Mull of Galloway - Blog

BIRTH ANNOUNCEMENTS: on 17th, 18th and 19th of May, to Mr & Mrs Phalacrocorax Aristotelis...

2013-05-22T15:18:00Z

... three very lovely (well, the parents think so anyway) babies. Weight and sex unknown.

We have been watching this particular pair of shags for well over a month now, ever since we spotted them building a nest and mating. Three eggs then appeared and we are delighted to announce that all three eggs hatched last weekend. I was spending a long weekend in N. Ireland and was admiring the lovely black guillemots in the harbour in Bangor on Friday when the text message I had been waiting for came through. "We have lift-off - first egg has hatched!"

We are very lucky to be able to watch this new family very closely through our cliff-side camera with images showing live on the screen in the visitor centre. Today we've had good views of the chicks being fed and look forward to watching them grow over the next couple of months. It's a privilege to have such insight into their lives and you can come and share this with us. Of course we have two cameras out there and today the other camera has given us a ring-side seat for the fencing matches between the guillemots who seem to be defending their territories and finally settling down to the breeding season.

So, even when you don't fancy a ramble around the reserve there's still plenty to see courtesy of our cliff cams. Come and meet the new family!

The noisy neighbours are back

2013-05-01T16:02:21Z

It has been strangely quiet on the cliffs here at the Mull of Galloway, relatively speaking that is. The kittiwakes have been kicking up a bit of a fuss but their rivals for noisiest cliff edge dwellers have been staying away since their first arrival a few weeks back. I was trying not to fret for my new ‘family’ but I admit to being relieved to see large numbers of the guillemots and razorbills now occupying the cliffs once more. The ledges are again alive with the tell-tale gargling sounds from the guillemots. And not to put too fine a point on it, but it is beginning to pong as the rocks start to look more ‘white-washed’! It seems that the seabirds have been waiting for the weather conditions to settle down before they themselves settle down. The breeding season is starting a few weeks later than last year.

Over the last week we have started to see interesting little migrants, some will stay and some are pausing before they continue on to their breeding sites further inland. Today, Val and Tony, our current fabulous residential volunteers, have been keeping an eye out for interesting visitors. A splendid male black redstart was the first to be seen, followed by a sedge warbler and various willow warblers. I was intrigued to hear from some of our visitors about ‘small black and white birds’ – could this be the return of the pied flycatchers, perhaps on their way to the Wood of Cree? Possibly not, but I can dream.

Spring squill, copyright Tony Vile

It is great to be able to report that Mother Nature has added some additional colour to the palette and the first blooms of spring squill will grow into larger drifts of blue-violet. A real visual treat, can’t wait. We also have scurvy grass and sea campion in flower and the sharp-eyed amongst you may have noticed wood sorrel popping up here and there.

Scurvy grass, copyright Tony Vile

A quick plug for tomorrow’s guided walk – 1pm start from the visitor centre. Come and have a look to see what else is sprouting forth or passing through!

Living the dream - hello from Jone

2013-04-20T14:50:00Z

A belated hello from me - the new Community Liaison Officer here at the beautiful Mull of Galloway. I am indeed living the dream, having spent the last couple of years working towards a career in conservation with the RSPB. My quest has taken me from Oxfordshire to Scotland, via Rathlin Island, Coombes Valley (Staffordshire) and then finally Leighton Moss in Lancashire. Three absolutely wonderful locations which have all won a corner of my heart but even so I can't get over how stunning Dumfries and Galloway is, why haven't I been here before now? It does seem to be a closely guarded secret, but I shall do my bit to try and spread the word.

Enough about me - I need to let you know what's been seen at the Mull now that things are warming up slightly. In the few weeks that I have been here I have seen snow and storms as well as occasional bursts of sunshine. In my first couple of weeks at the Mull, it was relatively quiet on the wildlife front, I was happy to become acquainted with the local tysties and with the returning seabirds. I gave an inward cheer each time I spied a new returnee. Hooray for the guillemots and razorbills who started to appear on the cliffs. Good numbers of kittiwakes, such pretty gulls but that raucous shriek of theirs really doesn't match their delicate appearance! The fulmars are enjoying the strong winds more than I am and are gliding and wheeling about on those famous stiff wings. The gannets, they're easily seen flying low over the water and diving in their inimitable style. The shags are nesting now and we are lucky enough to have found a nest in full view of one of our cliff cameras - first egg was seen last Saturday. I haven't spotted any puffins yet but it must happen soon.

Turning the attention now to the precious maritime heath on our reserve, initially meadow pipits were my main neighbours, together with a flock of fieldfare and a couple of roe deer. Gradually other species have started to appear or make themselves more obvious - I could hear linnets in amongst the gorse and heather, then stonechats, wheatears, reed buntings... As of the last few days, we have started to see more migrants: swallows and housemartins, chiff chaff or willow warblers, it's all starting to happen! There's also been a sighting of a short-eared owl last Monday evening, hoping to catch sight of this myself, but I have saved the most dramatic sighting until last.

