An Otterly Great Day

Jack's Tour 27.08.25

A cloudy day with some sporadic heavy rain showers. The day began with a juvenile white-tailed eagle, followed by a beautiful adult white-tailed eagle flying by. This was quite the sight to behold, with the adult's striking white rump and majestic white head.

The tour then searched for otters and spotted an adult foraging near some islands. Shortly after, Jack observed a mother otter and her cub preening on the shoreline. They were coiled around each other peacefully. They then moved out to feed, catching butterfish and a sizable goby species. It was very entertaining to see how quickly the otters changed into hunting mode and how successful they were at constantly catching prey. The tour enjoyed fantastic views of them hunting and staying close to the shoreline before heading towards our next destination.

Along the way, they encountered another adult white-tailed eagle. We made a brief stop at the restroom before heading to a local hide for lunch to shelter from the rain. Then, we continued south to observe some impressive red deer stags, looking very dramatic with the mist and rain in the background. To complete an excellent day, we had a sighting of an Irish hare, a unique subspecies found only in Ireland. The Isle of Mull is the only place to see this stunning wild Irish hare outside of Ireland.

Theo's Blog 27.08.26

At the bay at the beginning of the tour, it was luckily high tide roost, so we observed a great variety of waders: Curlews, Oystercatchers, Bar-tailed Godwits, Greenshanks, and Redshanks, all with great scope views. Theo offered great identification points for each wader. A juvenile white-tailed eagle soared overhead at the first main stop, and the guests were gobsmacked by the sheer size of this amazing eagle. Harbour seals were visible on the offshore island during high tide. A golden eagle flew over the nearby ridge, allowing everyone to catch a glimpse of the lord of the skies, with red deer visible on the hill below in the background.

While driving, two adult white-tailed eagles suddenly rose from below and flew directly toward us at eye level with the van. It was just unbelievable to see these eagles at eye level. Two more adult white-tailed eagles appeared below, near the edge of the loch. There was an eagle gathering starting, so we parked and watched them as they chased each other and called out from high above. Continuing the drive, an otter emerged on an offshore skerry and quickly moved near the shore to a hidden bay, doing another Houdini impression as the otter almost vanished in plain sight.

As we headed to our next stop for lunch, the tour group noticed a small herd of fallow deer at the woodland's edge. In the distance, a male otter was fishing in the loch, offering excellent views through the scope, and grey seals were also seen on the islands. Later, the tour had close-up views through the scope of a female otter and her large cub, playfully wrestling on the shore in the rain before they went out to fish. We observed them for forty minutes in the rain, and a particularly heavy rain shower followed, causing flash floods on the roads. Theo commented that he had rarely seen such rain before. The tour sought refuge with a cup of tea.

On our way back home, a survey of the moorland habitat didn't reveal any hen harriers, but spotting a slow worm was a pleasant consolation. Finally, a juvenile white-tailed eagle was seen from the van at a moderate distance just outside Tobermory.

A brilliant day with lots of great species of birds, mammals, and even reptiles in the wet, challenging conditions. Thank you to everyone on the tours for your patience with the weather; it really paid off with some wonderful sightings.