cat63: (Default)
cat63 ([personal profile] cat63) wrote2009-05-25 11:04 am

Puffins and stuff!


Yes, it's time for me to bombard you with pictures of Mull again :-)

Saturday was a long day. I love going to Mull, but not so much the getting up at 5 a.m. to get to Oban in time for the 4 p.m. ferry! We actually got there just after 2 p.m. this time, as I've got rather better at negotiating the twisty roads through the Trossachs, so we had time to get some perishables in Tescos and go for a stroll along the harbour before it was time to embark.

I even took a few pictures there - McCaig's Tower which dominates the Oban skyline and King Neptune who lurks on the harbourside :-
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We were happy to get to the cottage again but rather puzzled to find this odd cooking implement in the woods outside :-
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We took bird feeders with us and one of the first to take advantage of them was this jolly fellow:-
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It was horrendously windy on Saturday night, but by Sunday morning the weather had improved dramatically and we were surprised and delighted to see an otter eating a fish on the jetty just along from the cottage. Rob got pictures (and now wants a longer lens so that he can get better ones next time) and I'll post some of those later.

The otter disappeared when a boat pulled into the bay and started offloading passengers at the jetty, alas. But later we walked into the nearby town of Craignure and there was another otter (or possibly even the same one) fishing off the rocks in the harbour there!

We met this little chap on the way into Craignure. I'm not sure if he's a baby coo or a teddy bear!
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There was a local produce market in the village hall that afternoon, and we bought a plant from the lady who owns Lip Na Cloiche on the shore  of Loch Tuath.

The garden is quite close to Ulva Ferry where we were due to embark for the Puffin Expotition the next day, so we decided to call in and see it on the way. We weren't quite sure what to expect but it was a marvellous place - the owner has made a wonderful piece of garden art out of stuff that most people would consider rubbish - the garden is festooned with rusty metal artefacts and bits of silvery aged wood that meld in with the plants to make a wonderfully harmonious whole. Recycling at its best!

Here are a couple of pictures, but they really don't do it justice, especially when you consider that the whole thing has been done on a steep slope!
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But where, I hear you cry, are the puffins? We was promised puffins, we was! It was raining a bit when we set off for Staffa and Lunga to see the Puffins, but that didn't see m to deter the jolly little chaps from pobbling about the cliffs and being terrifically puffiny, so without further ado, here they are.

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What are you doing in there? Come on, it's dinner time!

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Wheee!
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Ready, steady....

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Hmmm...maybe we should move the dining table a little to the right?

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Fight!


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Sneaking!
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Ready for my close-up, Mr Attenborough!

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That's by no means all - more later!
 


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