Month: June 2017

Electricity, Children and Americans

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Ardmore Lightning.

We headed out to Ardmore Forest, the most northerly tips of Mull, on Wednesday 21st for a guided walk, I was ably assisted by Steve Irvine, our retired wildlife ranger, but it definitely turned out as one of our more electric ones. About half an hour into the walk and having experienced a bit of heavy rain and having had rumbles of thunder in the backgrounds,  I asking Steve if he thought  we should turn back, and his retort, ‘auch it will be fine’.  We were under an arch of coniferous trees when there was an almighty bang straight over our heads and the path was lit up in our shady location. Both dogs on the walk were mighty startled to say the least. We tallied on only to have another bang and flash. I had in my head ‘three strikes and you’re out’ but luckily there were no more and we continued on our walk unharmed. The wildlife did not seem to favour the lightning and thunder unfortunately but there was a lovely show of wild flowers and archaeology. Thankfully neither of these items could run away!!

 

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Ardmore Bay

Thank you.

I received a lovely envelope from Tobermory Primary School filled with Thank you notes. We had just completed a five week session of outdoor learning with them in Aros Park. At school they were reading a book about Percy the Park Keeper by Nick Buttersworth and I was filling in for Percy as he was away on his holidays!!. What a lovely bunch of youngsters.

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Thank you from Tobermory

percyUlva wanders.

On Sunday Rachel French and I took a group of visiting Americans on a whistle stop tour of the south end of Ulva. Again such a lovely group of people, who were here on a musical tour, following their passion for Celtic music and staying in the Isle of Mull Hotel. We had a wee sing song in the church at Ulva and the acoustics did the singers proud. Again the flowers and variety of species found on Ulva had them enthralled as did Ulva’s historical past.

And so the summer continues….

Fun Filled Fortnight

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My first two weeks have been very full and varied.

Mark very kindly helped us to do a beach clean at Traigh Gheal beach of most of its rubbish on his Birthe Marie boat. It was a lovely day and we cleared a lot. Sorry for the smelly boat Mark!

In partnership with Turus Mara and Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust we ran our first evening trip to Staffa and it didn’t disappoint. White tailed eagle, gannets and guillemots on the way there, very shy puffins, minke whale and porpoises. And finished with a big pod of Bottlenose dolphins bow riding and showing off their acrobatic skills beside the boat and a cracking sunset!

The children at Bunessan nature club have been looking at different insects and the ones that help our composting. They were given the challenge to transform into a bug using their bodies. Pretty good effort I hope you agree?

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This week we also welcomed Thistle Camp to Burg. An energetic team who were hard at work filling pot holes along the paths to Burg, bracken clearing and beachcleaning.

I can’t wait for the summer ahead!

 

Kate

 

Marvel at the Miniature

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Marvel at the Miniature 

I was thrilled that the sun chose to shine on Wednesday for my guided walk at Loch Torr. This Forestry Commission Scotland site is really productive for the wildlife on the smaller side, including dragonflies, damselflies and butterflies but they’re only really active if the weather allows. Thankfully on the day we weren’t disappointed by the variety and complexity on offer.

We started off at the lovely Loch Torr Wildlife Hide and scanned the surrounding landscape here to spot buzzards in flight, with a family of greylag geese below on the loch itself. We wandered off up the track and discussed how an interest in the less iconic or ‘big’ species means you’ll never be disappointed – there’ll always be something to see. Our participants were shocked to realise we have two carnivorous plant species on the isle, which you can spot easily once you know what to look for. We hunted out butterwort and round-leaved sundew, both of which acquire nutrients from unsuspecting insects.

We then marvelled at mating four-spotted chasers, watching the male and female join on the wing and whilst she laid her eggs into the most unwelcoming pond – a pool of water you’d dismiss and walk on by. We had great views of these wonders of flight, but then also spotted numerous newts dwelling in the algae ridden water. These were palmate newts – Britain’s smallest amphibian.  Look even closer and you might spot a camouflaged caddis fly larvae, they cover themselves in available materials and can end up looking like twigs or something much more unusual. A lesson in wildlife; expect the unexpected in the most unexpected locations!

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Other species we spotted included golden-ringed dragonflies, small heath butterflies, dor beetle, red admiral butterfly and plenty of wildflowers. We’re were surrounded by the sounds of siskin and willow warbler too.

Pop-up Ranger Service

Join me this Wednesday morning at the Loch Torr Wildlife Hide for a “Pop-up Ranger” session. I’ll be at the hide with binoculars, scopes, ID guides and local wildlife knowledge. Come along and pop in! In the last few weeks we’ve had great views of buzzards, sand martins, dipper, grey wagtail, ravens and more. Otters have been seen regularly in the loch, so we’ll keep an eye out for them too.

It’s a great place to visit if the weather isn’t playing ball, or somewhere handy to stop off for lunch.

I’ll be there on Wednesday 14th, 10am-12pm.

Free, but donations welcome.

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Mull Eagle Watch 

Look out for a Mull Eagle Watch blog coming soon with some exciting images giving a real insight into the nest life of our fast growing chicks. Our eaglet pair at West Ardhu (North West Mull Community Woodland) were ringed earlier this week, which will allow us to monitor their progress in future years.

The season with both our eagle pairs is going well and we’re getting some great views of the adults and youngsters in their nests. It’s flying by though, as the West Ardhu eagle chicks are around 6 weeks old already!

Thanks for reading, back soon with another one!

Rachel (Mull Eagle Watch Ranger)