on this glorious day.

Sary is right, we are so lucky again with the weather, and we are all thoroughly

enjoying it. Stephen soon returns and we decide to walk back towards the

village, again checking the iris beds and then heading out to the west side

of Iona. The farm beds are still very quiet despite everyone we meet telling

us their own ‘corncrake story’ of them calling all night and being seen out in the

open. We now become a little fragmented as some of us press on back to the

village for some retail therapy, some of us stick with Sally, and Julian hangs back

for a while. Our guide soon catches up and we all start along a ‘cut through’

that Sally knows to go to another beach. Here Julian hears the rasping call

of a Corncrake across a field covered in wild flowers but it does sound a long

way off. He now decides to go back and try to find out where it’s coming from

so leaves us to continue walk on over the island.

Julian has some success hearing again the bird, but this time closer but not able

to get anywhere near, although he does see a Sedge Warbler, Raven and more

Northern Wheatears near here. We walk up and over to the west to this

fabulous beach, where Sally and Melanie decide to go paddling in the beautiful,

blue Atlantic waters. Everyone else is enjoying their time in the village and the

surrounding historic buildings to be found. It is now late afternoon and time

to be meeting each other at the quay. This goes swimmingly and we are able to

board the ferry back to Mull at 3:30pm, with the weather still warm and sunny.

We get off at Fionnphort to the sound of bagpipes being played by a young

boy, very professionally, which looks to be earning him some serious coin.

At the vans we have ourselves another very welcome hot drink and stand

around recalling our time in this wonderful island. Around 4:30pm we now

leave and drive away from the harbour seeing a Common Buzzard being

mobbed by a Curlew. The roads are akin to something from the cartoon

‘whacky races’ as we pull in and out of passing places along this single track

road. We retrace our steps back along the edge of Loch Scridain to the Glen

More road, where we stop at the Golden Eagle eyrie to see if anyone’s home.

Julian gets a surprise as the young eaglet is there, but partially hidden with a few

of us getting to see it before it hunkers back down.

It is late afternoon when we leave this stretch of the road and continue through

to our hotel near Craignure, arriving just before 6pm with plenty of time

to freshen up. It is obvious rain has fallen heavily again here, making us even

more thankful for the weather we have had on Iona, along with the equally

wonderful time.

Day 9 We awake to a glorious morning with sun streaming through our bedroom

windows and we head to our last breakfast here at 8am in good spirits, despite

being a travelling day. We return to our rooms and by 09:30 the luggage

is packed in the minibuses, keys are returned to reception and we are driving

away from this excellent hotel. Our plan is to visit the site we first visited

on our arrival on to Mull – the edge of Craignure golf course. We arrive and

start to scan the flat, calm water, exposed rocks, and coastline seeing a Mute

Swan, Greylag Geese, Red-breasted Merganser and Mallards in the water.

There are several Arctic Terns flying around and we see some Common Seals

on an offshore islet, but generally it’s quiet. Sally and Julian have one of their

huddles and decide to try and catch an earlier ferry from Fishnish to the one

scheduled to leave at 10:40. We jump back into the minibuses and drive further

north along this beautiful coast. We arrive at the ferry port with 20 minutes

to spare and climb out of the vans to a Whitethroat singing on top

of a telegraph pole. Sally goes to sort out the arrangements, while Julian spots

a male Siskin singing on top of a nearby conifer but only Linda and Melanie get

a view before it flies off. At 10am we join the queue to get onboard the car

ferry to Lochaline, and 20 minutes later we are back on the mainland.

This is the Morvern Peninsular and we set off up and over to Gleann Gael,

stopping briefly to scan the ridges and valleys for raptors on this lovely day.

