Day off in the sunshine

Yesterday saw the warmest and sunniest day of the year so far for Mull and I was lucky enough to have a day off. Deciding to forgo the usual mundane day-off tasks, we decided to get out and enjoy the sunshine. Having heard about the Pied-Billed Grebe seen in Salen Bay and not yet having had a chance to go looking for it we headed off in the glorious spring sunshine. Even before we had reached Salen I had seen my first Swallow of the year; during the winter months I always forget how fond of these summer visitors I am! We then stopped at the old boats on Salen shore and had a walk down to the edge of the water.

There was no sign of the Grebe but we saw a good number of Common Seals hauled out on the rocks enjoying the sunshine, along with Oystercatchers noisily making their presence known, a couple of Red Breasted Merganser, Curlew, Greylag Geese and a single Mute Swan. We had a wander along the shore and saw a number of Buzzards soaring above us and heard at least two Willow Warblers singing from the bare branches, but even with no leaves they were impossible to see. Just as we were about to head back to the car, another bird came towards us, even from a distance you could tell it was something different and as it came closer and flew over our heads I instantly saw that it was an Osprey. This is a bird that whilst not common, is a summer visitor to the island and despite having seen them elsewhere this is my first sighting on Mull.

Unfortunately this isn’t a picture I took but from http://www.edupic.net/predator.htm

After this we started to head home, but with the lovely spring sunshine still beating down on us we decided to have another stop by Aros Bridge, this is where I had spotted the Swallows on the way down and is a notoriously good spot for Dippers. Again the Swallows were seen, but no Dipper today, however it was lovely just to be outside, enjoying the bird song from the Chaffinches and Blue Tits amongst others. It was also lovely to see the bright yellow flowers of the Gorse and the Daffodils as well as hearing the young lambs call to their mothers in the field.

When we arrived back in Tobermory we were greeted with the news that there had been a pod of Bottlenose Dolphins in Calgary Bay. It is likely that these are the same animals that were in Tobermory on Friday evening and with the lovely weather bringing lots of people to the beach there it is likely that their presence was enjoyed by many.

All of these sightings mean it has been a fantastic start to the season and long may it continue.

A new season is upon us

With the sound of drilling, sanding and hammering coming from all areas of the pontoon you can tell we’re coming to the beginning of a new season. With Easter being so late this year the boat refurbishments have taken on a more leisurely pace, however with a number of boat trips starting at the beginning of April last minute work is being done until the late evening. Luckily the weather has been kind to us lately and with the increasing day length this is a pleasure not a chore. Even I have been drafted in to assist with a bit painting! Despite there still being a sprinkling of snow on the mountains there is a definite feel of spring in the air and the animals know it too. Last week, St Patrick’s Day saw a pod of 7 Bottlenose Dolphins come into the bay and spend a couple of hours showing off courtship behaviour. Whilst many locals and visitors watched from the main street, staff from the HWDT jumped on the Harbour Association Rib and went out studying behaviour and taking photo identification pictures, further information can be found on their website http://www.whaledolphintrust.co.uk/news_article.asp?news_id=230. The Eagles have been good to us all winter and there have regularly been 3 seen above the bay and flying to Aros park, reports are that one is an adult bird released in Fife last year and we think the other 2 are juveniles. Also the Tobermory Peregrine Falcons have been making themselves known, they often sit on top of the gallery in the main street, eyeing up the local feral pigeon population. With the regular sightings of feathers on the pavement it looks like they are living up to their name of fearsome predators. Even when not in sight you can hear them calling from over much of Tobermory. Last week there was another first for the year with a single Basking Shark seen near Tiree whilst one of the local boats was carrying out a bird survey in the area. This is an incredibly early sight, however looking into other Basking Shark reports for the year it looks like there have been a few more sightings, have a look at http://www.baskingsharks.org/whatsnews_all.asp for more information. This is just a quick round up of some of the recent sightings around Tobermory. This season we are going to try to keep a weekly report of all interesting sightings and hopefully we will set up a link so that visitors and locals will be able to send us their wildlife sightings. For now all I'll say is that Explore Mull is now open and operating from the Aros Hall on the main street in Tobermory.

Lots to see

The trips over the last couple of weeks have been fantastic with some great sightings, fantastic weather and lovely people.
We have seen Basking Sharks on all but one day, and on one trip we lost count of the number of Sharks at 40! We have also had some great Minke Whale sightings some as close as about half an hour from Tobermory and as always it has been a pleasure to sit in the sunshine on a calm sea watching the wildlife just do it's own thing!
We still have a few more weeks of the main season left, so we're all looking to get out as much as possible and hopefully see those elusive Orca, but whatever turns up in the next few weeks, we can all agree that the sightings in 2010 have been fantastic.

