July on Mull, Fledging Central and last week catchup

There is so much to see on Mull at the moment. With all the juvenile birds starting to fledge, it brings a whole new dimension to Mull, with birds and animals behaving very differently compared to other months. The weather has been really inconsistent so far compared to the rest of the UK, with no real heatwave hitting yet and very low cloud cover forcing animals down from the high mountains.

Golden Eagles are incredible this time of year, bringing in some fascinating prey like adders and, very rarely, even red deer calves. With the low cloud cover this week, some tours have managed to get unbelievable views of the eagles much lower down than usual. This also gives a chance to see the full colours of the golden crown of this extraordinary bird, the royalty of the sky!

White-tailed Eagles are also constantly feeding chicks, with their prey being mainly avian-based this time of year. Lots of greylag goslings are being brought into the nest, and now is a good time of year to see kleptoparasitizing behavior. This is when a white-tailed eagle interacts with an otter, trying to steal the otter's prey. It’s absolutely unbelievable to watch and happens more frequently now as the parents are hunting more to feed their growing chicks.

So far this July, otters have been showing excellently. They really do enjoy the bad weather of wind and rain. With their resistant fur, it ensures the otter's skin stays dry and warm. They use it as a mechanism to clean the saltwater off their fur sometimes. The majority of tours this July have been rewarded with some beautiful views of otters, so it’s been a great month!

Hen Harriers and Short-eared Owls go together in a way. They hunt in the same habitat and are seen in the same territories very frequently on tours. Both are raising their fledglings at the moment and interestingly are both ground-nesting birds! Because they are feeding young, they are both very active, hunting constantly throughout the day. The tours have been jam-packed with sightings of both birds at the moment!

What a spectacular bird, the summer plumage Red-throated Diver is. On tours at the moment, you can see this bird hunting in the sea lochs around Mull before returning to the inland lochs where their juveniles are waiting, to be fed.

Now, with Crossbills, small flocks have been appearing in the coniferous forests on tours around Mull. The flocks are small families where the male has beautiful red plumage and the female is lime green, with the juveniles looking very similar but having streaky lines down their chest. In their little families, they are very loud and drop pine cones from above, so keep an eye out for them.

This is just an idea of what to expect on the tours at the moment, and there is plenty more to see in this stunning time of year!