First Day

It was a spectacular trip to Staffa today - there was a surprisingly huge Atlantic swell, so we couldn't land, but the bonus of a day like this is some very spectacular pictures of "Fingal's Washing Machine"! Unfortunately the skipper is generally quite busy at the best point for taking such pics so there are none to share.

There were plenty of puffins at the north end of Staffa including some already ashore - boding well for the next trip out.

With some time to spare we took a wee detour across to the Treshnish Isles because the day was so bonny apart from the aforementioned swell. There puffins were ashore and rafting on the west side. Also to be seen were guillemots, shags, razorbills, kittiwakes, fulmars, gannets, bonxies, manx shearwaters, and of course plenty Atlantic Grey Seals.

A fine first day out on the Island Lass.

A few birdie pics.

A few more pictures - hopefully a reminder that summer is just around the corner!

A puffin amongst the bluebells on Lunga

A group of puffins on Lunga with Sgeir a' Chaisteal in the background

A puffin putting his best foot forward

 Guillemots

A nesting shag

A pair of puffins in the air

Puffin with thrift

Razorbill

Here is another puffin

A razorbill stretching its wings

And a last puffin picture!

Some more Turus Mara Pics from over the years

Iain's Pictures

I have sneaked into Turus Mara Headquarters with a memory stick and nicked a few of the patriarch's pictures while he was otherwise engaged. There are loads more where these came from, but someone will have to distract him again long enough for further surreptitious espionage!

Guillemots

Puffin and Thrift

Bottlenose Dolphins

Minke Whale

Common Dolphins

Sunfish

Sea Eagle

Shellduck

Common Dolphin under water

Razorbills

Orca

Shellduck again

Would never knowingly use anothers images without their say so really!

The 2011 Season

Lets Face it 2011 has not been an ideal season for boat based tourism in Scotland. Turus Mara boats rarely ventured to sea in September or October; the end of May and early June, consistently one of the busiest times for us, was also a bit of a washout and many trees on west Mull may never recover from the storm that occurred in May. Some lost their leaves or turned gold and black as though it was autumn which was very odd to see - based on observation over the last quarter of a century or so I would bet money on a settled spell during that period.

Despite this there were also many many bonny days.

Sunny day with swell at Fingal's Cave, Staffa

Yacht and dinghy in the Carnaburg Channel, Treshnish Isles

Bluebells on Lunga, Treshnish Isles

Island Lass at the pier, Iona

Most of the birdlife here had a reasonable breeding season this year. You can find data and links on the Hebridean Trust Treshnish Isles web page http://www.hebrideantrust.org/treshnish.htm including the most recent Treshnish Isles Auk Ringing Group (TIARG) survey (2010). I expect 2011 will be up shortly.

If you look closely you can see guillemot chicks amongst the adults

More guillemots

An obligatory puffin picture

We saw bottlenose dolphins regularly, porpoises often and common dolphins a few times.

Bottlenose dolphins at Staffa

Iolaire with bottlenose dolphins

Basking sharks sidestepped the area for the most part and minke whales were inconsistent visitors. Orca were seen in the area a number of times but we unfortunately missed them.

Both boats are now high and dry for winter with Island Lass at the head of the Ugag Loch near Croig and Hoy Lass as ever at Balvicar Boatyard.

Before we know it the 2012 season will be upon us. See some of you then!

Minke Whale

Today we saw this season's first Minke whale! It was a great interaction with the whale coming right up to the boat for a good nosey!
Meanwhile there are also bottlenose dolphins in the area so we are ever hopeful of finding them later on - it is such a beautiful day out here there should be no problem spotting any sea mammals!
And of course the puffins are now heading into their burrows with sand eels so there will now be little pufflings in there!
Common seal pups have been arriving in the Ferry Islands close to Ulva Ferry.
I promise to attend to this neglected blog on a more regular basis.

Radio group on Lunga.

GB5TI on the pontoon at Lunga

Members of the GMDX Group visited Lunga on a short Ham Radio activation over the last few days. They had some great weather for their stay, although Friday night into saturday was "interesting" according to Jim Martin the group leader. I suspect this is an understatement as there was a near gale from the South East at this time - rather them than me in a tent in that. Still, they were still smiling yesterday when I picked them and their kit up yesterday!
Their call sign was GB5TI - the TI part I am reliably informed stands for Treshnish Isles! Their goal is making contact with other ham radio stations across the world. With a tally of 4900 for the visit I assume they left happy!

Treshnish Isles

Today is my first trip out to the Treshnish Isles this year and what an absolutely stunning day it is for it! The sun is splitting the sky and the new green growth on the islands is truly zingy! Likewise the bright yellow lichens above the black of a hundred rocks and islets.
The puffins seem well established on the cliff edge above the mooring. I will hear in due course from my adventuring crewman whether other birds are beginning to nest on the ledges on and around the Harp Rock. I can certainly see fulmars coming and going.
Next we head across to Staffa to see if we can get landed - the swell still looks quite sizeable, but I suspect it is not as huge at the Clamshell Landing as yesterday.
Also, eyes peeled on the way across as one of the local fishermen spotted a minke whale earlier today!
Watch this space for updates.

C