October offerings.

October was a decent month with, mostly, warm and dry weather. The down side to the good weather was that the migrating birds seemed to pass us by.
Adders were on show for most of the month.

 The winter thrushes arrived at the end of the month but the best I could capture was a Blackbird.

 It was nice to get a few Common Buzzard shots on natural perches for a change.

 Lookinng good at the top of a conifer.

 Coal tits have been hoarding food.

 Field Gentian was visible for the whole month.

 Grey Heron having a walk around.

 Another Grey Heron on a grey day.

 Great Northern Diver stretching it's wings.

 This Great Spotted Woodpecker was a nice bird to see.

 A nice male Hen Harrier.

 This Little Egret was my first on Mull.

 There have been quite a few Merlin sightings in October.

 The Otters are always a big draw - one eating it's lunch.

 This one decided to have a close look at me!

 Mum and cub.

 Two cubs together.

 I managed to get a couple of shots of this Sparrowhawk just outside the shop.

 Stonechat - a showy bird.

 A panoramic shot outside the shop showing the passing shower complete with double rainbow.

 A couple of White-tailed Eagle passing the time.

 Young White-tailed Eagle flying past.

September

I'm catching up with things eventually. A selection of photographs from throughout the month.

Bar-tailed Godwit is an annual bird on Mull but we don't get many.

 Black-tailed Godwit is much commoner.

 Curlew.

 Some nice views of Red Deer through the month.

 Golden Eagle with a full crop.

 Golden Eagle on the hunt.

 Grey Heron sunbathing.

 Great Northern Diver with a flattie.

 Greenshank on it's own.

 Greenshank in triplicate.

 Hooded Crow is a popular bird.

 Otter.

 Raven having lunch.

 Skylark - look at the plumage on that!

 Sparrowhawk - just stunning.

 A migrant Whinchat.

 There had to a White-tailed Eagle too.

End of September

Just before I set off for the final tour of the month I had views of a male Hen Harrier quickly followed by a sighting of a flock of Starling being hunted by a Sparrowhawk.

The guests had requested Otters as the thing to see for the day. Around high tide we picked picked up our first Otter of the day which we watched for a good half an hour. A couple of Golden Eagle and a WT Eagle were seen before we picked up a family of 3 Otters. The youngsters had a bit of a squabble in the water...

...while a Common Seal watched us from close quarters.

Time flies when you are enjoying yourself so it was an hour and a half before we left the Otters. The usual waders were seen and another single bird of each species of eagle. There have been some impressive gatherings of Hooded Crows in various places.

Swimmer

After picking up the guests we were driving past the shop and I noticed, what looked like, some debris in the water. We were thrilled to find a Red Deer stag swimming towards the shore!

There are plenty of Redshank in with the rest of the waders and high tide is the best time to get a good view.

With no sign of any WT Eagles to start with a second pass through the area produced 3 of the big fellas.

A couple of Golden Eagle and another WT Eagle were seen but they were outclassed by the views of Buzzard through the day.

There were plenty of Golden Plover migrating south but the views of these birds were always distant. Mountain Hare and a single Swallow were both welcome sightings. A couple of Sparrowhawk were seen - the first was a quick fly past but the second one put on more of a display.

Catch up part 1

I had the Ringed Plover on the last post so here is the Oystercatcher on a rainy day.

One unusual sighting we had one day was a Sparrowhawk quartering a field. You just expect them to flash through but this one went up and down the field about three times!

The Golden Plover are looking splendid but seeing the male doing his slow flapping display is just magical.

You can't go anywhere without seeing a Grey Heron - awesome bird.

We have seen quite a few young Crossbill but you can't beat a group of young Stonechat chasing the adults for food.

Most of the Hen Harrier sightings should be male birds unless you get a food pass but keep your eyes open for last years young male birds with just a faint wash of grey across the wings.

The Tawny Owl is still showing well when I pay it a visit but it does sit in a different place every now and then.