Mull November tour: 2nd-6th November 2024

Day 1

We all met up at our accommodation house before heading out for the afternoon,

a windy and rainy afternoon was on the cards and high tide, so we headed to moorland

areas of NW Mull, on the way we saw Snipe and Little Grebes. Coming into Calgary bay in a

flooded field there were lots of Oystercatchers and Common Gulls and a sizable Greylag

Goose flock, hidden amongst them were 10 Greenland White-fronted Geese, a species

becoming a very v rare sight on Mull and with 4 of them being juveniles even better news!

Out on the moors we saw a few Red Deer, Buzzards and a Kestrel, before a pair of Golden

Eagles drifted across from the far ridgeline, the female briefly displaying.

A Sparrohawk whizzed by and a few more Red Deer were seen on our way round the moors

as dusk came in. In the last of the evening light, we watched a ringtail Hen Harrier quartering

before dropping into roost, whilst a Water Rail was screeching

Back to the house for night 1.

Day 2

A wet day beckoned, so we headed for the SE of the island to focus on water-based

habitats. Driving along the coast on our way down, we had brief views of an Otter out fishing,

slightly further down, another Otter was fishing and a dog Otter swam to join it… not a

friendly encounter, they scrapped in the water before heading to an island where we could

hear the chattering and screeching as they fought! Clearly 2 territorial males.

We arrived in heavy rain to our main focus area for the day, seeing a Little Egret on the way.

Ewan quickly spotted an Otter fishing in the shoreline seaweed. Arriving at the end of the

loch we found 2 more Otters there feeding in the calm waters. We started our pre lunch

walk, where we had brief views of yet another otter, our 7th of the day, this time another big

dog Otter, 2 Great-northern Divers, Black and Common Guillemots, feral Goats on the

opposite shore and we admired the rare Hazel Gloves fungus. Finally, a break in the clouds

and a male Hen Harrier flew over the hilltop. A Juvenile Golden Eagle flew low in front of the

hill in front giving a great view, followed by a big adult female Golden Eagle and then a

juvenile White-tailed Eagle! They soared around together for a while, and yet another juvenile

WTE appeared, the adult Golden Eagle took a disliking and dive bombed it a few times

before they all flew off.

We headed to a woodland shelter for lunch, on our way there a male Hen Harrier skimmed

the grassland slopes above us with the wind behind it. After lunch, we stopped off at Duart

Castle on the way north and another coastal bay seeing Great-Northern Diver and Black

Guillemot there before admiring the torrents of water coming down Aros falls to finish the day

in style and still raining…

Day 3

The wind dropped a little and no rain!

On the ferry across to Ardnamurchan we saw Gannets, Razorbills, Guillemots and

Kittiwakes. Heading straight for higher ground at Ben Hiant we had great views of 2 Adult

WTE flying right overhead. We admired the temperate rainforest woodlands, driving along

Loch Sunart.

We arrived at our woodland walk spot, finding LT Tits and Coal Tits before a couple of Red

Squirrels appeared, they were busy dashing around caching food. A Sparrowhawk flew over

also.

Lunch at Loch Shiel we saw 2 Goosander, 2 Tufted Ducks and a few Little Grebes.

Heading back along Loch Sunart, a lucky few managed a flash of blue as a Kingfisher

whizzed along the lochside. A Greenshank showed well in the same bay.

Over the high ground while stuck in roadworks we saw 2 more distant Golden Eagles.

There had been quite a lot of marine mammal activity north of Ardnamurchan so we went for

a look. Sadly the feeding had dissipated with just a few Gannets around but great views

towards Muck and Eigg. Lots of Red Deer were out on the moorland, more so at dusk on

our way back to the ferry terminal. The sun was just setting on our way back on the ferry to

Mull.

Day 4

A calm day but heavy rain nearly all day.. We started with coastal habitat and after a little

searching had good views of a female Otter and her sizeable cub feeding tight in at the

shoreline and bringing small catches ashore. A few Ringed Plovers were in a coastal bay

and Great-northern Divers were offshore.

Coming away from the coast, we had good views of Fallow Deer through the gaps in the

trees. Viewing across the Sound of Mull, we spotted our first fins of the week, in the form of a

few Harbour Porpoise travelling down the sound. Over lunch, we enjoyed the fungi in the

temperate rainforest, in particular the marvellous Hazel Glue fungus.

After lunch, we covered coastal grassland areas getting more close views of Red Deer, a

male Hen Harrier gave a couple of flybys, and we found a field containing 2 Mull scarcities, 2

Greenland White-fronted Geese and 2 Rooks in with the Hooded Crows. On our way north

we saw a large flock of Bar-tailed Godwits in a high tide roost as the light fell on our final

evening.

6th - Day 5

A light breeze and drizzly morning. We once again headed for coastal habitats, starting with a

pair of adult WTE’s, one perched in the trees and another out on the beach. Further down

the loch we found a female Otter and her 2 cubs eating prey on a small offshore island, we

watched them for a while fishing before an adult WTE flew in low out of nowhere just over

the top of the Otters, looking to see if it could steal their catch, it perched up in full fantastic

view just offshore on a patch of weed.

A dog Otter was eating its catch further down the shoreline. On leaving, a Golden Eagle

lifted from the hillside above and flew along the face of the hill. A short way further down we

spotted yet another Otter running along an offshore island with a Grey Seal and another

adult WTE watching on. A few Great-northern Divers were offshore and a Slavonian Grebe.

Next on the agenda was looking for a Dipper.. The river water level had finally dropped after

the last few days and a Dipper was sitting on the rocks doing a little bit of subsong. Our final

stop of the day was a wet woodland walk with just a Redpoll and a few Goldcrests, Coal Tits

and Buzzards of note.

We headed back to the house to say our goodbyes after a great Mull adventure!