A peregrine falcon stopped by for brunch in front of one of our cameras this morning. Here are some pics of it feasting on a 3 week old kittiwake chick.

What an incredible bird.

There have been quite a lot of kittiwake chicks this year - and they are just starting to fledge. Unfortunately, we had hardly any guillemot and razorbill chicks this year - probably because of low numbers of sandeels at the start of the…

We have a new Education Officer volunteer up at the Mull. She's called Ursula and is fantastic! Starting this week she will be running family events at the Mull exploring wildlife, having tons of fun, and getting creative. Events are on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays for the rest of July and August. There's no need to book, and more details about workshops and times are on the website.

If you are local…

Just a month to go until our Razorbill Ramble sponsored walk! On Sunday 5th August, I will be guiding a 10 kilometre walk from the Mull of Galloway RSPB visitor centre, taking in fantastic sea views, coastal wild flowers, razorbills, kittiwakes and guillemots, and (hopefully) some chicks too. Why not register and raise some funds for our conservation work at the Mull of Galloway? All funds will be used to protect and…

The bell heather is finally coming out, and everything is turning mid-summer purply pink. In a couple of weeks the ling (common heather) will also start blossoming. Here are some pictures of our wild flowers that Ursula, our new education volunteer, took today at the very wet and misty Mull:

Bell Heather

English Stonecrop

Wild Thyme

And here's one to enjoy from your warm, cosy living room -

All photos: Ursula…

Some beautiful orchids around at the Mull of Galloway. Here are a few snaps -

We think that they are mostly Northern Marsh Orchid, but some seem to have hybridised with Heath Spotted-Orchid to create these lighter coloured ones.

And here's a nice picture of our resident Rose Chafer beetles, which are hanging out along the southern slopes at the moment. As far as we know the Mull of Galloway is the only place…

We spotted this ball of fluff yesterday on the cameras, and our residential volunteer Assumpta has named him Charlie. That's a sure way to a broken heart, but oh well....

So here beginneth the saga of Charlie the chick :-)

Guided Walk on Thursday 14th June cancelled due to staff absence - sorry to anyone planning on attending.

... is that they eat guillemot eggs. Here's a picture taken by Ann Lowe last week:

That is one big guillemot egg breakfast. However, I've decided to forgive the herring gulls for now, as we all have to eat...

In other news, I've found the peregrine nest! At least, I think it is a nest - it is quite precariously positioned - but there was definitely a nervous, screeching female sitting on it, eyeing me with…

We watched this kittiwake for about an hour standing over two eggs, looking a bit baffled, sometimes standing on top of them, or perching awkwardly over one or the other. Another kittiwake was coming ang going with bits of seaweed, draping the offerings over the eggs. Very strange behaviour, we thought. Then a third kittiwake suddenly flew in and chased off the other two, and settled down over the eggs. So were they immature…

hello

I am Jonathon,a residential volunteer with the RSPB. This is my 5th stay at a reserve and is definitely the best yet - the weather has been mostly wonderful,the views all round the Mull are just beautiful and there is a huge variety of wildlife.The Mull is covered in a very large variety of flowers of all colours and types - and there are caterpillars,butterflies and all sorts of creepie crawlies. Of course I have…

It seems that the east coast is ahead of us this year with razorbill chicks already at Bempton Cliffs, whereas we don't even seem to have eggs yet. We can usually tell if there are eggs around because broken egg shells start turning up on the roads where herring gulls have dropped them. Come on razors, get a move on!

It's gone a bit quiet on the peregrine front in the last couple of weeks. This year they are not…

Sounds like a Dr. Seuss book...

Yes, we actually had an owl on the reserve yesterday - a short eared owl to be precise. It was broad daylight and we got a fantastic view of it through the scope. It is a beautiful bird, with bright yellow eyes, a pale face and a golden flash in it's wings when it flies. No-one had a camera with them, but here's an idea of what they look like:

Mike Langman RSPB Images

The reserve…

Four puffins seen this weekend at the Mull!

In other news I am receiving reports of a single goulish eye staring up out of the wishing well at passers by.... mysterious.

My last black guillemot survey of the season this morning. Bright spring day, and the thrift is out all over the cliffs.

Another name for thrift is 'sea-pinks', which is very appropriate.

I took a detour through the field on the way back, and said hello to the cows.

Not very many black guillemots about today, but lovely to be out early on the cliffs on such a beautiful day.

My local volunteer Mel spotted this rare 'bridled' guillemot showing off in the sunshine this afternoon. Doesn't it look smart with it's white specs on?

I spotted these two preening lovebirds in the sunshine at the Mull today. They sat on the same rock, grooming and preening each other for hours. Apparently, it has been scientifically shown that the longer a pair of seabirds grooms each other for, the better their breeding success. This pair, uncharacteristically for guillemots, have set themselves apart from the rest of the colony. I don't blame them, a chance to spend…

John Craven and the Countryfile crew visited the Mull of Galloway yesterday to film our tysties (black guillemots). It started off a bit grey and wet, but the tysties were out and about in their pairs, and hopefully the film crew managed to get some good pictures. Here are some photos of me being interviewed by John.

Photos: Steve Hardy 2012

Countryfile have been filming a whole episode on Dumfries and Galloway…

Two shag chicks have hatched on camera 2. We haven't seen much of them yet, as the female is keeping them well protected. Her mate is doing a good job of building up the walls of the nest to keep the wee ones in as well, delivering parcels of twigs, bracken, thrift and sea campion for the new mother throughout the day.

Last week I achieved my first sunburning of the year and saw my first swallows of the year - two great spring landmarks. The swallows were first seen at the Mull this year on Friday the 13th April. It's good to see them back. Last year I held one for the first time, when it flew into the office, and I got the opportunity to have a close look - beautiful, sleek birds, full of energy and purpose. Speaking of birds inside…

The Mull of Galloway visitor centre is open for business again, and what a great week to be back. It has been sunny and warm up here all week. Many of the seabirds are back - the cliffs under the lighthouse are yet again full of gargling guillemots, and the fulmars are flying around the Gallie Craig cliff. Our wheatears are also back, with visitors reporting sightings of 2 singing males.

This week I'll be starting my…

Yesterday afternoon I turned off my laptop after a couple of hours of report writing, and went outside to stretch my legs and see how the world was getting on. My sudden appearance outside the warden’s hut caused a great commotion in the grasses and then a shocked silence. Stock-still, intently focussed on this unexpected intruder, was a doe and fawn, both thin, pale, long eared, big-eyed. After a few moments of…

Merlins and peregrines spotted today at the Mull. Also lots of woolly bears (otherwise know as garden tiger moth caterpillars). The heather is brown now and the sea is getting wilder by the day. There were spectacular waves forming as the Luce Bay tide went out today, and the gannets are still around, gliding past the foghorn in groups. The visitor centre roof keeps making disconcerting noises as the gusts blows in…

Next week will be my last week with the residential volunteers at the Mull of Galloway this year. After Lesley leaves I will have a month on my own before closing up for the year.

They have been a great bunch. Without exception, they have loved it up here, and their pleasure at being in such a beautiful, wild place, keeps me from ever taking it for granted. Thanks Lynne, Terry, Nick, Carol, Caroline, Eleanor, Steve,…

The mass migration has begun, and Mull of Galloway is the place to see it. Especially this week, as our residential volunteer, James, is a superb birder. Yesterday he found spotted flycatchers and goldcrests hiding in the willow scrub, and tree pipits flying over. So now is your best chance of seeing some of these migrants as they take a break on their journeys. Come along and James will help you to identify them. It…

I saw my first ever Risso's Dolphin out in the tidal race today - a large, hooked fin, then three vertical leaps, one after the other, each one almost clearing the sea. It was a big beast compared to the harbour porpoises swimming along with it.

The horizon's have been really clear lately, with the shape of the Cumbrian fells clearly outlined beyond the Solway in the afternoon. There's been a bit of rain, but…