Five Days on Mull - Part One

I might have mentioned (once or twice) that Limpy and I recently returned from our first ever trip to the beautiful island of Mull in the Inner Hebrides.  It's something we'd been talking about doing for years so it felt brilliant (and slightly unreal) as we finally travelled up there.  We hadn't been off the ferry long when we pulled in near Salen on the east coast:

The first of many curlews we were to see on the island.

As we headed north towards Dervaig (where we were staying) I couldn't resist this hooded crow.

We continued on our way and enjoyed a very comfortable night.  After a very generously sized breakfast (can't beat them!) we headed to the west coast of the island, making our first stop at Calgary.  It was cold and drizzly there, though the beach was a beautiful white colour (unlike our local yellowish ones).  There weren't many birds about, though (inevitably) the local corvids pop up everywhere:

We then headed down the coast to the tiny port of Ulva Ferry.  On our way there this buzzard finally descended to a height where I could get shots of it that weren't pure silhouette:

Good to see it had a meal in its talons!

On reaching Ulva Ferry a most familiar bird flew past:

Obviously, herring gulls were everywhere.  What came as a surprise was that the next bird was everywhere as well:

We were told early on that if we thought we'd seen a cormorant it would almost certainly be a shag.  This proved to be the case over the next few days, though we did see the odd cormorant about.

We continued down the coast to Gruline.  A bird which was quickly becoming familiar had just enjoyed a bath:

It looks good and it knows it!  Further down the road we saw a most suitable bird on a post:

What a beauty!  I think it was too surprised to do anything but sit there.

That's possibly the most obliging buzzard I've ever photographed.

We followed the road as it turned west along the coast of Loch na Keal.  There were a few bigger parking areas along here, with birders (no mistaking the scopes and things!) already set up.  Two white-tailed eagles were sitting on a rock - too far away to see anything other than two very large dots in the distance!  I settled on seeing what was a bit closer:

A beautiful meadow pipit.  I must confess I fell into the trap of thinking it was a rock pipit due to its location but it's definitely a meadow pipit.

A typically shy and retiring pied wagtail - one of many in the area.

Right, that'll do for Part One - Part Two to follow!