A busy month for wildlife

Since the return of the Minke Whales over a month ago we have had some fantastic sightings with 5 different individuals seen on one very good day. Obviously the long period of calm and sunny weather has meant that as well as having more boats out looking it is much easier spot the wildlife. As well as the Whales we have good sightings of Basking Sharks with many more reports of breaching Sharks already this season, the Dolphins have also been putting on a fantastic show, with both Common and Bottlenose being seen at least once a week. Both these species are just transient so pass through at any time but it seems like conditions are favourable in the waters around Mull at the minute as they seem to be sticking around.



As well as the larger species we are having good views of the birds, the trips leaving from Tobermory are seeing both the White Tailed and Golden Eagles on an almost daily basis, with at least the Golden Eagle having a nest with 2 chicks in it. Other nests around the island have been very successful, with the new stars of Mull Eagle watch having 2 chicks in the nest as do a number of our West coast nests, which is especially good news for Mull Charters and their Sea Eagle adventure trip as it means the parents are taking advantage of the easy meal in order to feed their hungry young so they are having fantastic views of both the adult birds taking the fish from beside the boat on nearly every trip.



Otters are being very elusive this year with even the experienced land tour operators struggling to find them, however that is all part of the fun of wildlife watching! There have been some amazing sights seen on the minibus tours. For example whilst one group were looking at a Golden Eagle nest one of the adult birds flew from the hillside and attacked a Buzzard. The pair then tumbled to the ground where the victorious Eagle proceeded to eat the Buzzard! Nature at its best! There have also been some special one-off sightings for example a Red backed Shrike and a Red Kite being seen from the Treshnish headland.



I’m sure the next few weeks will bring many more exciting sightings so we will keep you updated. For more frequent updates and pictures from the trips have a look at our facebook page https://www.facebook.com/pages/Explore-Mull-Wildlife/101051896607492