Yesterdays walk from Drimnin down to Auliston point and back to Drimnin.
2 White Tailed Eagle, stonking views of 1 of the birds flushed from a rocky ridge the other 100 yards further down the coast. 2 Cuckoo again cracking views of 1 being chased by Meadow pipits, more heard, fantastic numbers of Cuckoo around this peninsula this year! 5 Wheatear, mostly Males. 2 Stonechat, a pair. 1 Yellowhammer 5 Linnet 17 Meadow Pipit 1 Mistle Thrush 3 Ringed Plover 5 Black Guillemot 12 Oystercatcher 2 Curlew 1 Gannet through heading towards ardnamurchan.
Not morvern related but a common crane has been hanging about seen last week on Mull and yesterday on the Ardnamurchan peninsula we had a ride round but had no luck fingers crossed it comes over the Sound
Morning Walk. Lochaline down to Loch Aline and round to Ardtornish and back.
3 Black Guillemots 9 Wigeon 6 Red Breasted Mergansers 26 Oystercatcher 11 Curlew 2 Dipper. They do fantastically well here in Morvern. Found a nest too. 5 Ringed Plover 1 Treecreeper 2 Crossbill
Morning mooch. Loop from Lochaline to Achnaha and home down the coast. Lovely sunshine!
2 White Tailed Eagle. Seen a few times last year and this year around Savary valley, hoping they have set up a territory around that area. We had a pair nesting at claggan but not last year, could be those birds. 3 Crossbill over heading over the Sound to Mull. 2 Stonechat 1 Skylark, singing. 3 Yellowhammer 14 Meadow Pipit 1 Black Guillemot. Loch Aline. 1 Ringed Plover 11 Oystercatcher 3 Curlew
A big bird came down the sound too, an RAF A400 low level training!
Walk around the forestry tracks to Savary Glen and back to Lochaline. A lot milder thank god lots of birds singing!
9 Redwing. Very low numbers this year around Morvern, same with Fieldfare poor numbers this year. 1 Song Thrush 1 Female Crossbill 3 Siskin 1 Snipe. Flushed 2 Raven 6 Meadow Pipit 1 Yellowhammer 1 Stonechat 2 Buzzard 19 Greylags in the field in front of the house.
Incredible movement of Redwing yesterday and still masses of Redwing going over this morning. Started yesterday morning with a huge flock c1000 which landed in the fields in Lochaline, absolutely demolishing berries on the Rowan Trees around the Village. From 8am till 6.00pm they was still going over. Woke this morning to decent flocks still going over. I don't think I've ever seen migration like that personally, probably thousands and thousands of birds, all in the same direction South/South East! Incredible!
-- Edited by Scott robinson on Thursday 17th of October 2019 08:20:30 AM
A belting mooch around Lochaline and around Ardtornish this morning until the rain came!
1 White Tailed Eagle 4 Wood Warbler many more heard 1 Tree Pipit 2 Cuckoo 1 Buzzard 1 Dipper 2 Grey Wagtail 3 Red Breasted Merganser 9 Common Sandpipers
Decent numbers of Whitethroat,Yellowhammer,Blackcap,Willow Warbler and Skylark all singing.
Singles of Meadow Pipit, Wheatear, Sedge Warbler and Stonechat.
One of the Cuckoo's been singing and showing well, especially in the morning and evening in the field at the side of my caravan in localine. Belting!
An absolute monster of a White Tailed Eagle flew over Lochaline this morning. A belting bird! A single Grasshopper Warbler was singing as was Yellowhammer, Skylark and Siskin. Friday there was a single Merlin seen. Plenty Buzzards about a pair have made a nest near the job I'm working on! One Crossbill was seen yesterday. Saw a Rock Pipit and two Turnstones on Wednesday evening.
White Tailed Eagle over Lochaline yesterday being mobbed by Hooded crows, will try and keep this thread and the isle of mull thread updated as I've moved from leigh to lochaline. Cheers Scott.
The peninsular North of Mull and South of Ardnamurchan has been a weekly pilgrimage for me since 1977. With secluded coastlines, high hills and hidden Glens its a quiet little paradise to get away from it all. On arrival at the house the feeders were put up straight away. First to visit within minutes were House Sparrows and Chaffinches. The following morning came the Siskins and the Redpolls, dozens of them. Food on the garden table brought Robins and Greenfinches. In the garden (after moving three slow worms to safety) were Song and Mistle Thrush, Blackbird, Blackcap, Treecreeper, Bullfinch, Whitethroat, Garden Warbler, Goldcrest, Great, Blue and Long Tailed Tits, Wren, and Wood Pigeon. Hourly visits by a GS Woodpecker was always a highlight and almost daily we were visited by a Pine Marten but I was the only one to miss a photo opportunity. On the Rannoch river which runs past the house, were Pied and Yellow Wagtails, two pairs of Dipper, Spotted Flycatcher, Willow Warblers everywhere, and a Tawny Owl. Following the Rannoch river up to Loch Ternait, Meadow Pipit in abundance, Whinchat and Stonechat around every corner, and Wheatear all over the moorland. At least ten different sightings of Buzzard and Carrion Crow and Hooded Crow mobbing them constantly. Golden Eagle seen almost every day, sometimes being divebombed by Buzzards, spectacular to watch. Cuckoo's can be heard almost constantly throughout the day. On Loch Aline, were Mute Swans, Red Breasted Merganser, Common Sandpiper, Greenshank, Redshank, Goosander, LB Gulls, Herring Gulls, Common Gulls, Oystercatcher, Cormorant, Shag, Mallard, and Heron. On the fringes were Sedge Warbler, Snipe, and Rock Pipits. Otters were seen every single day. The road to Drimnin yielded Whimbrel, Shelduck, BB Gulls, GN Diver, RT Diver, Common and Arctic Tern, WT Sea Eagle, Yellowhammer, Guillemot, Greylag, Goldeneye, Eider and Swift. Another cracking week, just got to detox now before Mull visit next month.
