We left Oban to catch the ferry to Craignure on 13th September. The crossing was poor for birding because of the torrential rain. We drove the short distance to our accommodation at Ardnadrochet Cottage. The cottage was in an excellent location looking over Loch Don. The rain eased off a little & we saw a ringtail Hen Harrier & 3 Red Deer towards dusk.
The walk went through beautiful woodlands.
The 14th September dawned bright & sunny, we set off to walk the road to Grasspoint. It was a lovely walk through some mixed woodland with nice views over grasslands & the distant loch.
Grasspoint itself was a lovely spot, with good views both out to sea & into the mouth of the loch. We eventually saw an adult White-tailed Eagle, which gave good scope views but too distant for photographs. A juvenile Little Gull was a good find here.
In the afternoon we drove along Glen More & stopped at the viewpoint for twenty minutes. Eventually we saw both Golden & White-tailed Eagles, but both were very distant.
On 15th September we drove to Loch na Keal but it was dark & overcast & we quickly moved on. We made a brief stop at a local waterfall & then drove to Dervaig. The drive was very scenic but there were few birds, a distant Golden Eagle being the best.
In the afternoon we drove to Tobermory & enjoyed a look around this interesting town. Delana had work to do so we returned home & I birded from the garden. A pair of White-tailed Eagles with a well grown immature bird sat in distant trees. But yet again too far for photos. We enjoyed prolonged views through the telescope though. A ringtail Hen Harrier was also seen. It was a very enjoyable afternoon in the garden with 37 species seen.
16th September saw us driving to the extreme south east of the island around Croggan. This is quite a remote area & the scenery was spectacular. A hundred Pink-footed Geese flew high overhead, heading south. But best of all was an Otter on the loch. It wasn't very close but we had great views through the binoculars.
