After a couple of years of lockdown we finally organised a trip outside Dumfries & Galloway. We had a 5 day stay on Mull with Mull Wildlife Breaks. Each day, we were taken out by mini-bus to see different areas of Mull and Laura our guide pointed out the variety of birds and other wildlife. We also had a boat trip day when we saw sea eagles nesting on Ulva, puffins and other sea birds around Lunga and lunch at Staffa & Fingal’s Cave.

After a period of heavy rain, stormy weather and cold nights there were thousands of shellfish washed up at Sandgreen beach. The theory is that the cold, fresh water coming down the Fleet estuary killed off the razor clams and cockles then they were washed out of the sand by the stormy weather.

Through the summer, we have been having regular visits from a sparrow hawk. Here he/she is, perched on the garden fence waiting for breakfast.

A spider web showing off some fresh raindrops from a passing shower.

As summer draws to a close we are starting to get some stronger winds blowing in from the south-west. Here are a few waves rolling into Dead Man’s Bay.

The wind and waves bring in plenty of assorted debris from the sea. It’s mostly various kinds of plastic bottles and containers along with bits of nets, rope and other items lost or discarded from fishing boats. We fill a few bags with this stuff a couple of times year from the local beaches.