Well being a typical English man I packed for a Scottish holiday:- Waterproof Jacket, Waterproof Leggings, Waterproof Hat, Waterproof Trousers, Wellingtons, Waterproof Walking Boots, Waterproof Socks, Waterproof and Midge proof Underwear, Breathable Shirts, Torch, Midge Deterrent (Flame Thrower, Hand Grenades X 6, Bazooka, 9mm Uzi, Baseball bat & Avon Skin so Soft, for the wife honest) Towels & Photography Equipment.
We left Devon midday so that we could cross the border using the cover of darkness. This trick didn't work and the "Border Police", wait a few years, stopped us. They confiscated all my, sorry, my wife's Avon Skin so Soft but let us keep all the rest of my midge deterrents! We arrived at our destination, a Bed & Breakfast called Killoran House, a bit tired due to the long journey. Killoran House looked good on the Internet but it looked spectacular when we got there. It is built into the hillside in Dervaig and has commanding views across the valley. We were met there by Janette McKilligan who asked how we were and showed us to our room. This lady was our host throughout our stay and brought us our breakfast each morning. I can thoroughly recommend this B&B www.killoranhouse.co.uk.
I don't know about you but whenever I get to the "resort" I always look at the "tours" leaflets to see what they can offer. Nearly every one of the leaflets was about wildlife watching as Mull is a fantastic place for Wildlife and Landscape photography. I examined the leaflets and put them all back. Basically they were all very similar, somebody would drive you around in a van / bus and "if" you saw any wildlife then the tour was a success. When they mention "scopes" I know it will be no good for photography.
We have already been here 5 days out of the 9, doesn't time fly when your are enjoying yourself, shame this is the opposite when you are at work. I know "its" up there and "they" are out there but we have not seen any rain or a single midge since we have been here. Mull appears to be a really laid back place, a place that you can really relax in. It reminds me of the Lake District but more remote and fantastic beaches. Within it's charm it does have its oddities like the roads or should I say tracks because most of them are single lane tracks with passing places. This isn't the oddity, the oddity is that, with all the info about walking and wildlife, there are hardly and parking places and this forces you to either park miles away from where you want to be or park in the passing place!
On the first day we drove around to scout out some areas for photography but to be honest there were so many we just picked a few to return the next few days. I had some insider knowledge given to me, thanks Steve Williams, and we checked out this area. We spoke to a few people and everybody had some wildlife sighting tale to tell. The trouble is that wildlife does not adhere to the rules, it does it's own thing. Just because it was in a certain place at a certain time does not mean it will be there at the same time and place the next day or the next week. You just have to examine the area and keep your fingers crossed.
On the following days I sat for hours in different areas, all camouflaged up, hoping for the first time in my life to see a wild otter. The areas I chose were Port na Ba, Port na Cailich, Calgary Bay, Laggan Bay, Loch na Keal and several areas on the Sound of Mull. During this time I saw and photographed Rock Pipits, Oyster Catchers, Greylag Geese and Hooded Crows. There was an abundance of other birds, especially Herons, but I wanted to add new species to my portfolio. One piece of equipment I used and I found to be a terrific aid was a NatureScapes Skimmer Ground Pod II bought from Wex Photography. I could have used a waterproof bean bag but I thought the Skimmer was a far better option as it allowed me to position and move the camera just where I wanted it. I used it in conjunction with a Kirk MPA-2 monopod head which is a superb head for the Skimmer and my monopod.
Over the next few days we will be visiting the southern part of the island still hoping to see Red deer and my first Otter. We will also be going on a boat trip to see the White Tailed Sea Eagle. I will cover all this in part 2.