Day Return to Mull

Rather belatedly, I guess, Ruth and I have recently discovered two things about the isle of Mull. Firstly, it's only about an hour's drive - plus a couple of ferries - from here (Fort William). And secondly, it's astonishingly dramatic in it's landscape and wildlife.

A group of 30+ cormorants were basking on a rock as the ferry from Lochaline in Morvern glided into the quay at Fishnish on Mull.

As we drove along Loch na Keal the air seemed to teem with raptors. Mostly buzzards, but there are eagles around too, and Mull has a renowned colony of white-tailed Sea Eagles. I'm gonna need to shell out on something sharper and steadier than my current Canon 100-300mm f/4-5.6 USM lens to get really useable pics of these birdies!

Last time around we started at the southern end of the island and turned along the north shore of Loch Scridain, climbing up through woods and open moorland before plunging down and round a bend to find Loch na Keal and this wide Atlantic vista opening out below us, just by the barely-discernible habitation of Balnahard:

This time we headed north from Fishnish to Salen, then cut across the isthmus to Killiechronan on the north shore of Loch na Keal. On the south shore of the loch rises the massif of Ben More, Mull's highest peak and a dominant feature of the landscape for many miles around (plainly visible from Oban, Appin, Morvern and much of the west coast of Argyll, and the islands which lie off it). Yesterday's light was weaker than on our last trip, with an early mist which had risen to hang below the clouds, and clung still to the hillsides. Not making for the easiest photographic environment, but this shot captures something of the light: