Wildlife on the Ross of Mull

Mull is famed for its wildlife and here in the Ross of Mull it is literally everywhere.  In the wild moorland around the Bunkrooms, hen harriers, kestrels, sparrowhawks, owls and red deer stags are regular visitors and an otter occasionally puts in an appearance in Loch Pottie at the foot of our drive. These species can be seen all the year round.

Go off on a walk to a nearby beach and you may be rewarded with sightings of common dolphins or a white-tailed eagle. At nearby Fidden Beach, just a mile from Fionnphort, common seals bask on the pink granite rocks just offshore. This is a perfect location for winter wildlife watching; barnacle geese, mountain hare and snow buntings are typical species appearing here in the winter months  On the beaches and the nearby fields are golden plovers, ringed plovers, lapwings, greylag geese and in the water, great northern divers and black throated divers. Flocks of redwings and fieldfares are even on the road verges in Fionnphort

We have bird feeders in the garden during the colder months, much to the delight of the local bird population which includes the usual suspects of blue tits, great tits, coal tits, gold finches, chaffinches, blackbirds, starlings and an unusually shy robin. We are pleased to have greenfinches visiting regularly as their numbers have been devastated by trichomonosis and we have also seen yellowhammers, tree creepers, long tailed tits and waxwings.

The Ross of Mull is a wildlife haven with a variety of habitats for many rare species, in particular white-tailed eagles and golden eagles.  In the spring, the puffins and other seabirds arrive to breed on the outlying islands and the corncrake can be heard in Iona and Fidden. Butterflies, bees and dragonflies appear and by June the machair is starting to flower on the coastlines, while out to sea porpoise, dolphins, whales and basking sharks appear.

One of the delights of Fionnphort is the proximity to the offshore isles of Iona and the Treshnish Isles. The corncrake is commonly heard (if not seen) on Iona and a trip to Lunga or Staffa to view the nesting puffins and other species of seabird is never to be forgotten