2011 season good to go!

Well hello everyone the last few weeks have been a busy spell trying to get everything all set for the up and coming season. Sula Beag has been based down in Oban for the off season on Kerrera a small island just off the west coast town. So daily trips from Mull to the mainland were done enjoying the early spring scenery

The weather in March was the usual mixed bag with a good covering of snow on the second week of the month creating fantastic scenery especially around Ben More mountain range. Plenty of rain to go with it as well as plenty of sunshine hours which light up the island creating fantastic unique landscapes.

Durat Castle from Oban Ferry

Commuting to and from Oban gave us the chance to see what wildlife there was in the surrounding area. Oban Harbour had a good number of Black Guilimot and also Turnstone the masters of disguise on the rocky shore by the main street with one bird seen crossing the road without looking both ways! We also had Great Northern Diver in winter plumage seen close up next to the Oban Marina. A couple of Common Seal seen by Kerrera and Ravens and Buzzards pairing up on the steap cliff face that was looking down on the boat yard.

Black Guilimot off Oban

Sula Beag ready to take to the seas again!

View from kerrara looking east towards Oban

Looking back at Kerrara after a days work on Sula beag :-)

The SLS team were itching to get back out there and start looking for wildlife again and on the 19th of the month it became a step closer as Sula Beag was ready to be launched into the water again and head north up the sound of Mull for her homecoming back at Tobermory :-)

Bottlenose Dolphin in Tobermory Harbour, 17-03-11

An exciting event took place in Tobermory harbour on the 3rd week of the month as upto 7 Bottlenose Dolphin were spotted putting on acrobatic displays for a couple of hours with the public on the main street delighted with the free entertainment and its a good early sign for the up and coming season :-)

Red deer near Lochdon

Wildlife update for the month and there was some great sightings and encounters to be had starting with my first full day on the island and I decided to cover new ground and go and explore Ardmore right on the north part of the island. Minutes after getting out of the car...Beauty! a pair of Hen Harriers hunting over the heather in a snow blizzard. It was the first time I had witnessed a Hen Harrier in an upland habitat in its breeding environment as in the past all my sightings have been a bird coming into roost in a lowlands winter season. Hen Harrier are are doing great on the Isle of Mull and with more pairs of breeding Harriers in the north part of the island than there are in the whole of England is a credit to Mull and the way the Wildlife is valued and respected and equally a depressing state of affairs on the problems on the mainland.

Male Hen Harrier

As I arrived at Ardmore point and watched a White Tailed Eagle working the coast line I then decided to make my way back to the car and making a round route out of my journey and within minutes I came across a cat following the beaten track in front of me and instinctively I reached for my camera and managed to get one record photo before the cat spotted me and took off in a flash. When I looked back at the photo there and then I noticed the thick black banded tail markings and the sheer wildness of the cat itself made me very interested to look further into the possibility that it was a hybrid Wildcat.

Hybrid Wildcat, Ardmore

I had taken an interest into Scottish Wildcats a couple of years ago and it was their rarity and illusiveness that interested me. I had read that there had been a possible Wildcat sighting on the north part of the island so I decided to send the photo to the Wildcat association and I got a response the next day confirming that it was a hybrid! The interesting part is that Mull has never been connected as part of mainland Scotland and the island is not big enough to sustain a healthy population of Wildcats over a long period of time so possible scenarios are that a desperate Cat has swam across the Sound of Mull at some point as Wildcats are known to be fantastic swimmers compared to their water shy domestic cousins. Another possibility is that one came across with man or in a timber wagon which is very unlikely as Wildcats will make no attempt to go anywhere near a human as there name tells you they are as wild as the hills. All in all a very interesting sighting and that's the beauty of wildlife that there is always something new to discover and it never ceases to amaze you.

A diagram showing the key differences between Wildcat, Feral and Domestic Cat

Great Spotted Woodpecker Silhouette, Glen Forsa Estate

Other Wildlife sightings in the last few weeks include: -

• Minke Whale, west of Tiree
• Basking Shark, west of Tiree
• Pied Billed Grebe, Salen
• Red Necked grebe, Laggan bay
• Leucistic Hooded Crow, Fishnish
• 5 Bottlenose Dolphin, Croig

Ardmore looking north east

This time of the year is fantastic for Wildlife with species in stunning breeding condition and very active in display and in voice to attract a mate. The breeding Eagles will be on eggs now and incubation time is around about 38-45 days. Eagles nest early in the season to take advantage of the winter carrion available. Great news for our trips this season with the Ardmore White Tailed Eagles on eggs using the same nest site as last season which provides a great location to monitor them throughout the year. Also after noticing that the Loch Frisa pair of Eagles have been given well used names I then started wondering about the Ardmore pair and was quick to name the birds and encourage them to stick. So the newly named birds nesting at Ardmore point are John and Thelma (blue wing tag) named after the great wildlife warrior John Miles and his his amazing wife (I have to be their favourite son now!) so try and use the names in future and spread the word :-)

Golden eagle with a snowy Ben More in the back drop

A hero's return to Sealife Surveys on the 4th of April as Ruth Molley our Head Guide returned for a third season. She was delighted to be back as I caught her dancing around the visitor centre with joy but that could of just been because office manager Lydia was there....its great to have her back :-)

Thanks for reading, my next blog update will include sightings and stories from the first trips of the season as we will get out at the start of April and look for all sorts of glorious wildlife including Whales, Dolphins, Porpoise, Sharks, Eagles and more....Isle of Mull really is a Wildlife Heaven :-)

Ewan

Wildlife Guide