We now turn off on a very minor road with passing places at Lochuisge, and

drive along to Loch a Choire at Kingairloch. It is time for a break and hot drink

in this beautiful area, with Linda saying “there’s two raptors here?” as she looks

up at Beinn na Cille. These are both adult Golden Eagles and we are thrilled

to watch them soaring around in the blue skies – superb. As we really enjoy

this break we get decent views of Lesser Redpolls, Common Buzzard,

Chaffinch, Great Tit and a handsome male Reed Bunting plus a couple of Red

Deer. Sally says we must move on and grudgingly we hand in our coffee cups

and climb back into the buses – we could have stopped all day here in this

wonderful weather. The drive now continues and we start to hug the coastline

of Loch Linnhe seeing lots of Common Sandpipers, Black Guillemot, Gannet

and Rock Pipits along the route. We are transfixed by the scenery on offer here

with views right over to Ben Nevis, which is surprisingly visible! A thrush flies

across in front of Sally’s minibus and she excitedly radio’s Julian saying “Ring

Ouzel” – this is such a surprise! We stop and quickly climb out of the vehicles

as this bird sings from a tree on the adjacent rock face, but we cannot find

it, however it finds us, as this gorgeous Ring Ouzel flies down and lands

on some nearby grass, showing incredibly well – what a bonus. It finally moves

out of sight and we continue our journey to our next ferry port at Corran.

We have a short wait now and make full use of it by visiting the facilities and

seeing another Black Guillemot in the bay.

We now board this small ferry and cross the Corran Narrows to the other side

of Loch Linnhe, going now to a loch-side parking area for lunch. We sit in the

warm sunshine enjoying our picnics before setting off again around 40 minutes

later. We now head south towards Glen Coe, passing the village of the same

name to the new and impressive visitor centre on the edge of this famous

historical site. Julian allows us 40 minutes to make use of the centre, which

doesn’t seem long enough but we realise we still have a long way to go.

It is very interesting to read about the massacre at Glen Coe, see the

topography illustrated and see that there are some natural history walks from

the centre, which might be an option for future tours. Around 15:30 we leave

the car park and continue through this very scenic upland glen with steep-sided

mountains, either side of the pass.

We start to drop down through Black Mount am Monadh Dubh to the head

of Glen Orchy, where we turn off the main road and follow the River Orchy

– as the rain now begins to fall. We have two targets here, with a Grey Wagtail

for Stephen and a Dipper for us all (but particularly Yvonne) but this weather

is becoming a problem. Regular stops are made scanning the turbulent waters

and after a few miles we score with our first Grey Wagtail – Stephen gets his

‘bogey bird’ of this holiday and the ‘cheers’ go up in both vans. We carry

on and at one lay-by Julian calls to Sally “I’ve got one!” and proceeds

to describe where he has seen his Dipper, and we all get some sort of view

through the rain-soddened windows. Julian decides to try and put this water

loving bird in the telescope and does so using the tailgate as shelter from the

deluge. This provokes an interesting reaction as he proceeds to do his ‘dipper

dance, in the rain, which is most comical. This success means we can now ‘crack

on’ and drive the length of Glen Orchy back on to the A85.

It is raining for most of our journey to Loch Lomond, and we are slowed

by heavy traffic as we move down along its shoreline but there’s nothing to see

apart from a couple of Carrion Crows. Eventually we reach our hotel for our

last night, which looks very impressive looking out over the iconic Loch

Lomond. We go inside and get our allocated rooms, meeting an hour later for

the evening meal, which takes longer than expected as today has been superb

and we all wanted to relive it. Julian and Sally again have a wee meeting and

compile a ‘game plan’ for the rest of today and the following morning, which

involves doing the checklist and our highlight choices – we are all very tired

after the travelling and there is no argument. Soon after we head to our rooms

for the final night of the tour.

Day 10 Breakfast is at the very relaxed time of 08:30, and after dealing with this new

hotel regime we are all enjoying our final meal together. Once we are ready,

it is now time for the ‘main event’ with Sally and Julian first conducting

yesterday’s checklist followed by all of us giving our three categories of our

highlights from the tour and they are varied and bring back some fond

memories – superb. We conclude this event around 10:15 and a quarter of an

hour later we are loading the minibuses one final time leaving John and Jeannine

to continue their holiday here. Once ready Sally with Stephen, David, Yvonne,

John and Melanie head away to Glasgow Airport, Julian is taking John R, Irene,

Sary, John and Linda to Glasgow’s Central train station, ending this wonderful

holiday around Mull and Kintyre.

Species of the Trip

Sary White-tailed and Golden Eagles

Irene Dipper

John R Puffin

Melanie White-tailed Eagle

John P Lapwing chick

Jeannine Puffin/Sheep

John W Otters/meeting everyone

Linda Grasshopper Warbler

John K Everything

Yvonne White-tailed Eagle

David Dipper

Stephen Common Sandpiper

Sally Whinchat

Julian White-tailed Eagle

Place of the Trip

Sary Coffee stop

Irene Morvern Peninsular drive

John R Morvern Peninsular drive

Melanie Harp Rock on Lunga

John P Boat trips or near the water

Jeannine Iona

John W Iona

Linda Iona

John K Iona

Yvonne Treshnish boat tour

David Mountains in the sunshine

Stephen River Add Estuary/Moine Mhor

Sally Loch Na Keal drive

Julian Lunga Island and boat tour

Magic Moment

Sary Otters frolicking

Irene Seeing the Golden Eagle markings through the scope

John R Young man’s reaction to seeing an Otter

Melanie Otters frolicking

John P Otters frolicking

Jeannine Managing to get up to see the Puffins on Lunga

John W Hearing the piper at Fionnphort jetty

Linda White-tailed Eagle so close/early morning at the hotel

John K Being at Kingairloch on last morning in the sunshine

Yvonne The rainbow over Loch Fyne on the first evening

David Sitting on Iona eating mussels

Stephen Seeing the White-tailed Eagle so close

Sally Having coffee in the bay on final day

Julian Seeing all the Otters after struggling in April

BIRDS

Mute Swan

Greylag Goose

Canada Goose

Shelduck

Mallard

Eurasian Teal

Eider

Goosander

Red-breasted Merganser

Pheasant

Corncrake (heard only)

Red-throated Diver

Great Northern Diver

Fulmar

Gannet

Cormorant

Shag

Grey Heron

White-tailed Eagle

Osprey

Golden Eagle

Hen Harrier

Common Buzzard

Sparrowhawk

Kestrel

Oystercatcher

Ringed Plover

Lapwing

Common Sandpiper

Common Redshank

Curlew

Common Snipe

Great Skua

Black-headed Gull

Common Gull

Herring Gull

Greater Black-backed Gull

Lesser Black-backed Gull

Kittiwake

Common Tern

Arctic Tern

Sandwich Tern

Puffin

Black Guillemot

Guillemot

Razorbill

Rock Dove

Woodpigeon

Collared Dove

Cuckoo

Short-eared Owl

Common Swift

Great Spotted Woodpecker

Skylark

Sand Martin

Barn Swallow

House Martin

Rock Pipit

Meadow Pipit

Tree Pipit

Pied Wagtail

Grey Wagtail

Dipper

Dunnock

Robin

Common Redstart

Northern Wheatear

Whinchat

Stonechat

Song Thrush

Mistle Thrush

Blackbird

Ring Ouzel

Greater Whitethroat

Blackcap

Sedge Warbler

Grasshopper Warbler

Willow Warbler

Wood Warbler (heard only)

Goldcrest

Wren

Spotted Flycatcher

Great Tit

Coal Tit (heard only)

Blue Tit

Eurasian Treecreeper (heard only)

Jay

Jackdaw

Rook

Carrion Crow

Hooded Crow

Raven

Starling

House Sparrow

Chaffinch

Linnet

Twite

Lesser Redpoll

Goldfinch

Greenfinch

Siskin

Bullfinch

Common Crossbill

Reed Bunting

Total Birds: 104

MAMMALS

Rabbit

Otter

Red Deer

Sika Deer

Roe Deer

Fallow Deer

Brown Rat

Harbour Porpoise

Common Seal

Grey Seal

Pipistrelle (sp)

BUTTERFLIES

Green-veined White

Small White

Orange-tip

Peacock

Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary

Green Hairstreak

Meadow Brown

Gatekeeper

Speckled Wood

Small Heath

OTHER SPECIES

Common Toad

Large Red Damsel

Common Blue Damsel

Broad-bodied Chaser

Common Heath Moth

Chimney Sweeper

Total Species: 131