Wildlife

For many seabird & wildlife enthusiasts, a day trip with Turus Mara will provide observation / photo opportunity of a greater variety of " feathered and / or woolly creatures" than ever before.

Each year Turus Mara transport a bunch of enthusiastic scientists collectively known as TIARG - clumsily short for Treshnish Isles Auk Ringing Group, to camp on Lunga for the 3rd week in June. They count and ring as many seabirds as they can manage in whatever varied weather conditions the Atlantic happens to throw at them. From this dedicated effort a 30 page statistical report is produced and filed to the Seabird Colony Register and the National Ringing Database (British Trust for Ornithology). Real Serious Students of Birdlife can therefore find as much detail as floats their boat from these scources. For the rest of us (with a life!) here is our abbreviated version of some of that information mixed with our own observations over many years of communing with our feathered friends.

The Turus Mara Bird List - a rough guide

Some of the most common birds normally breeding on Lunga, they are listed in order of numerical importance in terms of the total number throughout the Treshnish Isles. The figures below are at best rough averages over a number of years, and can vary greatly from one season to the next. The list is by no means exhaustive.

Common Guillemot          April - end July      6000

Puffin                   April - 1st wk Aug      3000

Razorbill              April - 3rd wk July        700

Kittiwake             May - Aug         600- 1000

Fulmar                 May - Aug          400 - 600

Shag      May-3rd wk July (nests)  100 - 250

Greater B Backed Gull        May - Aug 300 - 400

Herring Gull                  May - Aug          200

Artic tern                      May - Aug            80

Black Guillemot                  May - Aug            70

Lesser B Backed Gull         May - Aug            40

Common Tern                 May - Aug              5

Common Gull                 May - Aug              5

Great Skua                  May - Aug              1

Manx Shearwaters and Storm Petrels (nocturnal nest changing and so never seen ashore during the day) are known to breed in large numbers. Treshnish Isles  support 20% of the UK Storm Petrel population. Greylag Geese evident during the past 10 years in numbers varying from a few pairs to over 300 birds in 2004.

Variable numbers of the following species may be seen from year to year. Buzzard, Hooded Crow, Raven, Peregrine, Starling, Twite, Wheatear, Pied Wagtail, Skylark, Meadow Pippit, Dunnock, Wren, Corncrake, Sandpiper, Artic Skua. Gannets are regularly observed offshore - the nearest gannetries are St Kilda and Ailsa Craig.

Some rare visitors:- Dunlin, Redshank, Long Tailed Skua, Pomarine Skua, Cormorant, Sooty Shearwater, Black Headed Gull, Alpine Swift, Collared Dove, Blackbird, Stonechat, Swallow, Warblers (various!), Mallard, Red-breasted Merganser, Snow Goose, Shellduck, Curlew, Sea Eagle*

*Sea Eagles more likely in the Loch Na Keal / Ulva Ferry area.*

Mammals

Rabbits, numbers vary greatly from year to year. Pure black rabbits in small numbers on Lunga. House Mice resident. Rare sightings of Pipistrelle Bats. Evidence of Otters (breeding) noted regularly, sightings rare. We do have frequent sightings of Otters at Ulva Ferry. Harbour Porpoises frequently within half a mile (0.8km) of Lunga. Sightings largely weather dependent.

Grey Seals are to be found throughout the Treshnish Isles. Common Seals usually seen on Sgeir na h-iolare (West of Fladda), numbers vary.

Whales, Dolphins, Sharks & other possible bonus sightings

Minke Whales, whilst the most common species of whale sighted in these waters, vary greatly in terms of time of season and frequency from one year to the next. Food distribution has been increasingly varied in recent years. Weather conditions on the day will affect probability of sightings as will the experience and alertness of observers! May to August are "probably" the more likely months.

Unusually, in 2007, a Hump Back Whale put in a brief appearance to the West of Mull, before realising its mistake and heading back to the ocean!

2007 was a good year for Killer Whales - Turus Mara boats had above average (6) sightings of pods with 2 - 5 creatures in each.

Bottlenose, Common and Rissos are the dolphins most likely to put in an appearance, the number of dolphin sightings has varied from 3 or 4 to 20+ in a season. Pod numbers vary from 1 or 2 to scores on occasion - Commons most likely in large groups.

OTHER SEA CREATURES. Recent years have seen large numbers of Basking Sharks appearing in our waters with up to 20 or more in one area some days. The second largest fish in the sea sifts plankton to eat and has no interest in human limbs! These sharks vary from 2 to 9+ metres in length and can weigh tons. Sunfish are more regular visitors in the last few years. 2004 we had our first sighting of a large Leatherback Turtle slurping his way through a zillion jellyfish on his Atlantic foray. While turtles are known to forage as far as the Artic Circle, this was undoubtedly our most unusual and rare sighting!

