|
 In
April 2004 Monica and I decided that we should take a holiday
to the Isle of Mull. We had previously had wonderful visits
to both the East and West coasts of Scotland including trips
to the Isle of Skye and the Outer Hebrides.
The Isle of Mull is reached
by a 40 minute ferry crossing from Oban. The journey takes
you past  the
lovely white lighthouse at Lismore and across the sound
of Mull to Craignure. We stayed at the campsite next to
the ferry terminal at Craignure and after setting up camp
we cycled to nearby Torosay Castle.
After around 5 minutes of
cycling we had seen numerous woodland birds and a Red Deer
by the miniature railway line that runs between the campsite
and the castle.
The next day we cycled to
a tidal loch around 12 miles from our base and we were rewarded
with a  sighting
of an otter returning to its holt on a rising tide, We also
had views of Great Northern Diver, Snipe, Rock Pipit, Stonechat,
Cuckoo, Red Breasted Meganser and plenty of herons fishing
around the loch.
On Day Three we joined an
organised wildlife tour of the island led by guide David
Woodhouse (like me, David is originally from Sheffield,
it's just a shame he's a Blades fan as I support their rivals Sheffield
Wednesday). |
We
were taught useful skills of how to look and  where
to look and shown the importance of weather patterns, wind
direction to improve our wildlife watching skills.
Our journey took us through
the moorland and mountains of Glen More where we saw both
Golden Eagle and White Tailed Sea Eagle with really close
views of a young Sea Eagle – absolutely magnificent.
But for me this was topped
by seeing the classic food pass by a male Hen Harrier who
throws the prey to the female mid flight, she turns over
and catches it in mid air and the male continues on to hunt
for more prey for their young chicks.
The trip included a picnic
lunch with homemade soup and sandwiches, cakes, tea and
coffee all savoured in the most spectacular surroundings.
In the afternoon we had distant
views of a sleeping otter and again Sea Eagles soaring high
in perfect blue skies...
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