Isle Of Mull
This summer, I was enticed back to Scotland by the wildlife on the Isle of Mull. Travelling with my photography buddy, we only could get away for just over a week. I knew it wouldn’t really be enough time to fully appreciate all that is on and around the island, but, it was a great opportunity to do a recce for future visits. I was sure we'd have a great time, even if it meant a lot of driving.
As usual, I planned it so we could break up our journey north with an interesting stopover somewhere new. On this occasion, we stayed near Kielder Forest in Northumberland. We would have a full day to explore the area and go for a walk. I was even hoping to see a rare butterfly, the Large Heath. But the weather conditions were not in our favour. Despite two attempts to see the butterfly, neither were successful.
We met a lovely couple on the ferry over to Mull. During the whole journey, they were giving us lots of top tips on where to see things. They seemed to love the wildlife as much as us, so we were very grateful for their help. As I was to later discover, many people return year after year to the island. This was about their 13th visit! The funny thing was, we bumped into them again the next day at one of the eateries they'd recommended. We often saw the same people twice, in different locations. The island was small enough for that to happen and not overrun with people. It was one of Mull's many charms.
By the time we were heading back to the car, a small group of Highland Cows were blocking our way on the path ahead. My friend has a serious aversion to cows, so to avoid them, we detoured through the field. By chance, we accidentally disturbed a few hares. They looked different to the Brown Hares I was used to seeing back home. I discovered that was because they were in fact Mountain Hares. They're smaller and their fur is a different colour, more like that of rabbits.
On this visit, I didn’t arrange any boat trips to the smaller islands nearby, however, I enjoyed a half day whale watching boat trip from Tobermory with Staffa Tours. On the way out of port we saw an otter and some seals swimming, plus a White Tailed Eagle on sentry duty on one of the cliffs. The Glenmore Estate looked impressive too, up on the hill overlooking the sea as we headed further out. Unfortunately, we had limited success with seeing Cetaceans. Just a solitary Minke entertained us for a while, slowly gliding through the water exposing its dorsal fin. I didn't mind so much, it was an enjoyable trip. But, it would've been better if the youngish woman working on board hadn't told us they'd seen four Minke Whales lunge feeding the previous day! I was sorry to miss such an amazing spectacle. However, I know wildlife is unpredictable and you never know what you'll experience when you're out in nature.
The birds of prey draw many people to Mull, as the island plays host to many species including Golden Eagles, White Tailed Eagles and Hen Harriers, all of which we saw. Someone told us you can see Osprey too, but we didn’t see any. Owls can also be heard or seen on the island, but not the Little Owl. We were very fortunate enough to see a Short Eared Owl when I was driving along one morning. It flew across the road in front of us. Unfortunately, we weren't able to stop to photograph it, but it was lovely to see nonetheless. We'd heard that numbers of breeding pairs were low on the island this year due to a crash in the vole population. Sadly, flooding can have that effect.
Loch na Keal (photo) was one of the areas that was great for seeing the large eagles flying overhead. The first time we visited the loch we saw two birds very high up having a bit of a spat on the wing. We realised it was a Golden Eagle (left) and an immature White Tailed Eagle (right). Trying to identify the species with the binoculars was tricky, due to my lack of experience. It was easier to distinguish the differences from the photos afterwards. The tail of the juvenile was not fully white, like it is in the adult of the species. The feathers appear to have dark fringes. The shape of the wings when fully outstretched is also different between the two species. As someone told me whilst we were there, the White Tailed Eagle's wings look a bit like a plank of wood and the Golden Eagle's wings were slightly more curved. As I discovered, that's not so easy to determine when they're on the move!
The following day, we were in the same area and saw two White Tailed Eagles flying together - an adult and a juvenile. Their behaviour was intriguing because the adult (left) seemed to be communicating with the juvenile (right) in an odd way. It looked a bit like they were also having a spat, but soon after they were gliding around together. To add to our confusion that day, and the challenge of identifying the eagles in flight, there was also a Golden Eagle overhead nearby.
There were also a few Common Terns flying around. I thought I didn't have any luck photographing them. It was only when I was back home that I discovered one had photo bombed a shot of a White Tailed Eagle. I was rather pleased about that. Although it was behind the eagle, it's great to see the huge difference in size.
The White Tailed Eagles are really impressive birds with a huge wingspan of up to 2.4m. When we were near the location of a known nesting pair, one fish was thrown overboard to entice one of the eagles out. From its perch on the cliffs nearby, a male approached us, gliding effortlessly down and then flapping his mighty wings. It wheeled around in the sky before swooping down feet first with great precision and talons ready to grab the fish. You can really see its keen focus as it approaches. So powerful and magnificent! I love how elegant it looks as it's about to take off again - almost balletic.
With more than half a dozen pairs in the area, we didn’t stay too long with any one bird. We had just 5 visits or opportunities to photograph them up close. It was such an amazing experience.
