On the day of our departure from Mull I thought I’d have one last look for an Iceland Gull that had been reported as loafing around the harbour. I had looked a couple of times before but a bit casually. We had left our fabulous cottage with enough time to spare to quickly park in the harbour and have a last look. When we got there, the tide was a fair way out and there was only a single gull on the rocks but it turned out to be the Juvenile Iceland Gull that had been reported. Because we were on our way home, I had my camera and long lens in the car so managed to get very clear pictures of the bird and subsequent research showed that this was definitely a juvenile Iceland Gull – my only life tick of the holiday!
We met the ferry at Craignure and had an uneventful trip across to Oban where we fuelled (REMEMBER NEVER TO FUEL UP IN OBAN) before driving up the A85 via Taynuilt and down the side of Loch Awe. At Loch Awe we decided we were going to risk the A819 which we looked up online and was described somewhere as one of the most lethal roads in Scotland. Because it was much shorter given that we were going to Dunoon this time, we decided to risk it and it turned out to be a very usable road and much better than we had been driving on for over a week so we made good progress.
This took us down to Inveraray which we thought would be a nice stopping point for a break. The place was a nightmare of tourism but eventually found a big layby just outside of the town with nice views of Loch Fyne. We continued along the northern edge of Loch Fyne then turned back down the southern side. We stopped at Creggans where we had a drink at The Creggans Inn where we watched a Gannet fly by and then headed off again for Benmore Botanical Gardens just past Loch Eck. Here we had a look around and a stretch of the legs but didn’t see any birds. From there we made the last few miles to The Hunter’s Quay Hotel a vegan curiosity. We were the only two guests for the two days we stayed there and we had the 1st floor corner room with the circular bay window, previously occupied in the distant past by the Shah of Persia!
We ate that night at the Lorne Grill in Dunoon with a somewhat distant relative who I had never met before and had a great evening.
Bird Sightings : Mull 23rd June 2018
| Species | Count |
|---|---|
| Great Cormorant | 1 |
| Grey Heron | 1 |
| Eurasian Oystercatcher | 2 |
| Herring Gull | 8 |
| Iceland Gull | 1 |
| Hooded Crow | 2 |
| Barn Swallow | 4 |
| Pied Wagtail | 1 |
| House Sparrow | 10 |
Bird Sightings : On Loch Fyne at The Creggans Inn Argyll & Bute 23rd June 2018
| Species | Count |
|---|---|
| Northern Gannet | 1 |