Isle of Mull ~ 9th to 11th September 2022 ~ I'm Normally in Tarifa Spain for the raptor migration at this time of year but as an alternative, I decided to head off to the Isle of Mull to catch up with a friend instead. With covid etc, It's been a few years since I met up with Theo de Clermont one of my old Warwickshire buddies but with Theo working on the Isle of Mull for the season as a naturalist guide for Nature Scotland, I felt this was a perfect opportunity to do just that.
 |
| The fantastic sight (unfortunately in laden skies) of a family of three Golden Eagles ~ Juvenile (right) |
It was a brilliant weekend of
Golden Eagles,
White-tailed Eagles,
Hen Harriers,
Otters and a self-found
Pectoral Sandpiper. Also of note during my few days were
Little Stint,
Curlew Sandpipers,
Pale-bellied Brent Goose and
Twite. Cetaceans included many pods of
Common Dolphins, a
Minke Whale, and many Common Seals.
 |
| Pectoral Sandpiper |
The above
Pectoral Sandpiper was picked up by Theo along the tiniest of burns while we were walking in the Calgary area of the Island, I have to say a typical Theo find! What a brilliant birder young Theo is turning out to be.
 |
| The closest I came to an Otter on this particular visit. |
 |
| (Digiscoped) ~ One of several Otters seen during my stay, mainly at a distance. |
 |
| (Digiscoped) ~ Juvenile Golden Eagle |
Unfortunately, it wasn't the best weekend with the camera with most sightings at a distance and digiscoped, the best of which is above.
 |
| The Pinkies are back! More birds arriving along the Ythan Estuary on September 20th. |
🌤 18C Tuesday 20th September 2022 ~ With the easterly winds now a distant memory things have calmed down somewhat locally from a rarity perspective but there's still plenty happening and I'm sure still more to come, particularly with the amount of
Yellow-browed Warblers currently being reported on Shetland. A few visits to the Ythan Estuary over the last few days have seen lots of
Pink-footed Geese arriving back from Iceland, mixed in with smaller numbers of
Barnacle Geese, likely arriving from the Svalbard population before heading down to the Solway Firth.
 |
| One of over 30 Ruff seen from the the 'snub' layby, Ythan Estuary |
Wader numbers are increasing with some huge flocks of
Golden Plover and from the large counts of
Ruff recently it would seem this particular species has had a good year.
 |
| More Ruff on the Ythan |
 |
| Some huge flocks of Golden Plover |
 |
| Black-tailed Godwits |
