Thursday 26th June - Pink nose and Hen Harrier Bonanza

Klay was on a Wilderness Walk today while Jack was doing a Mull Nature Explorer tour.

Before getting to the spot for a walk in the south of the island, Klay took a quick pit stop to try and see some birds of prey in the rolling hills and grassland environment.

After a short wait, the guests were rewarded with sightings of three hen harriers. One large female ringtail hen harrier was slowly hunting along the fence post. Some great news: the other two hen harriers were juvenile birds learning the trade of flight, doing some short flights. It was really heartwarming as their success story continues on Mull. There are circa 30 breeding pairs on Mull but it does fluctuate depending on vole and weather , which is nearly more than the whole of England, which in 2024 had 34 breeding pairs.

Then, while driving to the start of the walking spot, there was a group of red deer in a field with peacocks, which is always a sight no one can get used to. Using the car as a hide made the deer very settled, and they came very close, allowing some guests to get great pictures.

Now at the loch where the walk would begin, there was a great selection of waders: lapwing, common sandpiper, redshank, and ringed plovers showing nicely. A huge dog otter was also spotted from the van, again using it as a hide. This made the tour have prolonged views, and the otter displayed its natural behavior the whole time, undisturbed. It was just brilliant. Also, on Jack's tour, they started off great and saw two otters, a huge female white-tailed eagle, and a nice collection of birds like oystercatchers, herons, shags, and buzzards in the morning.

On Klay's walk, they saw an Isle of Mull celebrity: the famous "pink nose." She is a lovely female otter and has been on the same territory for years now. As you guessed, she has a pink nose. At this walk, it is fantastic to see some of the sophisticated plants found on Mull. There are butterwort and round-leaved sundew, which are the UK's small version of the Venus flytrap but instead eat midges and other small invertebrates. For Scotland, they are quite popular plants as they eat midges.

Greater Sundew

Scanning into the sea loch gave great sights of red-breasted merganser and shags, and also one last otter to conclude the day. Both tours seeing otters was just brilliant, and such a large variety of birds and plants made it a superb day.