July 14, 2012 archive

Jul 14 2012

Scotland Holiday Day 9 – 14th July 2012 : Red Kites at Doune

Scotland Holiday Day 9 – 14th July 2012 : Red Kites at Doune

On the Saturday we had to get the ferry from Mull to the eastern coast of Scotland. Today would mostly be driving but we thought that we could fit in a little bit of birding. We drove from Oban across the Trossachs  to Crainlarich, Callander and Doune. We stopped at Lerrock’s Farm in Doune because we happened to be passing at just the right time for us to drop in to see the feeding of the Red Kites that we had also attended last summer. We were hoping to repeat the same experience but we were were told that a lot of people had already booked so the hide would be busy.

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Jul 14 2012

Summary of Our Birding on Mull, Iona and Lunga : July 2012

Summary of Our Birding on Mull, Iona and Lunga : July 2012

It may be that we had left it a little bit late in the year to visit Mull but we can hardly saw we were disappointed. We had seen sixty-two species including two of our target birds, Golden Eagle and White-tailed Eagle; we had heard three Corncrakes and had best ever views of Hen Harriers and Short-eared Owls. Neither of the last two were new to us but Manx Shearwater and Glaucous Gull were. We had added nine species to our year list for 2012 and generally defied the weather by having a fantastically sunny and pleasant week on the island. We had visited a great Puffinry on Lungs and seen FIngal’s Cave but the star of the show was Mull itself – a fantastically nature-rich island and one I hope to be able to return to very soon – perhaps even next year. Continue reading