Isle of Mull 17-24th May 2014

A damp day to herald our return to a treasured and much visited Isle, we now know several good sites for wildlife so it was with much anticipation that we spent our first night in a lovely and comfortable cottage between Bunessan and Fionnophort in the south west.

As with the previous blog I will attempt a brief summary of our sightings...these lovely dunlin were our first beach sighting...

A brown hare is not what I expected in the sand dunes!

We thought at first that this was an otter sighting, it has been a while since we had live sightings...

It is in fact a female mink, confirmed by the appearance of the much smaller male...

Not native and not welcome, the sighting was reported to a local wildlife watcher who assured us the area was heavily trapped. We went to Iona as foot passengers, heard corncrakes and photographed a spotted flycatcher taking a break on a fence post...

Another day and patience and stealth was required to get a near water level close up of the enigmatic and beautiful great northern diver..

A calm and slightly misty early morning allowed me a reflective heron...

....and another near water level shot...a male eider duck...

A lengthy perusal of Loch na Keal....otters!

Unfortunately 70 metres+ away and impossible to get closer!

This nesting fulmar was photographed on Lunga, another fun and interesting boat trip! We also found a delightful wren...

Of course the reason for going to Lunga was puffins! Wonderful, photo friendly and photogenic beyond belief...what a delightful experience...

Another day, another boat trip and we enjoyed a full day as foot passengers to Iona. Peace and quiet and a feel of life in different times to be enjoyed here in the quiet bays away from the busy areas...

gannets dive....

Herons seem to pose well...

...and the corncrakes kept up their teasing....until we went into super patient mode! After much effort my first ever photograph!

Convinced we would get a better view we waited and waited and....

Oh my! how patience pays off...and luck!

Our last day and a favourite couple of locations, who knows what persistence and fortune would bring...

A hard bird to photograph well unless you wish to hike up steep hills with all your gear and wait all day to see potentially nothing is a golden eagle, we contented ourselves with some trusted information, great binocular views and a couple of long distance photographs...

We had some decent otter views during the day, on the way back down Loch Scridain for the last time on this visit we stopped at a favoured place. Dressed in very dark clothing and settled in some black rocks we sat for a while...waiting pays again....

The otter undoubtedly knew something was there but staying perfectly still works well, even with the shutter noise the otter was not too disturbed, just perfect...

And as if to provide a suitable last photograph...it did with a lovely silhouette as it returned to the sea.

A brilliant experience and a wonderful end to a special holiday.

Many thanks to all who view , don't forget if you do comment they come to me first for moderation.

Ardnamurchan 10-17th May 2014

A slightly condensed story in which I will attempt to summarize our stay on the peninsula in north west Scotland that ultimately leads to the western most point of our mainland.

We had a long but uneventful drive up before reaching the turn off at Glenfinnan, regular stops and sharing the driving eased the burden though and the last stretch heralded the usual excitement as our destination drew closer.

The roads on the peninsula are narrow and care must be taken, passing places must be used and the pace of travel slows in tune with the rhythms of life round here.

The lodge in which we spent our week was a delight with some splendid wildlife in the garden...a lovely red squirrel...

We stuck to local explorations and discovered a wood warbler in a local forest...

Buzzards were often seen, though few behaved as well for the camera as this one...

There were many smaller birds to enjoy on our expeditions, this female stonechat posed very nicely...

One creature we hoped to see was a pine marten, we dare not raise out hopes too high but they are making a good comeback from near extinction. Lucky for us our jam lure worked, unfortunately the jam smeared log in the garden was only licked clean during darkness!

The weather was holding pretty well for us, although a little grey it was at least dry and the waterproofs could be left in the car.

A couple of boat trips one each on Loch Sunart and Loch Shiel did not bring forth any spectacular wildlife sightings but the knowledgeable skippers taught us much about the history, geology and biology of this wild and remote area. Loch Sunart did bring us a lovely sighting of two shags...

We continued our patient searches for the wildlife we love to see...a male stonechat...

Deer were not too numerous for us but we did get one really close sighting...

Our pine marten appeared again, an animal that is largely nocturnal and it would be nigh on impossible to see them without the food lure.

A bird that make the heart beat faster just by its massive size is the white tailed sea eagle, we were lucky to be told of a nest location by a local who we had chatted to regularly.

With a wingspan well over two metres and beak and talons of massive proportions a close sighting is really impressive!

The vocabulary of the sedge warbler is wonderful, it took a combined effort from both of us for half an hour as we patiently tracked this little beauty until it showed itself!