Spotting creatures on the water is something of an acquired art. Our crews are always happy to impart their knowledge in How To Make Best Use Of Your Eyes At Sea.

Puffins

Puffins nest on The Treshnish Isles and Staffa

"Coulterneb", "Sea parrot", "Tammynorie", a few of the nicknames attributed by humans to this fascinating comic seabird. In our limited abilities on this Earth we can ill afford to laugh at a creature which can fly thousands of miles in migration, dive to over 60 metres quickly and with ease, move at surprising speed on dry land and live to over 60 years of age while homo sapiens can just about put one foot in front of the other without falling over!

Puffins mass in huge rafts on the sea offshore from their breeding grounds during March/early April. They gradually move to the vicinity of their burrows and perform extensive surveys coupled with tuft picking, squabbling and general business of great importance. They return to the same hole in the ground or cleft in the rock year after year, lay one egg and hatch one chick (which we rarely if ever see) during May/June. For about six weeks parents bring large quantities of neatly arranged sand eels in their beaks and after some showing off on the cliff edge, scuttle below ground to feed baby.

Second week in August and adults have had enough. Puffin Junior is virtually abandoned (recent research suggests occasional parental visits) to his or her own devices, which are of course very limited at this time. After a few days, instinct takes over telling young fat puffin that the pangs of hunger will increase if drastic action is not taken. And so, during the hours of darkness, Young Puffin makes a dramatic move - exits the burrow which was home and migrates in a downwards and potentially sudden stop move to the shore many metres below. Can the learning process be fast enough to use little stubby wings or is the puffin fat and down sufficiently shock absorbing to avert disaster ? Suffice it to say that Atlantic Puffin numbers have increased steadily in the Treshnish Isles during the past thirty years so they must be getting it right!

Beginning of August, the puffin colony masses offshore again and 80%-90% fly off to the ocean for the winter. The stragglers remaining will leave during the next few days. The mystique surrounding puffins location in the winter probably arises from their low density distribution in a vast North Atlantic and the loss of beak colour outwith the breeding season.

The most incredible facet of puffin behavior is their tameness and, perhaps as a result, their therapeutic effect on humans, who can sit by the burrows and commune with one of most fascinating, comic, unique, wild creatures. These soul warming characters may allow the less cumbersome human to come within 1 metre. After many years of experience observing this occurrence, the writer still does not know who is studying whom!

Seals

Atlantic Grey and Common Seals are resident in our plying area.

Two species of True seal exist around the UK seaboard, the Common seal, Phoca vitulina, and the Grey seal, Halichoerus grypus. Occasional vagrants visit our shores including Walrus, Ringed seal, Harp seal, Hooded seal and Bearded seal, but so rarely as to be discounted.

The most common seal is the Grey or Atlantic, which may be any colour from black to white through various shades, including piebald, and the less common is the Common - if you get the drift! Statistics are like the pup in the pic., a bit wooly. It is likely that there are around 200,000 Grey seals and 30,000 Commons off the UK shores in 2004.

Distinguishing features for the Grey are:- its size - generally twice the weight of its Common counterpart - Male bulls have been known to grow up to half a ton or 500kgs in weight. Grey seal nostrils appear as nearly parallel slits while those of the common seal form a “V” shape. The long Roman nose of the male Grey is unlikely to be confused with the short “pug” nose of the Common though the females of both species are more difficult to distinguish. Grey seals are distributed widely round our coasts (ex English Channel).

During breeding time - September - November on the West Coast of Scotland, they accumulate in certain areas like The Treshnish Isles to pup and mate (conception takes place within 3 weeks of the birth). The pup is a helpless white/yellow furry creature scrabbling around the high tide mark for its first few days of life. Mother comes ashore to feed with a high concentration milk which makes the pup large and fat at the rate of up to 2kg per day! After about three weeks of intensive growth the pup is left to its own devices and as it loses its fur and developes a sleek new coat for seagoing, another remarkable warm-blooded mammal has adapted perfectly to the harshness of life in our temperate (very cold) sea.

By mid-October, several hundred seals will be ashore and have given birth around the Treshnish Isles, creating the impression of a moving “live” beach in some areas.

Common seals are usually brown to grey in colour and are frequently better camouflaged in their chosen environment - usually closer inshore in more sheltered waters than their larger relatives.
Pupping takes place during June/July. Pups take to the water within a few hours of birth and to this end, are born with a sleek coat and large hind flippers to keep them in close proximity to their mother for the first four weeks of life. Lactation periods vary - about 28 days for Commons and 16 - 21 days for Grey seals.