There is some catching up to do in our first sightings blog of the month, much to tell. Now that we have another member of staff at the Mull plus residential volunteers we should be able to put out more frequent sightings reports. Here's what's been happening so far this month:
On the cliffs and sea:
The auks have not yet settled down, but are taking up their nesting sites on the better days when it is calmer and sunny. The kittiwakes seem nearly ready to build their nests and the fulmars are occupying their nest sites full time. We should start to see them all settle down next month. You can often see little rafts of guillemots and razorbills on the sea from Lagvag or when walking around the cliff tops. We've had reports of a couple of puffins seen on the sea around the Mull but none have been seen in the regular locations by Lagvag and the Foghorn. We would normally expect to see them from May but will continue to keep an eye out for the early birds.
The shags are now sitting on eggs and we've been watching them from the Foghorn with our binoculars. However, you can do even better by coming into the visitor centre and watching them on one of our screens, courtesy of our cliff cams. We've managed to find a pair of shags sitting on a nest in the same location as one we watched last year. This year there seem to be three eggs and if they follow the same pattern as 2013, we should be seeing the chicks hatch in mid May.
Gordon, one of our residential volunteers, watched a grey seal trying to eat a fish and being harried by a great black-backed gull. It nearly ended in disaster for the gull as the seal grabbed it and it only just managed to escape. Gordon has been stationed at various view points, keeping a look out for wildlife. He takes a spare pair of binoculars with him for you to borrow so do go and have a chat with him if you see him out on the reserve - he's a fund of information!
On the heath:
The mauve-blue blooms of the spring squill have started to open up - one of the best places to see them is either side of the steps leading down to the Foghorn.
Meadow pipits continue to perform their display flights and the pair of stonechats are regularly seen - last year they raised two broods, we will be watching to see how they fare this year. Wheatears, linnets and a few twite have been present and correct for several weeks now. Newer arrivals are the swallows, sand martins and house martins which can be seen whizzing around the locality.
Yesterday afternoon we were treated to great views of the pair of peregrines flying in front of the visitor centre. The female is the larger of the sexes by about a third and the disparity in size was easily seen.
One of our regular visitors, Harry Hogg called in again last week and came to tell us he'd seen a hen harrier, not a regular sighting here. He took some photos for record purposes - he wasn't proud of them, but then he's a perfectionist!
Copyright: Harry Hogg
On the walk up to the Mull:
Both Rob and myself like to walk to the reserve and are always rewarded with an interesting sighting. The road between West and East Tarbert is a particularly good spot. On a nice morning yellowhammers sing in the gorse and linnets are singing and moving around in little clouds. Yesterday morning I was surprised to hear a willow warbler singing in the gorse too. I should imagine this bird was on the move to some woodland as gorse wouldn't be its preferred habitat. The other usual wildlife are hares and a skylark which has a territory near Kennedy's cairn.
Come and see for yourself! Guided walks continue every Tuesday and Thursday, 1pm. http://www.rspb.org.uk/events/details.aspx?id=tcm:9-358340