Where Are The Birds?

Wednesday, May 5 

As is traditional for us, our first port of call when we arrive in Mull, is Grass Point. When we stayed in Phionnphort it was on the way. and a sure way to start off with a sighting of a White-tailed Eagle. Mull's first breeding pair had a nest here. Those days have gone, the birds too elderly or dead. It's still our first call though, a short way from Craignure, Calmac's port, and from Fishnish, where the Ardnamurchan ferry arrives. Last Saturday, we found one car in the parking spot at the end of the road. He got out for a chat, starting with, '' there are no birds on Mull''. Taken aback, I replied, '' but what there is, is worth coming for''. Having been here five days, I can understand why he said that. Migrants have not arrived yet, in any numbers or not at all. That means long periods of not seeing any birds at all. We're not dejected, slightly disappointed, we keep plugging away, adding something everyday.

To-day we went to Grass Point again, hoping to take photographs of Tree Pipit and sightings of the usual migrants such as Whitethroat. It helped that we had sun for most of the day, it didn't cloud over and produce some wet stuff until almost three o'clock., It encouraged me to take a shot of Dervaig with its famous  'pencil' church tower,looking over a large reed-bed out to Loch Cuin in the distance.

 

Stopping at the golf course where there is supposed to be a White-tailed Eagle nest, a pretty Common Gull and a distant Wheatear were the only sightings.

 

I tend to pass over the myriad Meadow Pipits everywhere, known as plankton to tour leader Arthur Brown, because all the raptors eat them.

A Grey Heron still stood sentinel at the bridge leading to Grass Point.

We saw a Tree Pipit perched on an overhead wire, one look at us and it flew away, never to be seen again. We drove as far as the turning point near the end house, before returning to the parking place. There we sat, seeing Linnets, and a Stonechat mashing a large fat caterpillar by bashing it on the ground before struggling to swallow it.

Time to move on. Then came the bird of the day, a male Whinchat, in fresh plumage, perched on a roadside fence. We moved closer, he moved away. I managed a few shots through the space between the wing mirror and the car, unfortunately, the fence was in sharp focus, the bird was not. As you can see!

 

After a short drive around Loch Buie, collecting fresh tar and loose chippings on our tyres, we drove home via Garmony, spitting gravel everywhere we went.

A Grey Wagtail showed briefly in the stream at Garmony, another too fast for good focus in poor light bird. No pride to-day.

 

The narrow road between Salen and Dervaig passes through moorland, mountains and conifer plantations. Large swathes of the latter have been harvested, a cloud of Sand Martins gathering insects along the road in the shelter of a belt of trees which had escaped the chainsaw  - so far.

A call from Pam, whose distance eyesight is infinitely superior to mine these days, two Golden Eagles circling away into the clouds. A nice ending to an enjoyable day.