We had quite a party at the Mull last weekend; hundreds of people came. Three days of celebrations, with free trips up the lighthouse tower, craft stalls, talks, activities from face-painting to corn-dolly making and music. It was a pity that Bertha decided to turn up on Sunday but our spirits weren't dampened even though it wasn't quite the finale we had planned! Most of the action took place in the Lighthouse grounds but in our little corner at the RSPB visitor centre we had a fine time showing human visitors some of our more secretive wildlife and non-human night time visitors, as well as our usual wildlife. We deployed a couple of camera traps around the reserve overnight and got some very interesting results. We knew that some larger carnivores visit the reserve - we have seen signs such as small rodent tunnels which have been dug out by a predator, in search of a tasty meal. Having baited a promising spot and set up the camera, we caught a prowling badger as it took the bait (a juicy chunk of apple coated in peanut butter).
Other night time snaps included voles and deer and a weasel but so far the badger has given us the best photo.
Chris, our current residential volunteer, has been scanning the seas and helping visitors to spot manx shearwaters/porpoises and gannets - Chris has regularly been seeing large numbers of manxies out at sea, often as many as a hundred. We have not seen many auks recently, however, just a few some distance out to sea where it is difficult to tell if they are guillemots, razorbills or even perhaps a puffin.
Flying lessons commenced a few days ago for the kittiwake chicks and now it is often tricky to find a chick sitting in its nest, but they do return for a breather and food. They are easy to spot when on the wing; their black collar and the black 'W' across their wings are good identification points, plus their initial flights are quite tentative and give them away as learners.
On the reserve, Chris spotted a whitethroat family today, with the female feeding two youngsters near the lighthouse garden. There are still many housemartins and swallows whizzing around and swooping, hunting the many insects that like to live in and feast on our heathland plants. Many of the flowering plants are going to seed, due the mostly warm and dry weather we have been having - this is great news for seed eaters like our linnets and the visiting goldfinches. Fortunately the heather is picking up where other flowering plants have left off and is starting to paint a lovely purple wash across the heath. We're going through a purple patch! More about the heather next time...
Photo copyright Chris King