Birthday on Eagle Island.......Day 7

 Today was my birthday so I wanted to spend it somewhere really special. With the weather forecast predicting a storm coming in from the West the next day this was also our only chance to get over to Eagle Island, also known as the Isle of Mull.

 It meant an early start but first I had to retrieve the trail cam from the garden or be inundated with hundreds of birds clips taken throughout the day while we were out. No time to check the cam before leaving so that would have to wait until we returned from Mull. A half hour drive down through Fort William to the Corran Ferry was our first destination. The Sun was just making it's appearance over the mountains as we got the 5 minute ferry across Loch Linnhe.

 We disembarked and started our 90 minute drive across Morven to catch ferry number two at Lochaline. It is such a remote area full of dramatic landscapes and stunning Lochs. It is also a great place to see Red Deer as they congregate on the hills nearby.

 The ruggedness of Morven.

 We arrived in Lochaline and had a bit of a wait for the next ferry so watched the Cormorants, Oystercatchers and Common Seals along the Sound of Mull. The ferry only takes 20 minutes from Lochaline to Fishnish on Mull. You can usually stand on the deck and search for Otters, birds and Cetaceans but with the Covid restrictions in place we were confined to our car. 

 Waiting for the ferry to Mull with my new personalised Raptorwatcher travel mug, very apt for today.

 Arriving on Mull we headed South to follow our usual circular route. A quick stop at Craignure for the charity shop and then continuing on our way up into Raptor's paradise. Buzzards were everywhere, and distant ones at altitude always caused immense excitement making us think Eagles, til we got the binoculars on them.

 Some Buzzards were closer than others 😀

 Numerous Kestrels were also seen hovering around the jagged cliff faces.

 Mull is an amazing island with stunning scenery and breath-taking wildlife, the kind of place you never want to leave. Scenery of Mull.

 Red Deer could also been found over most of Mull. 

I think this Stag is saying "I can see my house from here!" 😉

 Turning off the main road back to Salen and heading towards Fionnphort which leads you to the ferry across to Iona(a place we still haven't managed to visit) is a good place to search the shores for Divers. Both Great Northern & Red-Throated Divers were seen.

 If you get out often enough to look for wildlife(we unfortunately don't get out enough) then every now and again you are rewarded with a mind-blowing encounter. Scotland though provides these most days, and today just became one of those days. Continuing on towards Salen, a Raptor in a hunting stoop shot down the hillside and over the road in front of us and down among some felled trees in the glen. Not quite Peregrine speed but still very impressive. It came back up with prey which looked to be a rabbit. The majestic Golden Eagle circled once with it's prey and then a second Eagle landed further on by the roadside calling, The hunter returned to it carrying the prey, and then they both disappeared out of sight down into the glen. The Natural World had blown us away yet again, though I do sort of wish that I had a better camera.

 What a way to spend my birthday. Our time on the Isle was coming to a close so we needed to get back to Fishnish to catch the ferry back to the mainland. On our way back across Morven, as it was later in the day the Red Deer were now closer to the road than before.

 The view back over Loch Linnhe to the Nevis mountain range.

 It was getting dark when we arrived back at the farm so while Majella started tea I turned on the laptop and uploaded the SD card from the trail cam. It is always exciting when you open the file and find numerous video files filmed during the early hours of the morning.This time was no different.Nothing much happened til around 4.30am then this appeared on the trail cam in the garden. PS Also need new HD trail cam for better footage lol 

 A Scottish Wildcat? There are no neighbours and no cats on the farm. The clips have been sent to Saving Wildcats and they cannot confirm from the footage if it is a Scottish Wildcat or hybrid but still an extremely exciting mammal to see on the camera.She's actually eating Hedgehog food that I put out. An awesome way to end my 50th birthday and then even better Majella had bought me a birthday cake 😉🎂

Photos by Stuart Pike & Majella Fox 

Many thanks for continuing to follow our Scotland adventure and for waiting the extra day for this update due to my illness. I do hope you are finding it enjoyable, informative and maybe even entertaining. 

Still 5 days left to come, so much more to see.

Stay safe.

  

 

Scotland 2020 - Day 5 - Train to Snow-where ;)

We awoke on our 5th day in Scotland to the wintry scene below.
 View from our cabin window.

  The roads were unpassable this morning so instead of staying indoors we decided to have a walk along the Spean River which passes through the field below.

  Hamish and Lucy also decided they had nothing better to do and so joined us on our walk. lol

  After returning to the cabin and still undecided on what to do I spent a bit of time with the garden birds. Siskins, Chaffinches, Great Tits, Coal Tits, Long-tailed Tits, Blackbirds and Robins all took advantage of the food we had put out.

                             

  After a check with Margo on the farm, news was the road was better and we could actually drive out of the farm.We didn't want to go far so checked the train timetable and found we could catch the train from Roybridge a couple of miles away to the remote Rannoch station.

  It was a breath taking 40 minute journey through the Moor and alongside Loch Treig.Black Grouse flew alongside for a few seconds and there was nothing but snow and ice as we reached Corrour's remote station house.Below are a couple of snippets of the journey taken on the phone.

                              

                              

  The train continues on down to Glasgow but not surprisingly we were the only two to disembark during the blizzard at Rannoch.We crunched through the snow along the platfrom and immediately noticed the herd of Red Deer just the other side of the track.

  While I was photographing the Deer, Majella noticed a couple of birds in the trees nearby.She pointed them out to me and we realised it was a pair of Crossbills.We watched them intently for over 10 minutes during which at one point they flew down on to the snowy platform just feet away from us.

  Our best ever encounter with Crossbills.

  The station tearoom was open so we headed inside out of the snow for a warming drink.

  Rannoch Station.

  With 2.5hrs before the train returns from Glasgow and takes us back to Roybridge and nothing but snow before us we headed over the track and on to Rannoch Moor. There was nothing but Snow, ice and Deer.

  Being someone who spends ages on a walk searching through scrub for bug life my slightly trained eye caught movement in the snow.At first I was amazed that an invertebrate was up here in heavy snow and -2c temperatures.I had heard of Snow fleas that can survive such harsh environments but this wasn't one of them.Fortunately Dr George McGavin was able to confirm for me that it was a species of Stonefly larvae.

                              

  It was time to leave this Winter wonderland and head back to the station.The Deer had moved around and were now situated along the lane and outside the station entrance so we slowly walked passed them hoping not to spook them.

They just gazed at us while continuing to chew loudly.

  This Hind was scraping the Lichen from the fence.

  We could hear the horn of the approaching train just as a Pheasant thought it was a good time to stroll alongside the track.Fortunately he did move just before the train arrived.

  Our way out of Rannoch and back to Roybridge.

  There was a stunning late afternoon light from the Winter Sun making it another mesmerising journey back.I tried to take a few photos of this desolate snowy landscape through the carriage windows on the return journey.It was akin to been North of the wall in Game Of Thrones.

                              

  As we returned through Tulloch and into Roybridge we could hardly believe that all but a few patches of Snow had thawed since we left.A Male Siskin honoured us with his presence as we walked back to the car.

  I urge anyone who stays in the Fort William, Spean Bridge area to think about jumping on the train to Rannoch.It was a stunning wilderness and something we will definitely do again if we make it back to Tulloch.

Thanks so much again for taking time out of your lives to view my blog. :) 

Only 1 day left as we wind down the Scotland trip with more night-time trail cam footage and a short drive up the Great Glen.