Mull 'Spring Skydancer' tour 23rd March - 27th March 2026

23rd evening - day 1

We all met up at our accommodation at Oakfield House before heading out for the afternoon.

A wet and windy afternoon to start the trip. On our way to our first stop we had Goosander

and Red-breasted Merganser, Bar-tailed Godwit and other common waders plus a few

Harbour Seals and 2 showy Red-throated Divers from the roadside.

Red and Fallow deer were ticked off next from the van. Sadly, the weather really turned

when we arrived at the sea loch, but we saw a few Shags and Divers, and a lone Grey Seal,

sadly no sign of any Otters. The rain stopped, and we managed a short stop getting fantastic

views of an Adult White-tailed Eagle (WTE) as it flew in briefly plunging down to try and fail

to catch a Shag before flying off into the weather.

Heading out to the Sound of Mull we had a few Razorbills and Guillemots, a Kittiwake and a

Gannet, plus an adult WTE perched up in the pines. Heading for closer views the other adult

WTE in the pair flew out and perched up in view.

At our final stop we saw some common waders and gull species, Wigeon and a pair of Mute

Swans and a pair of Whooper Swans. We headed back to the house for the end of day 1.

24th:

Another wet day with a light breeze. We first stopped in on the Sound of Mull, straight out the

van Ewan spotted an Otter with her 2 cubs out on the islands. Mum went off to feed, leaving

her cubs to play on the tiny island. A distant immature WTE was chasing the gulls up the

sound and a sizable Eider flock were out on the sea. 2 Gannets, Razorbills and Kittiwakes

flew north and a flock of Wigeon and Turnstone were in the high tide roost.

Passing Loch Don we spotted a few Shelduck and a Little Egret, a Mull scarcity.

On to the open moorland, 2 WTE soared over the distant hill range and an adult male Hen

Harrier coasted the near hillside with a female coming up from below, gliding together for a

while. A male Hen Harrier appeared on the skyline trying to do a few brief skydancing

undulations, but the lack of sun maybe not enticing him to perform. A Stonechat was nearby.

As the tide was dropping we headed to the nearby sea loch seeing Black Guillemots, Eiders

and Divers there. On a short very wet walk we had good views of an immature WTE and

eventually an Otter out fishing.

We headed for a sheltered woodland late lunch spot. Covering more grassland habitats we

saw an Irish Hare out grazing and a Carrion Crow with the local Hoodies.

Heading back north a stop in at another loch we enjoyed Greenshank, Redshank,

Goosander, Goldeneye, LBB and Common Gulls and a distant ringtail Hen Harrier.

Heading back home we ended the day with a few more Goldeneye and 4 Sand Martins

hawking insects over the freshwater lochs.

25th:

A very wet and windy day with snow and hail! Local naturalist and friend of Nature Scotland

Stuart joined us for the day. We enjoyed a woodland walk on the search for lichens under

Stuart’s expert guidance seeing some nice species including, Lungworts, Liverworts, Scarlet

Elf caps and the impressively named Frilly-fruited jelly skin lichen!.The dreadful weather limited our sightings till almost lunchtime other than a family of

Whooper Swans on a freshwater loch. Further on, we had a distant Golden Eagle,

Great-northern Divers, Red-breasted Mergansers and 2 Yellowhammers. The weather finally

cleared to a bright but breezy afternoon, good raptor weather… En route to lunch we had a

great low adult WTE flyby and another further down while we had lunch. We had a skyline

ringtail Hen Harrier from the van enroute to the next stop.

Into Mull’s mountainous areas, a Golden Eagle glided over the mountain ridge towards its

mate circling below and they both headed out of view. The female Golden Eagle appeared

right over the near hillside alongside a male Hen Harrier before gaining height and doing

some fantastic skydancing display, big undulations and tumbling through the air!

A Kestrel joined the eagle briefly before the Goldie flew back towards the cliff and dropped

straight into its nest, not appearing again, but that's likely a good sign for this pair at this time

of year.

Onto our next stop we had a brief immature WTE, a distant male Hen Harrier with a pair of

Buzzards and a Golden Eagle over the near hillside being harassed by a Raven.

Out on the grass moorland we finished our day with a hugely distant Golden Eagle sat on its

nest while another sat on the opposing hillside. A male Hen Harrier gave a great close flyby.

Further down we watched 2 ringtail Hen Harriers hunting the moorland, a Golden Eagle

trying to move on an immature WTE which shortly after joined a convocation of 4 WTE’s in

the glorious golden light, 1 of them decided to fly almost overhead before we headed back to

Tobermory. The day wasn't done, with yet another adult WTE being mobbed by Buzzards on

our route home.

26th:

A calm and cloudy morning turning wetter and windier in the afternoon. Heading to the north

of Mull, a Red-throated Diver flew over the Mishnish lochs with 3 Goosander further down.

Heading over to the moors we had a pair of adult WTE perched in the spruce trees, the

female flying off and giving a great flyby.

On the moors we had a distant adult WTE and 2 Kestrels and on a scenic walk we had

singing Curlews, chipping Snipe and 2 Wheatears. The weather came in sadly but we found

a sheltered spot for lunch where 2 Crossbills whizzed over calling. Onto the sealoch, Theo

quickly spotted a dog Otter on a spit before it headed off to fish but did come ashore again

and had a good roll around on the reef. An adult WTE also flew in, flushing the ducks and

waders, whilst a pair of Slavonian Grebes showed well in the scope.

Further down the rain once again came in but we had good views of Great-northern Divers

and a mother and cub Otter briefly on a small island before heading out to fish. We headed

back north to Tobermory for early dinner. Back out again for an informative talk on Mull’s

Eagles by Ewan at Salen for the Mull wildlife Group to see out the day.

27th - last day

A bright but breezier day and occasional showers. The first stop was to try for Dippers but

sadly no joy with the high water levels. Bullfinch, Greenfinch, Siskin and flyover Redwings

were nice to see.

Next onto a walk at Loch Ba, an immature WTE flew over the car park. We had Goosanders,

Goldcrests, Treecreeper and superb views of 7 Crossbills singing and displaying in the

conifers right overhead! Over to our next stop for refreshments we watched an adult female Golden Eagle plucking a

Ptarmigan up in the heather on the hillside! An immature WTE flew by before heading over to

join a 2nd WTE to feed on some carrion distantly on the tide line. We headed back to the

house and had some lunch. Then said our goodbyes after a great 5 days on Mull.