Some visitors who were staying in the holiday accommodation at the lighthouse came to tell us that they had surprised a peregrine (and themselves!) in the act of making a kill just outside their front door. The peregrine was now sitting on top of their chimney, trying to decide whether it still wanted the pigeon. We watched it for a while but then it took off and as we watched we soon realised that there were now two peregrines - her partner (the new bird was appreciably smaller) had joined her. They treated us to several minutes of aerobatics before finally heading off.

I hope that the above has whetted your appetite and you'll want to come and see some of this for yourselves. It isn't just about feathered things of course: we have furry and finny creatures too - I forgot to mention earlier the porpoise that were attracting quite an audience yesterday, easily seen from the Visitor Centre.

Don't forget that we run guided walks all through the season, no need to book - just turn up at 1pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays. More details here: http://www.rspb.org.uk/events/details.aspx?id=tcm:9-339234

See you soon!

Goodbye!

2012-08-24T16:01:25Z

Well it's goodbye from me after a couple of seasons at the Mull. I've had a great time here, and am leaving with rich memories.

Some of the best include early mornings sunrises surveying tysties, exploring New England Bay beach with wild children, imitating seabird colonies with a raucous primary 5 class, watching an amateur rocket blast off into the atmosphere, spotting a Risso's dolphin breaching out to sea, soaking up the rays on hot still mornings outside the visitor centre, and watching pods of porpoises from the foghorn. And those are just the best bits!

I'm sure it won't be long before I'm back up at the Mull - its a special place.

Until then I leave you in the safe hands of Kirsty and Paul.

Thanks for reading!

Hannah

Peregrine

2012-08-08T13:48:00Z

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 season. So our chick-less guillemots, razorbills and puffins have already departed for the open seas.

There are a couple of fluffy fulmar chicks around, but it seems to have been another bad breeding year for them too. Fulmar numbers are dropping dramatically at the Mull, I'm not quite sure why.

The heathland is buzzing with invertebrates of all varieties at the moment, from butterflies to beetles, to caterpillars, moths and snails. The bell heather is blooming, and the ling (common heather) is just coming into flower.

Free family wildlife activities all summer

2012-07-12T14:20:22Z

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 to the area, you might particularly like the Monday afternoon Summer Club - a two hour workshop where we will be exploring different aspects of the reserve each week, and then using our discoveries to get creative. The workshops are from 2 until 4 every Monday - and you'll need outdoor clothing (just in case!). Here's some pictures of our workshop making beachcomber mobiles from last year.

Join us for a cliff-top ramble with the razorbills

2012-07-05T10:40:42Z

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 promote our spectacular wildlife on this clifftop reserve. Phone Ailsa Burns on 0131 317 4174 or email ailsa.burns@rspb.org.uk to register. There will also be a shorter guided walk, for anyone who loves to get out and about with nature, but doesn't want to take on the full 10k challenge.

Bloomin' heather

2012-07-03T14:37:00Z

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 Ziegler

I hope the summer sunshine makes a comeback sometime soon!

However, if you are sick of staying indoors, why not join us on our Beachcomber walk tomorrow at New England Bay? We will be exploring the coast and maybe even doing a bit of beach art - come rain or shine! We start at 11a.m.

Orchids

2012-06-26T15:49:54Z

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 in Scotland where you can see these.

We were glad to see that Charlie the razorbill chick survived last Friday's horrendous weather, and we also have lots of kittiwake chicks about the place, and one guillemot chick! The season is is full swing.

First razorbill chick!

2012-06-21T09:39:57Z

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

2012-06-12T14:37:57Z

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

The trouble with herring gulls....

2012-06-12T09:33:40Z

... 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 disdain, So I'll watch carefully over the next few weeks to see if any eggs appear.

Babysitting kittiwakes

2012-06-07T11:05:33Z

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 gulls on babysitting duties? Getting some practice in? They certainly seemed to be 'playing' at parenting (and not very well either). Whoever the interloping gulls are, it probably doesn't bode well for the chicks if the real mother is having to leave the eggs for long stretches to go out fishing. We'll keep an eye on this nest and keep you updated.

The Best Yet

2012-06-05T10:45:00Z

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 come mainly for the birds and have seen many things I am familiar with,but have had also had a couple of " firsts " in black guillemot and a really lovely short-eared owl that obligingly sat still long enough for us to get it in the scope.

Gannets have always been one of my favourites and with the 5000 birds on the Scare Rocks,they are to be seen every day. On my second day I went for a very cold swim in the evening at Port Logan ( very close to the accomodation ) and had a lovely gannet diving in to the water only a few hundred yards away. It has been good to work with and get to know Hannah - with her very new status of auntie to her sisters little boy - and I am sure that I will want to return to do another spell of volunteering here.

Reluctant razors

2012-06-04T09:11:00Z

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 using their usual nesting spot, and I haven't found any evidence of another nest, so let's hope they are still around and have managed to find a really well hidden place to nest. Last year their eggs were predated, so it is was a pretty sensible decision to move. I'll be keeping an eye out for them over the next few weeks, as June is the month for surveying the seabirds, and I will regularly be out and about on the cliffs.