On our way back to shore we passed some Harbour Seals hauled out on the kelp covered rocks. There were even a few young pups too. Some merely raised their head to see what was disturbing them, a few skittish ones quickly retreated into the water and others didn't move a muscle.
Near Ulva Ferry was the picturesque Eas Fors Waterfall, which was conveniently accessible right beside the road.
There was so much we could see from the car without even needing to leave it. We used it like a hide. The next five photos were all taken this way as we drove slowly around the lochs keeping an eye open for any otters. Sadly, they were quite elusive. Along our drives we saw plenty of Black-faced Sheep and a few female Goosanders.
We had frequent sightings of Common Sandpipers, which I'd not seen before. I only saw solitary ones, skirting the edges of the saltwater lochs. I've read they prefer freshwater. Perhaps the food is so abundant and better on the saltwater lochs that they do things differently up on Mull. But, I daresay they regularly need to clean their feathers in the freshwater rivers feeding the lochs, of which there were plenty.
Photographing River Otters was the main aim of the trip. We booked a couple of days with photographer Brian Boyes. He'd been recommended to us by someone we knew. Brian is passionate about otters and he shared a lot of his knowledge with us about how to spot them and all the signs in the environment to look for, like scat and spraint sites. I discovered that although they normally prefer freshwater, many of the Mull otters actually fish in the saltwater lochs. Probably because there's an easier source of food that's also in abundance. However, they still need access to freshwater to wash off the salt water from their fur.
We were in Brian’s vehicle for the two days, which was higher than mine, so it was easier to see over the vegetation by the side of the road. We drove very slowly around a loch, keeping our eyes fixed on the water and rocks, looking out for any signs of movement. Brian was looking for them too, but also having to keep his eye on the road and for any other cars wanting to pass us. Thankfully, it was a quiet location so it didn't happen very often.
It was actually the sight of a man in a high-vis jacket running along the shore, then hearing him call out and wave his arms around, that alerted us to the fact he'd spotted something in the water. That's not exactly appropriate behavour when wildlife watching, if you don't want to scare the creature off! It's far better to be subtle and discrete, and hide if you can. Naturally, the otter he'd spotted had moved away from him and popped his head up further along the shore. So Brian drove ahead of where it was, so we could alight the vehicle and head down to the beach, to hide behind a big rock. I knew we'd be potentially sitting amongst the kelp and on wet rocks, so I was wearing my waterproofs and also a very useful pair of kneepads. All we had to do was wait and hope the otter would continue to swim our way.
When it had finished eating, it slipped back into the water and continued on past us. We didn’t follow or chase after it - that’s not good protocol. However, once it was far enough away so our movement wouldn’t disturb it, we returned to the car and we moved much further along the loch. Again, we walked down to the rocky shore and this time hid behind a low rock wall that extended into the water. The otter's behaviour was much like before, spending time searching for food and then coming ashore to eat it. The otter remained some distance from us, but I was just thrilled to see one and have a few short moments watching and photographing it. Fabulous!
No two days are ever the same. In complete contrast to our first day with Brian, in which we’d struggled just to have the one sighting, on the second day we had six sightings. One of these stood out above the rest because for almost an hour, we had the privilege of watching an otter moving about deftly in the water in search of food and repeatedly coming to shore. Gradually, he came closer to our position. As before, we were hiding behind a few rocks low down on the beach, only moving into position when the otter was below the surface.
It was a young male seemingly very wary and cautious, always looking around him. He even looked in my direction a few times. I was using the silent mode on the camera, but it still makes a bit of a noise when you click. But, despite this, he continued to go about his business, ever alert. The light was lovely and the water was very still. It really was perfect! Several times, I refrained from taking photos and just watched him, appreciating and marvelling over the amazing experience.
Towards the end of the day we had our last two otter sightings. One came out on the shingle beach to eat. Unfortunately, there was nowhere for us to hide. We could only lay low on the pebbles ourselves and try not to disturb it. When it was back in the water we tried moving into a better position further ahead, but it didn't come ashore again and continued along the loch where there was no access.
The final otter we saw was also fairly brief, but a lovely encounter too. It climbed up onto a large rock on the shore and left its spraint on the top to mark its territory. It then clambered down, swam through the water to a point past us, then repeated the process on another large rock. The light wasn't brilliant, but it was fabulous to have such a clear view of it out in plain sight.
It was a long drive for me to/from Scotland for only one week up there, but so worth it. I'll definitely be going for longer next time. Yes, it's already on the cards! I can't wait to go back! I have to say, now I've done that drive a few times, it's really fabulous to have had the opportunity to also explore some other parts of England on the way there and back too. It's a great way to break up the journey. I've loved all my trips to Scotland, for different reasons, but the Isle of Mull visit was so great because I've been wanting to go for such a long time. Having the chance to see some of our amazing British wildlife all on one small compact island, away from the hubbub and with stunning surroundings, was wonderful. The island didn't disappoint!