Our walks in the quiet coves and beaches brought us some much needed peace, quiet and relaxation often accompanied by the splendid ringed plover...

And to finish the report, a gull but not just any gull....the common gull is now very uncommon, this one has managed to nest on a beached old boat...

We had a spectacular and memorable week, we saw so much it would take a week to compile a blog to include everything, we left feeling we had done a reasonably thorough exploration of this fabulous area. The midges were saw toothed when they discovered unprotected areas and we were glad to have scheduled our visit relatively early in the year!

All too soon it was time to pack the car again and head for the ferry from Kilchoan to Tobermory, Isle of Mull, we had another good journey and drove to the south near Fionnophort and another lovely location from where the next report will carry reports.

Many thanks to all who view, don't forget if you do comment they come to me first for moderation!

26th April - 5th May Exploring and learning

The weather continues to improve, most days! Still with a difficult family situation to deal with I rely on my wildlife escapes for some welcome relaxation, the frustration of a missed or messed up photograph is really not that important.

 

A couple of weeks ago an opportunity occurred to visit a new site, Rodley Nature Reserve is within the urban confines of Leeds. Local volunteers have created a masterpiece of natural environment in reedbeds and pasture land by the river Aire and Leeds Liverpool canal. Entirely staffed by unpaid volunteers and funded by donations and whatever grants they can find it is a delightful place to visit and the wildlife is good too.

 

Little grebes are numerous...

 

 

Common terns tested my camera work...

 

A tufted duck stretched his wings..

 

 

A dunnock tweeted his spring song...

 

A small tortoiseshell butterfly posed for me..

 

A female kestrel guarded her nestbox...

 

And my available few hours passed all to quickly! Worry not, definitely a place to return to.

 

Any compliments and praise for my photographs are always gratefully received, since I bought my DSLR and lens I feel I have improved further but when you feel you have reached a plateau in the quality you are achieving a decision must be made.

 

After careful thought and selection I decided to have a lesson, in my own area so that I could learn how to take better photographs of the creatures I see regularly and with a photographer whose work I have admired for quite a while.

 

Ken Clark of Wolfshead Photographic and I met up early morning at Barden Bridge by the river Wharfe, we had a coffee and good natter and then off we went. To my relief much of my basic technique for handheld photography was sound, we took a few test shots and chatted as we strolled in the fine weather.

 

Ken patiently explained how a few different settings and manual adjustments to the camera could make a difference...this robin was my first attempt with the new setup...

 

 

A dipper appeared obligingly close...

 

In the woodland the bluebells were out...

 

A nuthatch prepared to dive from a shelf in the shelter...

 

 

And a male mandarin duck strolled close by :-)

 

 

 

By the river and time for one more dipper shot...

 

 

After a welcome lunch break we headed out on the moor to see what we could find...a meadow pipit popped up...

 

 

And a red grouse entertained us and tested my skills at getting the focal length right...

 

Before glowering into the camera :-)

 

 

A landscape shot rounded off the lesson nicely....

 

A tiring but thoroughly enjoyable day...now could I absorb what I had been taught!

 

The following Saturday morning I was down by the canal by 7.00am, it was cold and the mist was still lifting as this little duckling flitted about...

 

 

 

A goosander appeared in the misty light...

 

I found a Carolina wood duck as the sunlight brightened...

 

A blue tit chirped merrily...

 

The little ducklings are adorable...

 

I found some bluebells in a field edge...

 

One of my favourites...a chirpy wren...

 

 

 

And to round off the walk a lovely chaffinch ...

 

 

After some lunch and a rest I was back out in the afternoon, by the same canal but in a different area.

 

The first photograph I got was a male sparrow with noticeable large upper mandible, it didn't seem to have affected his food gathering ability though.

 

 

A speckled wood butterfly settled for me...

 

 

A lovely chiffchaff came out in the clear...

 

A robin chirped joyously...

 

and a dunnock turned its head at the right time!

 

On Monday I returned to the scene of my lesson, had I learned wisely?

 

A peacock butterfly fed...

 

The dipper entertained me royally...

 

 

 

The nuthatch allowed me really near...

 

After a patient search I found a pied flycatcher in the open...

 

A grey wagtail fluttered by the river...

 

I sat and watched the dipper again...

 

And finally a small white butterfly.

 

I now understand some of the more technical aspects of photography much more and look forward to testing myself.

 

The next blog will be from Ardnamurchan in NW Scotland as we head there for a week then the Isle of Mull for a further week.

 

Comments on the blog are much appreciated as are all readers, don't forget if you comment that they come to me first for moderation.

 

Many thanks everyone!