Summary
Our holiday in Scotland was amazing. We had some ups and downsin the weather and we failed to see some birds we would have liked to see (Manx Shearwaters, Skuas, Divers, Short-eared Owls) and others we would like to have seen more of (more Golden Eagles always!) but we did get some great views of some great birds and Mull, itself, is just fabulous. Our choice of “cottage” turned out to be exceptional so, even with the periods of bad weather, we managed very well overall.
We saw eighty-four species of birds including nine year ticks and one life tick. Links to each day are below but the highlights were surely the White-tailed Eagles on Loch na Keal and the boat trip to Lunga and Staffa. If there is one complaint about Mull it is that it is difficult to find anywhere to stop. Perhaps we should just have headed to the good parking places and sat with a flask of tea waiting for nature to come to us. It’s hard not to want to see the whole island, though, which we mainly did.
On the periphery our visit to Aberlady Bay on the mainland and Coquet island were both really nice trips at the end of our holiday. It wasn’t all about the birding though and we also managed to catch up with a second cousin of mine and her husband and a great time with them in Dunoon.
Itinerary
Scotland Holiday 2018 Day 1 :13th June 2018 Dumfries
Scotland Holiday 2018 Day 2 : 14th June 2018 Dumfries to Loch Lomond
Scotland Holiday 2018 Day 3 :15th June 2018 Loch Lomond to Dunstaffnage
Scotland Holiday 2018 Day 4: 16th June 2018 Oban to Tobermory, Mull
Scotland Holiday 2018 Day 5: 17th June 2018 Around Mull
Scotland Holiday 2018 Day 6 : 18th June 2018 Mull and Lunga
Scotland Holiday 2018 Day 7 : 19th June 2018 Mull and Iona
Scotland Holiday 2018 Day 8 : 20th June 2018 Loch na Keal
Scotland Holiday 2018 Day 9 : 21st June Glengorm and Loch na Keal
Scotland Holiday 2018 Day 10 : 22nd June 2018 Mull Day Off
Scotland Holiday 2018 Day 11 : 23rd June 2018 Tobermory to Dunoon
Scotland Holiday 2018 Day 12 : 24th June 2018 Dunoon
Scotland Holiday 2018 Day 13 : 25th June 2018 Dunoon and Musselburgh
Scotland Holiday 2018 Day 14 : 26th June Aberlady Bay, North Berwick, Musselburgh
Scotland Holiday 2018 Day 15 : 27th June Coquet Island
Year and Life Ticks on Scotland 2018 Holiday
Tree Sparrow WWT Caerlaverock 13th June
Hooded Crow at Dunstaffnage 15th June
Raven at Dunstaffnage 15th June
Common Eider on Mull 17th June
Golden Eagle near Loch na Keal Mull 17th June
White-tailed Eagle near Loch na Keal Mull 17th June
Rock Pipit at Calgary Bay Mull 17th June
Shag at Lunga, Treshnish Islands on 18th June
Corncrake (heard only) on Iona on 19th June
Iceland Gull [Life Tick] Tobermory Harbour on 23rd June
Total Bird Sightings on Scotland Holiday 13th – 27th June 2018
| Species | Count |
|---|---|
| 1 | Common Pheasant (Phasianus colchicus) |
| 2 | Great Crested Grebe (Podiceps cristatus) |
| 3 | Common Ringed Plover (Charadrius hiaticula) |
| 4 | Iceland Gull (Larus glaucoides) |
| 5 | Coal Tit (Periparus ater) |
| 6 | Eurasian Nuthatch (Sitta europaea) |
| 7 | Eurasian Wren (Troglodytes troglodytes) |
| 8 | Blackcap (Sylvia atricapilla) |
| 9 | Lesser Whitethroat (Sylvia curruca) |
| 10 | Golden Eagle (Aquila chrysaetos) |
| 11 | Northern Lapwing (Vanellus vanellus) |