Risso's Dolphins

Despite a very wet trip yesterday we had plenty of sightings including 4 Risso's Dolphin which is a first for me despite having been on boats around the Hebrides for the last 4 seasons. This is a large Dolphin species and whilst they can be very playful yesterday they were just milling around, slowly surfacing. A very nice sight. We also saw lots of Basking Sharks, Harbour Porpoise and Seals, along with a very soggy juvenile Sea Eagle that by the time we returned had sensibly retreated to the relative shelter of the trees.

Sunday's trip again had fantastic sightings with Minke Whale, Basking Sharks and a Sunfish all being seen along with the smaller species.

A week of two halves

Last Sunday was Tobermory Lifeboat day and the weather couldn't have been more perfect for it; clear skies, warm sunshine and light winds. Monday dawned much the same in terms of winds, but slightly more damp, however all on board were looking forward to the trip ahead. We went out to the Seal colony and then up to the Sea Eagle nest. We saw one of the adults in the bay itself and as we went round to the point one of the chicks was sat on the big rock stack. We were sitting there watching that when one of the passengers said ‘there's something over there,’ we had a look and it was a Basking Shark, it was a fairly small individual but a great start to the trip, as we were sitting there still with the Shark and Eagle visible a group of Harbour Porpoise appeared, so that was 3 of the big 5 within a short time of leaving Tobermory.

After this fantastic start we headed further offshore, and then came a call of there's something big over there. I had a look and saw a small Minke Whale surface a few hundred metres off. We saw it surface a few times and then it went for a deep dive and we lost it. However by then we had received a shout from a nearby fishing boat to say he had seen lots of Sharks so we headed over and had some really close views. We then picked up the whale again and watched as it moved up and down the tideline foraging. It was whilst we were all enjoying a cup of tea that it decided it wanted to have a closer look at us and surfaced twice, once either side of the boat at less than 20 metres, fantastic.

The trips since then have varied, Tuesday morning dawned sunny, but un-forecasted strong winds restricted our trip to the more sheltered inshore waters, however all had a good trip and we managed to have a fantastic view of a family of Harbour Porpoise foraging, as well as the Sea Eagles, a range of seabirds and the seals, including lots of young pups.

By the second trip on Tuesday afternoon the weather had improved so we headed further out and this time we had some great close views of Basking Sharks and the Sharks have been seen on every trip since, including some particularly large individuals. However as I write this I am sitting in the office watching the rain steadily fall and the bay getting buffeted by strong winds.

Unfortunately the Hebrides tend to get their best weather in May and June, with July and August being a lot less settled, this unfortunately means that those who visit during the typical summer months are often disappointed, but for those of you looking to visit the island all I would recommend it to expect the unexpected, as Crowded House sang, we often encounter 4 seasons in one day!

The Whales return

With a spell of bad weather, followed by a week of private charters it was good to get back out on the boat. Monday dawned sunny, with a bit of a breeze. We headed out past the Seal colony and up to the Sea Eagles nest. Next it was time to head further out and we had fantastic views of some Basking Sharks, probably around 6 individuals. One in particular stood out with what looked like a bite mark on its back just behind the dorsal fin, hopefully we managed to get some decent photos to show to our Shark researches who may be able to shed light on the possible cause.
Tuesday's trip followed the same route and we had some more fantastic views of the Sharks, but yet again no whales.
By Wednesday the wind had strengthened and the area covered was more of the sheltered inshore waters, however again Basking Sharks were seen.
Thursday whilst still slightly breezy had improved and they headed out, and this time as well as the usual suspects, Seals, Sea Eagles and Sharks, they had a Minke Whale sighting and relatively close inshore as well. Despite being on a day off myself and missing out it's good to know that they are still out there and with the forecast for the coming week predicting calm seas I can't wait to get back out there and track down some Stinky Minke's!

Dolphin's make the trip

With a small group on board on Saturday we left Tobermory and went straight out to the local seal colony. Now the Common Seals have finished breeding they are coming back to this area and we had some nice views of the seals basking on the rocks. We then headed up to the area where we have been seeing the Sea Eagles and again weren't disappointed. On the way across the bay we had a view of 4 Peregrine Falcons flying behind the boat, despite there being a good population of this species on the island we don't often see them from the boat. Then we were treated to a good display by one of the adult Sea Eagles, it flew behind the boat scaring a large number of Gulls into flight as it passed, it then went and perched in a tree and patiently sat there for photos. After this we headed further offshore and enjoyed the sunshine and good conditions. Despite only seeing a few Harbour Porpoise all were happy as we headed for home and it was then the Dolphin's decided to show themselves.
We were treated to good views of 6 bow-riding Bottlenose Dolphins, including one small juvenile and as we looked around we realised there were many more in the area. Unfortunately our trip was coming to an end, so we started heading home and were accommpanied for a while by a small number. As we passed one of the other trips on the way out we informed them of the Dolphin's presence and by the time the boat had reached them, they had all come together and there were about 15 animals playing around the vessel.
We did manage to get some video footage and hope to put it on here soon.