Day 2 Mull

Mull - Day 2

Day 2 and I was up and out early as the weather looked good. Ricky and Adrian opted for a lay in. Plan was to head along the A849 towards Loch beg and stop en route looking for Otters. The dirt track from our digs run along side Loch Assapol and after hearing a Diver calling late last night I stopped to have a look. In the distant I could make out a single Diver looked like a Black-throated but was so distant I couldn’t be sure. To far away for any pics I continued on travelling East along the A849 stopping at vantage points and checking the loch shore. Wasn’t long before I spotted another diver. I quickly reverted back along the deserted road and pulled over in a safe spot and crept down onto the Loch shore!! Bloody hell it was a Great Northern Diver in breeding plumage. It was a little distant but I thought if I can get to the waters edge I might be able to get a few decent shots.

Great Northern Diver - Mull May 2021

I have seen plenty of these stonking birds in Iceland but it’s a pretty impressive bird to see in UK waters. I started to creep low towards the water when something caught my eye about 10 feet away to my left!!! Shit shit shit it was on Otter!! Was a bloody Otter as it disappeared into the water!! The one that got away!!
 

Loch Scridain, Mull - June 2021

Oh well back to the Great Northern Diver. Although the light looked amazing the reflection of the water made photographing this beauty difficult and the water had a grey cast across it from the reflection of the mountains. The bird stayed distant as well. Still it was a Great Northern Diver so I just sat and enjoyed it for a while. With the accompanying sound of Willow Warblers and Cuckoos. There were Cuckoos everywhere we stopped.  Not much was seen as I drove toward Loch Beg I stopped at a small beach and had a walk round. A few Common Sandpipers here and a Greylag carcass probably nailed by a White tailed Eagle. 

Loch Scridain, Mull - May 2021
 

I head back to our digs to pick up Adrian and Ricky stopping on the drive in to tog a Stonechat family.

Stonechat - Scoor, May 2021

Plan for the rest of the day was to head towards Fidden and bird around the area. According to Ricky’s trusted book it was a good area for Twite and Corncrake. We parked up and took a footpath East. There were plenty of Cuckoos in the area and Redpolls everywhere. Managed a few pics but nothing decent. Adrian had a good walk around and failed with the Twite. The area felt good but didn’t find our target. We headed for the coast near Fidden there were plenty of Iris beds here so again it felt good for our next target Corncrake. We all headed off in different directions. I headed towards the Sea seeing a few Mountain Hares.  I watched an Oystercatcher slowly walk off and it looked very suss so I had a look round the area and found an Oystercatcher nest with 2eggs.

Oystercatcher Nest - Fidden, June 2021

I checked out a few Iris beds but didn’t hear or see anything. There were a few Whimbrel in the bay, A Common Gull and some Rock Pipits but not much else.   The scenery as with the rest of mull was stunning though

Iris Bed - Fidden, Mull

Fidden Coast, Mull - June 2021

We all met back up and Adrian showed me a Common Gull nest he had found near the cost there was plenty of Iris beds again but still no sign of the elusive Corncrake.

Common Gull Nest - Fidden, Mull, May 2021

That evening we headed back to our digs and Adrian and I went out to try again for the local Curlew pair. We headed out in a different direction to check out our local beach. 

Scoor Beach - May 2021

We headed back to an area where we had seen a pair of Curlews the pervious night to have another look for their nest. Curlews aren't a breeding bird in our next of the woods so would be a new one for me.  The pair weren't to be seen in the valley so we went for plan B and that was to head on a bit further to where we could see a few Common Gulls sat down.  A few nest contained eggs and some didn't 

Common Gull Nest - Scoor, Mull, May 2021

We headed back to the valley the Curlews were in to be met by one flying away.  Adrian used his skills to home in a beautiful set of 4 eggs.  Amazingly one was just starting to hatch.  We could hear the young bird cherping from inside the egg.  A quick picture was taken before a quick retreat to the top of the hill overlooking the Valley.  Wasn't long before the parents were back onsite.  This capped off another good day. Just to the long damp walk back to the digs before the sunset.  

Curlew Nest - Scoor, Mull, June 2021