Meetings of the Isle of Mull Bird Club

Saturday 12th September
Field trip to Aros Park, Tobermory - Fungus Foray.
Meet at the car park at 10.00 hrs., bring a packed lunch.
Leader for the day is Roger Johns.

A poor turn-out, but those who attended enjoyed a very good day and James Hilder brought a small stove and cooked some of the fungus he collected; delicious! Here's what we saw:

Sunday 20th September
MULL EAGLE WATCH
To celebrate the successful fledging of record numbers of sea eagle chicks on Mull and across Scotland this year, the annual Fledge Party will take place this year on Sunday 20th September at 13.00 hrs. at the Loch Frisa Eagle Hide. Light refreshments will be available. Please bring a plate of something tasty!  Come and see Frisa, Skye and Heather and enjoy an autumnal afternoon at the hide. This event is for anyone and everyone who has helped watch and protect the eagles this year from watchers on the rota to visitors sending in reports and everyone else in between. You've all played a part in making this the most successful season to date. Gates open both ends. Please spread the word and we look forward to seeing you come rain or shine!

Friday 16th October
Indoor meeting at Craignure Village Hall 19.30 hrs. Iain Erskine will give a talk entitled "Tanzanian Birds and Animals".

Tuesday 20th October
Field meeting to the Morvern Peninsula with Peter Hall & Andy Oldacre. Meet at Fishnish 09.45 for the 10.00 ferry to Lochaline. At Lochaline we will use the Community Bus [driven by Mike Wagemakers] which can take a maximum of 17 including the driver. Please let us know if you would like to participate because of the limited numbers. Telephone Peter Hall on 01680 812441. Please bring a packed lunch; afternoon tea will be at the little café by the Lochaline ferry. Total cost of hiring the Community Bus will be divided between the passengers on the bus. At the moment we plan to return to Fishnish on the 16.00 or 16.45 ferry.

A dry day, for a change!
A dozen members enjoyed seeing the following:

Friday 6th November
Indoor meeting at Craignure Village Hall 19.30 hrs. David Sexton, our local RSPB officer, will give us a talk entitled "The Highs and Lows of Springwatch/Autumnwatch". David will also have RSPB sales items with him.

Saturday 14th November
Field meeting for a fish & chip supper at the Real Food Café in Tyndrum. Leave Craignure on the 09.00 hrs ferry to Oban and return on the 21.45 hrs from Oban back to Craignure. Bring a packed lunch for the intervening hours and binoculars and cameras too [we thought we might have a look at a few Red Kites at the Argaty Centre whilst over that way!!!] Please let us know if you are interested in going on this trip so that we can arrange transport. Contact Peter Hall on 01680 812441.

A very successful field trip for the small number who attended. It rained all the way there and all the way back! BUT for the 90 minutes during the Red Kite feeding 'frenzy' it was blue skies and sunshine!!

Friday 11th December
Indoor meeting at Craignure Village Hall 19.30 hrs. Our annual Christmas Party comes early this year [normally held after the event, in January!!] Please bring a plate of food. There may be some form of entertainment from your committee! There should be a small collection of short films of recent field trips etc.

Many thanks to everyone who entered the photo competition. There were over 100 entries. This meant that we had to divide them into three groups:- "Landscapes", "Birds" and "Other Wildlife". After a second ballot, because we had a dead heat for the first two categories, the winners were:- "Landscape" section, Ruth Fleming, "Birds" section, Andrew Kirkham and the "Other Wildlife" section was again Andrew Kirkham. Click here to see the winning entries.

Our quiz posed some difficult questions but was eventually won by a group comprising:- Allan Spellman, Arthur & Pam Brown and Peter Hall. Congratulations to all!

Musically speaking the evening went well with contributions from two roaming poachers [Norma & Ted Dowling] and their rendition of the 'twelve days of Christmas', young Hannah Thorne entertained us with her penny whistle, and Belinda and Mike Hale gave us a few Christmas songs. Many thanks to you all!

Tuesday 15th December
Field meeting to Loch na Keal led by Arthur Brown. Meet at the Killiechronan Campsite at 09.30 hrs. Please bring a picnic lunch. We will have afternoon tea at the Kinloch Hotel at about 15.30 hrs.

Saturday 9th January 2010
MULL BIG BIRD COUNT! Start at 09.30 hrs. from wherever you are on the island and finish at the Isle of Mull Hotel at 16.00 hrs. We will count the number of species seen and the winning team will receive the 'Oystercatcher' Trophy. Please telephone Peter Hall on 01680 812441 or e-mail him here, so that we can let the Hotel know numbers for aftenoon tea.

A low turnout for the day but in total 81 species were noted. Brian Rains retains the 'Oystercatcher' Trophy for a second year! Previous totals were 2009 [72], 2008 [89] and 2007 [79].

Wednesday 13th January 2010 [change of date]
Indoor meeting at Craignure Village Hall 19.30 hrs.
David Lindo, "The Urban Birder" will be giving a talk. Don't miss this very interesting man.

Friday 12th February 2010
Indoor meeting at Craignure Village Hall at 19.30 hrs.
Philip Price of "Loch Visions" will give a talk on wildlife photography. There will be a volunteer list for Eaglewatch; please attend and give your support.

Saturday 13th February 2010
Field Trip to Fidden and the Ross of Mull. Meet at The Kinloch Hotel at 09.30 hrs. If you would like to go on this trip please contact Peter Hall on 01680 812441 or e-mail him here. Afternoon Tea at Coal Ithe B&B in Fionnphort.

Friday 12th March 2010
Indoor Meeting at Craignure Village Hall at 19.30 hrs.
Erika Hearn will be talking about The Treshnish Isles.

Wednesday 16th March 2010
Field Trip to Loch Frisa for the Sea Eagles. Leader is Debby Thorne. Meet at the Aros end of the track at 10.00 hrs. Bring a packed lunch. Afternoon tea at the Salen Hotel at 16.00 hrs. If you would like to go on this trip please contact Peter Hall on 01680 812441 or e-mail him here.

Friday 9th April 2010
This is an extra meeting for April which will be open to the general public as well as all bird club members. An evening with Roy Dennis. Roy was mainly responsible for the re-introduction of the White-tailed Eagle and the protection of Ospreys when they returned to Scotland. He will be bringing his book 'A Life of Ospreys' with him to sign & sell at the event. There will also be a special raffle.

Friday 16th April 2010
Indoor Meeting. Annual AGM. Details later.

Tuesday 20th April 2010
Field Trip to Garmony & Fishnish led by Stuart Gibson.
Details to follow.

 

Please Note:
If you would like to participate in a field meeting then please inform Peter Hall on 01680 812441