Mull 2014 Pictures

Day 0: Saturday 31st May 2014.
Day 1: Sunday 1st June 2014.
Day 2: Monday 2nd June 2014.
Day 3: Tuesday 3rd June 2014.
Day 4: Wednesday 4th June 2014.
Day 5: Thursday 5th June 2014.
Day 6: Friday 6th June 2014.
Day 7: Saturday 7th June 2014.
Click here to return to the General 2014 Pictures page.

Photos Wednesday 4th June 2014, Fishnish and Grass Point.

After a slow start we visited two locations - Fishnish and Grass Point. The first location looked like a potential Chequered Skipper location. We saw none of them but the prize was a single Small Pearl Bordered Fritillary. We also saw a Golden Ringed Dragonfly. Then after a stop at a cafe in Craignure we went to Grass Point. It was lovely there in the warm sunshine with lots of Green Hairstreaks and various moths. It was a possible Marsh Fritillary site but alas they weren't seen. It was a lovely walk to the sea and back though. Meanwhile across on the mainland heavy showers brewed and obscured views to Ben Nevis and other mountains. But on Mull it stayed nice. A quick ice cream on the way back hit the spot nicely.

Drive to Fishnish

It was a straight forward drive down the road to Fishnish. So far this trip Jack has driven. It was nice for me to do the driving for a change, even if that meant not so many photos on the road (for safety reasons of course). Stella also joined us on this trip. We did stop at the Scuttled ships to take a look around and to observe nearby seals too. Stella even climbed on board one of the ships.

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Looking along the Sound of Mull from a view point just Southeast of Tobermory.	Buzzard Southeast of Tobermory.	Scuttled ships between Tobermory and Salen.	Seals between Tobermory and Salen.	Sea Thrift growing near the scuttled ships.

Fishnish

At Fishnish the weather was warm and sunny. The sight was a speculative potential Chequered Skipper sight. Whether they were there or not it was a pleasant walk. In the end we failed to find any. Although there were patches of bluebells, bracken and trees, it was generally too dry. The presence of Small Heaths (who like it dry) also confirmed the lack of suitability. A bonus was a brief sighting of a single Small Pearl Bordered Fritillary which I managed to get a shot of when it stopped ever so briefly before vanishing. We also got a good look at a Golden Ringed Dragonfly which was resting in the vicinity too. Eventually we decided to return to the car.

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Looking across the Sound of Mull from Fishnish to Morven as the Fishnish ferry goes by.	Golden Ringed Dragonfly.	Green Veined White.	A pair of mating Small Heath butterflies.		Small Pearl Bordered Fritillary. I had no time to get a better shot without the grass blade in the way. I'm just glad this one focussed well in a rush.

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Silver Ground Carpet.	Two shots of a Golden Ringed Dragonfly.		An elderly Peacock butterfly. Just after this shot it got caught in a spider's web and I rescued it.	The Fishnish ferry heading back out past a yaught.	My car on it's holidays. Parked at Fishnish.

Lunch Break in Craignure

On departing Fishnish we stopped down the road in Craignure for a lunch break at Arlene's Coffee Shop. The weather was nice here but across the Sound of Mull on the mainland it was spreading out badly and showers were forming. It was a good day to be out on Mull where runaway convection was prevented by the sea.

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Lunch stop.	Nearby the Oban ferry was docked.	Ben Nevis visible on the far side of the Sound of Mull to the Northeast.

Grass Point

After lunch we carried on down the road to Loch Don. Just after there we turned off onto a track that we followed to a car park near the end. Stella wanted to walk the 3 miles to the end of the track while Jack and I went butterflying. So we dropped her off. Then I took it slowly down the track as grass growing in the middle was brushing on the bottom of the car. Once parked up we carried on along the track towards the end at the coast. We were on the lookout for Marsh Fritillaries, but alas we failed to spot any. There was plenty of wildlife though. Huge numbers of Green Hairstreaks in particular, as well as lots of moths and orchids. I wandered all the way to Grass Pont itself, at the end of the path. At this point Stella appeared. (She's a fast walker!) We returned together to the car where Jack was having not gone all the way to the end. Then before we left I had an explore up a hill that ended up the top of a cliff down to the sea below. Once we left we backtracked to the main road. From a bridge near the main road we briefly watched a Dipper in action.

Note: This Plant Life page has tips on how to tell apart Lesser and Greater butterfly orchids. The pollen sacs on this plant look more like a II shape akin to the Lesser, as opposed to the Greater's more V shape.

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Green Hairstreak.	Argent & Sable moth.	Green Veined White.	Clouded Border moth.	Meadow flowers.	Bad weather on the mainland making for a moody cloudscape.

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22 degree halo around the sun.	Cinnabar moth.	Common Spotted Orchid.	Lesser Butterfly Orchid.	Unknown Orchid (To be identified).	Heath Spotted Orchid.

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Lots of Bog Cotton (or Cotton grass).	Ragged Robin flowers.	360 degree panorama at Grass Point.	Sea Thrift.

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Early Purple Orchid.	Another Common Spotted Orchid.	Unknown Orchid (To be identified).	A 360 degree panorama from the top of the cliff just South of Grass Point, East of the car park.

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Looking down Northwards over the cliff edge and back Westwards to the car park with Loch Don visible in the background.		Foxglove flowers.	Dipper near the bridge over the river just off the main road.

Back in Tobermory

After another stop at Arlene's for ice cream, we returned to Tobermory. By now my midge bites were starting to look spectacular. I managed to count something like 96 of them, mostly on my arms. That's gonna be an itchy remainder of the trip but well worth it!

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The result of two days of butterflying in the height of the midge season!

The weather isn't looking so good tomorrow. So let's see what happens. Stella has Flute Practice in the morning and we could use it as a springboard for a trip around the island again.