Mull Birds.

 At this point it would have been good to be able to go on about the Eagles of Mull. However, unfortunately, the boat trip out to see the hunting White-tailed Eagles, was unfortunately cancelled due to a breakdown the day before our trip. This meant a spare part was needed for the boat which took a couple of days to come in. We were hoping for a rescheduled trip, but time unfortunately ran out. We did get some nice views of the White-tailed Eagles during our stay, but mostly distant. One however, did fly right over the first cottage we stayed at.

We did however, see a few decent birds, and we got close enough to some for some photography. Before we caught the ferry across to Mull we spent a bit of time with the famous Black Guillemots in Oban harbour. 

A pair of Black Guillemot getting passionate.

On Mull it was great to see many species breeding, that we only see on migration in the south of England, such as Wheatear and Whinchat. Stonechat also seemed to be doing very well there.

Female Wheatear with food.

Wheatear fledgling.

Whinchat collecting food.

Another bird that was very numerous was the Common Sandpiper. All around the lochs there appeared to be pairs of these birds. We also loved watching the little bundles of feathers, that were the chicks, as they wandered around the banks of the lochs, with the parents keeping a watchful eye on them. One family were right outside our cottage.

Adult Common Sandpiper.

Common Sandpiper chick.

Common Sandpiper chick, just metres away from our cottage.

On one of the rivers we also had some close views of a juvenile Dipper.

Juvenile Dipper.

Finally, a long walk down to one of the isolated beaches gave us a few waders, other than the Common Sandpiper. I was particularly pleased with some images of Ringed Plover. These were very approachable at this location. The Oystercatchers, were not so keen on us getting close, but one or two photos were still taken.

Ringed Plover.

Oystercatcher.

We also spent a very windy day on Iona, hoping to hear the call of the Corncrake. Iona is particularly well known for Corncrake, but it was quite late in the day before we heard them. A fantastic sound, and one I would be happy to listen to a lot more. The windy day probably didn't help us as the birds were probably keeping their heads down!!