After a day on the water it was back to the roads but we did have a very short trip later in the day from Fionnphort to Iona. First though there was a long road trip and you don’t get anywhere fast on Mull! But what a grea day out lay ahead and one you can only have on Mull and Iona.
June 2018 archive
Jun 19 2018
Scotland Holiday 2018 Day 8 : 19th June 2018 Mull and Iona
Jun 18 2018
Scotland Holiday 2018 Day 6 : 18th June 2018 Mull and Lunga
One of the most exciting visits to bird colonies must surely involve the visit to Lunga, one of the several islands that make up the Treshnish Islands. There can be no better birding site for views of Puffins from a foot or two away anywhere in Britain. It is not without it’s little difficulties however.
Jun 17 2018
Scotland Holiday Day 5 : 17th June 2018 Around Mull
Since my little accident at Gatehouse of Fleet on the first day of our holiday, my leg had been getting worse and worse. A big lump had appeared on my right knee and my right leg was black and blue and green and yellow all the way down to the ankle. We weren’t sure of what had caused it but it was getting worried. The 17th of June was a Sunday so there wasn’t any chance of getting a doctor so I was left with the option of phoning A&E at Craignure hospital. Not how I had hoped my first full day on Mull would be spent.
Jun 16 2018
Scotland Holiday 2018 Day 4 16th June 2018 Oban to Tobermory, Mull
This day was really a settling in day and we didn’t do any birding except to look from the ferry and keep an eye open for anything interesting as we drove from Craignure to Tobermory. We drove by our cottage, The Old Coastguards, to check it out even though we were a bit early and found Fi, the owner, cleaning it herself. We got into conversation and had a nice chat and she let us check in early. It was very impressive and I was glad I had had the forethought to pick a place that you could be comfortable in if it rained a lot because – it did ! They had had the three weeks of very hot weather the rest of the country had had but the poor weather we experienced in Galloway followed us and was to remain with us for the rest of the week.
We knew that it might be difficult getting somewhere to eat on our first night in Tobermory so we booked at the Galleon Grill where I had a great steak and Anne tucked into a huge Lobster
Jun 15 2018
Scotland Holiday 2018 Day 3 15th June 2018 Loch Lomond to Dunstaffnage
Our drive, this day, was quite a long one but very beautiful. We drove south back down to the end of Loch Lomond, drove along the bottom and then came up the other side. We drove the length of the western edge of Loch Lomond up to Tarbert and then on to Inveruglas and Crianlarich before headin west to Tyndrum and Dalmally.
Jun 14 2018
Scotland Holiday Day 2 : 14th June 2018 Dumfries to Loch Lomond
Our plan after leaving Gatehouse of Fleet was to drive up to Lauriston – taking the scenic route – northwards and take our time getting to Balmaha on the banks of Loch Lomond (cue song) but our plans were somewhat altered by events. The road to Lauriston was delightful and led (to our surprise) over upland that looked rather like moors, then through forests and was generally very scenic stopping only to let flocks of sheep with their new lambs roam across the roads and flow around the car. We were about a mile short of the A762 which we intended to join when we discovered two huge trees had fallen over the road and taken down power lines with them. We had no option but to drive all the way back to where we had come from – to the degree that we almost passed the hotel we were staying in.
Jun 13 2018
Scotland Holiday Day 1 : Dumfries 13th June 2018
The first stage of our holiday, planned to take in a week on Mull as well as several other locations on the way to and from there, was a drive from Manchester to Dumfries where we stopped off at WWT Caerlaverock and also, a new site for us, at RSPB Mersehead.
Jun 05 2018
Birding Group Wales Trip 4th-5th June 2018
The birding group overnigh trip was to RSPB South Stack so, as usual, we all met up at RSPB Conwy around 10:30 to make our plan. Our plan was, naturally, our usual one. We had a quick look around RSPB Conwy before heading off for the Spinnies at Aberogwen near Tal y Bont. En route we got Red Kite and at Conwy we got our very first House Martins of the year which is quite extraordinary and suggests something is not quite right with the House Martin Population this year as it is quite something to see Swifts before House Martins !
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