| 12 | Common Redshank (Tringa totanus) |
| 13 | Common Wood Pigeon (Columba palumbus) |
| 14 | Common Chiffchaff (Phylloscopus collybita) |
| 15 | Dunnock (Prunella modularis) |
| 16 | Yellowhammer (Emberiza citrinella) |
| 17 | Eurasian Bullfinch (Pyrrhula pyrrhula) |
| 18 | European Greenfinch (Chloris chloris) |
| 19 | Gadwall (Anas strepera) |
| 20 | Northern Harrier (Circus cyaneus) |
| 21 | Red Kite (Milvus milvus) |
| 22 | Common Sandpiper (Actitis hypoleucos) |
| 23 | Black Guillemot (Cepphus grylle) |
| 24 | Eurasian Collared Dove (Streptopelia decaocto) |
| 25 | Sedge Warbler (Acrocephalus schoenobaenus) |
| 26 | Corncrake (Crex crex) |
| 27 | Razorbill (Alca torda) |
| 28 | Roseate Tern (Sterna dougallii) |
| 29 | Arctic Tern (Sterna paradisaea) |
| 30 | European Robin (Erithacus rubecula) |
| 31 | Eurasian Tree Sparrow (Passer montanus) |
| 32 | White-tailed Eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla) |
| 33 | Willow Warbler (Phylloscopus trochilus) |
| 34 | Mute Swan (Cygnus olor) |
| 35 | Common Teal (Anas crecca) |
| 36 | Eurasian Curlew (Numenius arquata) |
| 37 | Meadow Pipit (Anthus pratensis) |
| 38 | Eurasian Siskin (Spinus spinus) |
| 39 | Northern Gannet (Morus bassanus) |
| 40 | Common Swift (Apus apus) |
| 41 | Common Linnet (Carduelis cannabina) |
| 42 | Common Scoter (Melanitta nigra) |
| 43 | Great Tit (Parus major) |
| 44 | Eurasian Blue Tit (Cyanistes caeruleus) |
| 45 | Great Cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo) |
| 46 | Eurasian Magpie (Pica pica) |
| 47 | Common Raven (Corvus corax) |
| 48 | Rock Dove (Columba livia) |
| 49 | Reed Bunting (Emberiza schoeniclus) |
| 50 | Common Buzzard (Buteo buteo) |
| 51 | Northern Wheatear (Oenanthe oenanthe) |
| 52 | Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea) |
| 53 | Great Black-backed Gull (Larus marinus) |
| 54 | White Wagtail (Motacilla alba) |
| 55 | Common Shelduck (Tadorna tadorna) |
| 56 | Lesser Black-backed Gull (Larus fuscus) |
| 57 | Song Thrush (Turdus philomelos) |
| 58 | Eurasian Blackbird (Turdus merula) |
| 59 | Rook (Corvus frugilegus) |
| 60 | Common Chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs) |
| 61 | Carrion Crow (Corvus corone) |
| 62 | Hooded Crow (Corvus cornix) |
| 63 | Black-legged Kittiwake (Rissa tridactyla) |
| 64 | Northern Fulmar (Fulmarus glacialis) |
| 65 | Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) |
| 66 | European Goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis) |
| 67 | Rock Pipit (Anthus petrosus) |
| 68 | Sky Lark (Alauda arvensis) |
| 69 | European Shag (Phalacrocorax aristotelis) |
| 70 | Common Guillemot (Uria aalge) |
| 71 | Common Eider (Somateria mollissima) |
| 72 | Common House Martin (Delichon urbicum) |
| 73 | Eurasian Oystercatcher (Haematopus ostralegus) |
| 74 | Eurasian Jackdaw (Corvus monedula) |
| 75 | Mew Gull (Larus canus) |
| 76 | Sandwich Tern (Thalasseus sandvicensis) |
| 77 | Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica) |
| 78 | Greylag Goose (Anser anser) |
| 79 | Common Starling (Sturnus vulgaris) |
| 80 | Black-headed Gull (Chroicocephalus ridibundus) |
| 81 | House Sparrow (Passer domesticus) |
| 82 | Herring Gull (Larus argentatus) |
| 83 | Common Tern (Sterna hirundo) |
| 84 | Atlantic Puffin (Fratercula arctica) |