White tailed eagle, hen harrier, cuckoo............ snowy owl? : Birding day out on Mull

Until last September it cost £38 return to take a car over to Mull now it's £16 so a day out on the island is possible. Hamza, our resident wildlife photographer, and I decided to have a birdwatching day out; a circuit of the best birding spots on the island.

I won't bore you with the complete list but among many other species we saw, white tailed eagle and hen harrier then heard our first cuckoo of 2016. Hamza has provided some of his photos they are his intellectual property and are not for reproduction).

Back home at about 5.00 pm I went out for firewood and caught a glimpse of a big white owl perched on the rafters of the sheep house. I was fooled but only momentarily, it didn't move and was just too white. A prankster at work! but who?Only one person would go to so much trouble; to find a stuffed owl, bring it to Kilchoan, find a ladder and set it up

Big Al...... here for the weekend. He did make amends by trundling several tonnes of logs into the shed in the wheel barrow for the splitter.

It's not as if it's a very good imitation but I'll leave it up there. It might attract a real but short sighted owl or surprise a visitor.