Tuesday 23 April 2013

Golden Eagle at Applecross


Clambered up high on Applecross and cames across this enormous eagle being mobbed by hoodies (hooded crows not teenage thugs on their D of E expedition!!)

Monday 15 April 2013

Isle of Mull Otter Odyssey


Just returned from our annual Easter trip to Applecross and Isle of Mull. We had incredible luck again with the weather, having driven up in blizzards and terrible conditions we arrived on Applecross' Shore Street for our week in the cottage and managed to enjoy our courtesy bottle of Pinot Grigio on the decking whilst watching the sun set over Rasaay. From then on in.. we had a sunny day every single day of the trip (a day shy of three weeks!)and not a single drop of rain. We had a top time on Applecross with an otter sighting near one of the holts and an incredible up close and personal (and a tad scary) encounter with a golden eagle up on the hill (it had been feeding on the inners of a recently slain stag- but more of that in a later post. On Mull, we set up camp at Fidden Farm and enjoyed glorious days walking on deserted beaches and exploring the Isle of Erraid (where I fell into the last remaining wet peat bog in Scotland following their very dry winter) We found the obligatory dead seal and a number of mystery skulls (including a seal skull- highly sought after apparently) We saw the White Tails, the mountain hares, some minky whales and of course otters.. In total we were delighted to watch 12 otters throughout the three weeks, including a short but sweet sighting just before embarking on the ferry home from Craignure. Anyway- here are some pictures of an otter to keep you cheery (taken on Loch Na Keal, Isle of Mull)