Spring Sights......First Whale!

Hello everyone I am pleased to say that trips are in full flow again for another season. All the hard work and preparation through the winter months is rewarded as we take to the seas again in search of all sorts of Wildlife in a special part of the world :-)

White Tailed Sea Eagles at Ardmore

The stunning Great Northern Diver being seen on our early trips

The Eagles at Ardmore have been showing well on our early season trips with the nesting pair on eggs and due to hatch any time in the next few days (22-04). A few close encounters to as an eagle would approach our boat put on a show and move on like it knows it is an attraction and has a job to do. Even better when gulls are mobbing the bird and you get a scale of the sheer size of this huge avian predator.

Bottlenose Dolphin in Tobermory with Sula Beag behind

An exciting encounter on the 8th April as 7 Bottlenose Dolphin came into the harbour just after 6pm to put on another fantastic display! The second time a group of Dolphins has visited the harbour in the space of a few weeks. Olivia from the HWDT was there at the time and managed to get these superb photos of the mammals with Sula Beag in the background. There was a number of Bottlenose Dolphin sightings reported around the coastline of Mull with particular locations being Croig and also Isle of Iona with photo records taken the HWDT are in the process of trying to match the Dorsal fin photos to identify whether the same group of Dolphins seen off Iona are the same group that has visited Tobermory harbour twice in the last few weeks.

7 Bottlenose Dolphin, Tobermory Harbour, Hopefully they take a liking to Sula Beag!

Tobermory

'Tob' as it is sometimes referred to by the locals is looking as picturesque as ever. The Peregrine Falcons have been showing well most days on the main street taking advantage of the Feral Pigeons up in the church tower and entertaining the tourists passing by.

Carins of Coll

A few visits to the Cairns of Coll have already been done on our seven hour whale watch trips. It really is a fantastic remote location and still amazes me on every visit as well as the first time visitors! It does seen to be sunny weather every time which makes it more stunning. Both species of Seals are still in good number and very relaxed at the Carins. Greater Black Backed Gulls are guarding their territories, Oystercatchers and shags are pairing up to breed.

Porpoise!

The good old reliable Resident Porpoise have done us all proud in the last few weeks. Ardmore being the hotspot area so far this season. You need eyes in the back of your head at Ardmore point as while your looking at the eagles the Porpoise will most likely be in view behind you as well.

Sula Beag - It is true after all about gold at the end of the rainbow :-)

Loch Na Keal looking east

LNK is a great all round spot on the island as it has got the lot...scenery, Wildlife and.....good places to park up and scan from. Sightings in the area the last few weeks have included all 3 Divers (Great Northern, Black Throated, Red Throated), Slavonian Grebe, White tailed eagle fishing, Otters and Golden Eagle in the higher terrain.

The illusive Eurasian Otter

Nice views of Otters on a couple of the 4 hour family whale watch trips spotted by chief guide Ruth. They are numerous in the area but still challenging to spot but a great reward if you do so!

Golden Eagle and two Hooded Crow, a nice photo to give you a size comparison

Right i've left the best bit of news to the end and on the 21st April we set off on a seven hour whale watch with 8 enthusiastic punters on board. The trip actually started on a sour note as it had to be delayed by an hour as visibility was less than 100 yards! when we got going at at half 10 the fog had lifted slightly and you could see the sun trying to burn it off so it was looking more promising. As we arrived at Ardmore the fog had thickened again and we couldn't see land in any direction and had not even seen a Gull yet! But things can only get better and the sun burnt through and got rid of the dense fog and we headed around the north west coastline of Mull in lovely blue sky and sunshine getting entertained by Fulmars and Porpoise!

We stopped for lunch and as Popz wandered up into the wheelhouse to head off north again....Whale!....done. The master finds us an early season whale and as we watched it break the water a few times I noticed its behaviour was very different in that it would surface once and then straight down for a deep dive to forage over a greater distance as the food will be more scarce at this time of year.

A great early sign for the season ahead to go with plenty of feeding sea birds to go with it so things are looking promising for this year.

Trip sightings: -

• Minke Whale
• Porpoise
• WT Eagle
• Golden Eagle
• Great Northern Diver
• Common / Grey Seal
• Otters
• Common Scoter

The Wildlife is hotting up and we will hopefully have plenty to report in the next few weeks. Thanks for looking :-)

Ewan

Wildlife guide