Mull Charters have a ‘Splashy’ start to the season

Mull Charters had their first trip of the 2012 season aboard the Lady Jayne on Wednesday and what a trip is was. As well as the amazing sight of a Sea Eagle, the 4^th largest Eagle in the world catching a fish right beside the boat they were accompanied by a group of up to 7 Bottlenose Dolphins. These sociable animals were splashing and playing alongside the boat giving all the passengers an early season treat.

Bottlenose Dolphins are a transient species in the waters around Mull and pass through as and when, so to see them at any time is fantastic but to have them on a first trip is surely a sign of a great season to come.

Mull Charters run trips throughout the summer season with their Sea Eagle adventure tour running most days and also the chance to go fishing or join a trip to the island of Inch Kenneth.

This picture was taken on a Mull Charters trip last year, but shows the playful nature of the Bottlenose Dolphins

Pic by E Birder Marcus Conway.

 By Thursday the Dolphins hadn’t ventured too far as they were seen by Turus Mara out by the Treshnish Isles. These were not the only unusual animals seen on this trip yesterday as a Sea Eagle was spotted out at Staffa. Although these birds can fly huge distances and the short trip presumably from Mull to Staffa is but a short hop it is unusual to see these impressive predators out at sea.

As the 2012 season kicks off for us at Explore Mull from our new premesis in Ledaig carpark in Tobermory & the launch of our new website www.exploremull.com where we have information on Mull as well as a booking system for trips and tours on the Island.
We are already getting great sightings back from the boat trips of Harbour porpoise, White tailed eagles, Gannets, Manx shearwaters & a few Puffins and many other sea birds.
The land toursare producing all the normal wildlife seen on Mull  including White tailed & Golden eagles, Red deer, Fallow deer, Otters & many other migratory birds.
Local information on Tobermory including an events diary can be found at www.tobermory.co.uk & for local information on Iona and what on go to www.isle-of-iona.net .
As well as writing the blog we intend to put sightings on our facebook wildlife page
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Explore-Mull-Wildlife/101051896607492 on a regular basis and general information on http://www.facebook.com/pages/Explore-Mull/328490013858?ref=tn_tnmn.

New for the 2012 season is that the Eagle hide has moved to Glen Seilisdeir still bookable on 01680812556 trips twice daily 10am & 1pm each trip lasts aprox 2 hours and costs £6 per Adult and £3 for under 16's.

Now thats the general information to start the season, the wildlife blogs start here.

Altered Images : the Sequel

By now, you should have a reasonable idea as to how this quiz is to be tackled. However, one or two of the following images may be difficult, if not downright impossible, to pin down to a specific bird, plant or animal. Therefore, in such cases, a generic answer will suffice. Remember, all images are of wildlife that is commonly encountered on the Isle of Mull and Iona. Prepare to have your mind boggled!

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How well you performed in this quirky quiz probably tells you more about your state of mind rather than your ability as an amateur naturalist. However, we hope that you’ve had some fun pitting your wits against these distorted images, more of which may appear from time to time as part of our regular ‘Nature Notebook’ blog.

Stuart

A Previously Unanswered Question

Do you recognise these images from anywhere? The answers to our New Year Quiz are featured in the following two blog posts :-

Wine, Birds and Song

Referred to as the ‘Nightingale That Sang On Breadalbane Street’, the cheeky and cheery Robin is one of only a few local birds that sing throughout the year. Heard accompanying drunken late night revellers, as they make their way up Prison Brae in Tobermory, the Robin is often disturbed into song during the dark nights of Winter. Robins possess large eyes for such a small bird and additional sensory receptors (rods) in their retinas that allow them to see and forage in the dark, long after other birds have gone to roost – 28/10/11

Of Choice and Over Here

The Sitka Spruce, a native of high rainfall areas in Western North America, is well-suited to life on Mull and is the conifer of choice of local forestry operators. When felled for commercial purposes, each tree reveals a series of internal rings of woody tissue, from which it is possible to gauge its age, as well as the differing environmental conditions that the tree experienced during its life. These annular rings provide a fascinating insight : during poor growing seasons the ring that develops will not be as thick as one produced after a good season. The rings on this tree are of a similar girth, suggesting that the growing seasons on Mull during its lifetime were remarkably similar and without great fluctuation – 10/07/11

 

Delicate and In Decline

As the only ‘Blue’ butterfly on Mull and Iona, the Common Blue (this is a male) is easily identified. It has suffered a long-term decline and numbers emerging in Spring have greatly fluctuated in recent years. These delicate insects are as highly sensitive as they are beautiful and have evolved specialised adaptations to aid their survival. The large eyes are made up of thousands of tiny lenses, which supply the insect’s brain with a compound image of the world in which they live. Although short-sighted, they are well-equipped to detecting movement (of predators and rivals) and manoeuvring rapidly in flight – 18/06/11

 

Fishy Business

The Isle of Mull and Iona has a very healthy population of Otters. It has been suggested that as many as 120 territories are to be located around the Isle of Mull’s 305 miles of coastline alone. That a single territory may only be around 1 mile in length when conditions are good also suggests that the islands’ may offer scope for some expansion! An Otter’s calling card is its spraint, which is defaecated at strategic points in its territory, signalling a warning to other animals that this area is inhabited. Spraints decompose relatively quickly in the Mull and Iona climate, but are characteristically black and tar-like in consistency when fresh – 29/05/11

 

A Deer Price To Pay

Recent Winters have taken their toll on the Red Deer population on the Isle of Mull. Weak and sickly animals that may have survived previously were culled by the inclement weather and those that survived did so in a poor state of condition. However, this was good news for eagles, buzzards, ravens and crows on the island, which were served a welcome treat to help them get through the worst that Mother Nature could throw at them during the cold, dark days of Winter – 08/11/10

Answers to New Year Quiz (Part One) : 1. Robin; 2. Annular Rings (Sitka Spruce); 3. Common Blue; 4. Otter Spraint, and; 5. Red Deer (Stag)

Stuart

Altered Image (New Year Quiz)

Pages from the ‘Explore Mull’ Nature Notebook

We’ve played around with several images from the ‘Explore Mull’ photobook to produce this fun and quirky New Year quiz. It looks far more difficult than it really is, so just think in terms of the birds, plants and animals that are commonly encountered on the Isle of Mull and Iona and you won’t go far wrong. It may help to have a glass of your favourite tipple in hand, in order to re-focus some of the distorted images!

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That wasn’t too difficult now, was it? Now that your eyes are attuned to what this little bit of post-festive fun is all about, another selection of altered images will be posted in our next blog, as will the answers to this first selection.

Stuart

Going wild on Mull & Iona

New for 2012! Join us at ‘Explore Mull’ on a bewitching journey of adventure and discovery, as we endeavour to make 2012 the best year ever for wildlife and wildlife-watchers on the islands of Mull and Iona.

  

In recent decades, Mull and Iona has earned the enviable reputation as the premier wildlife tourism destination in the British Isles. Thousands of birdwatchers and wildlife enthusiasts flock to the island every year, hoping to catch a glimpse of Mull’s celebrated birds and animals. In doing so, visitors help generate millions of pounds for the local economy in a time of continuing recession.

At ‘Explore Mull’, we are justifiably proud of this success and strive to keep Mull and Iona at the forefront of eco-tourism in this country by continuing to champion the islands’ wonderful wildlife and scintillating scenery.

The Isle of Mull and Iona boasts an opulent biodiversity that ranges from the spores of a myriad of fungi that fruit perennially throughout the islands to apex predators, like White-tailed Eagles, Otters, Minke Whales and Basking Sharks. A mighty handful of celebrated and iconic species provide an intoxicating allure for wildlife lovers and have helped propel the islands toward the coveted status that they enjoy today in the hearts and minds of wildlife watchers worldwide.

Forged by fire and sculpted by ice over a mind-boggling near 3 billion years, the exhilarating landscapes and seascapes of the Isle of Mull and Iona are guaranteed to take your breath away, being among the most beautiful in the British Isles. Influenced by the Gulf Stream, the area’s climate is capricious in nature, with the ever-shifting light affording photographers a fantastic opportunity to capture the local scenery throughout the spectrum of its moods, amid the backdrop of the changing seasons.

New for 2012, the ‘Going Wild On Mull and Iona’ blog, detailing pages from the ‘Explore Mull’ Nature Notebook’, aims to encourage interest in every aspect of the islands’ natural history and not merely its ever-popular eagles and otters. There is so much more to Mull and Iona than White-tailed Eagles and Otters and we intend to celebrate the islands’ unheralded wildlife, as much as the more sought after birds, plants and animals, on these pages during the coming months.

Linked to an up-to-date ‘Latest Sightings’ page, the ‘Going Wild On Mull and Iona’ blog will have an educative slant, with a strong information bias, which we intend to present in a quirky, interactive and fun way, allowing followers to keep in touch with what’s happening in the world of Mull and Iona wildlife.

A Happy New Year to all our friends and followers and may 2012 be just what we wish it to be : the best year ever for wildlife and wildlife-watchers on the Isle of Mull and Iona!

Stuart

But there aren't any whales around now are there?!

The last few weeks have been fantastic for sightings however a bit more detail about that after I explain the title of today's blog.

As we all know there is never a guarantee with wildlife just general trends and helpful hints. Some of the longer running boat trips on Mull have witnessed many variations in the seasons sightings of Minke Whales, however the general trend is that they can be seen from April through into October, with a usual increase in sightings in late May and June. However just recently I have had a number of people come in and when they ask about boat trips they say, "but there aren't any Whales here now", where they are 'finding' this information I'm not sure but in my opinion this year later in the season has brought the best sightings. Obviously in coming years this may not be the case, however who knew after last year's amazing number of Basking Shark sightings that this year we would see them fewer times in the whole season than we did in June last year. The reason for this is not known and probably never will be however as with anything there are a number of possibles.

Anyway back to the actual sightings, the last few weeks with the exception of bad weather days Minke Whales have been seen on all trips and a number of times at least 2 whales have been seen on a trip. Last Wednesday the perfect conditions brought about some fantastic trips with an estimate of 3-7 Minke Whales being seen on a 4 hour trip. I tend to be more conservative in my estimation unless we have photographic evidence of that many individuals, however even 3 is a fantastic sight and left all on board very happy. Another bonus was that these Whales were all within an hour or so steaming from Tobermory. Another good sight on Wednesday was two Orca and two Bottlenose Dolphins seen from Ardnamurchan lighthouse.

We have had a few Dolphin sightings within the last couple of weeks, and there have also been another couple of Sunfish seen. One sighting that did seem very late in the season was a Puffin seen on the 1st of September, these little Auks will start leaving their grassy burrows from the beginning of August and usually we don't see any from the middle of the month, hopefully this little fellow will soon fly off and catch up with the others.

We're now into migration time and the boat trips will usually turn up some unusual bird sighting, so who knows what the rest of the season will bring.