Eagles & Sunshine

Thursday 14th August

Theo and Jack were on tour today. Theo's day started off misty with a surprisingly cool breeze, considering the recent weather. However, this did not affect the wildlife. The tour commenced wonderfully with sightings of two slow worms and a whitethroat, whose distinctive scratchy call was heard. Additionally, a group of eight mistle thrush flew straight over.

Next, the tour moved on to a stunning white sandy beach, a real beauty spot of Mull. There, we saw a distant white-tailed eagle perched on a cliff edge, providing great scope views. A peculiar sight for Mull, two Sandwich Terns were spotted with Kittiwakes in the bay, likely on migration. Moving to another bay, seeing three more Sandwich Terns, constantly chattering, along with grey wagtails and snipe feeding in the burn, and a kestrel on the hillside.

Turning our attention to the sea, an adult white-tailed eagle appeared and flew onto a small island, flushing the Shags straight off. There was also a small group of Harbour seals on the islands and Eider ducks. The white-tailed eagle action continued with two more appearances. One adult perched on a tree in the misty murk, creating an atmospheric view, and another adult was heard calling far into the mist.

To wrap up an excellent tour, the group saw a dog otter sleeping on an island before it rolled around and disappeared to fish. The tour concluded with a distant juvenile Black-throated Diver, an incredibly rare UK breeding bird, which only two of the guests managed to see.

Jack's Tour

Jack's walking tour began with a quick pit stop, which proved very worthwhile. They saw some otter action right away, one of the first animals the tour encountered. A fledgling white-tailed eagle suddenly flew across to land on a nearby tree, breaking the tree in its attempt to land, clearly still in its rookie years.

Arriving at the walk's starting point, they saw a ringtail hen harrier quartering slowly along the fence line, a fantastic way to start the walk. Another otter was spotted on the loch, hunting and constantly disappearing and reappearing underwater, flicking its tail. The walk continued with yet another fledgling white-tailed eagle, a perfect time of year to see these eagles as fledglings and juveniles from previous years return, trying to find or fight for a territory. The fledgling white-tailed eagle stayed flying over the hill for the duration of our walk.

The conditions became hazy, making it tricky to see far distances, but on the way back, the tour struck gold. We saw another otter, making it three for the day on Jack's tour, just unbelievable. Lastly, to wrap up a very successful walk, another ringtail harrier flew right overhead of the guests. It was a really enjoyable walk packed with all sorts of sightings.

Theo's Tour 15.08.25

The weather on Theo's tour started misty and drizzly but brightened up to a hot sunny afternoon. In the initial gloom, the tour saw a white-tailed eagle perched in the trees. On the bay, there were bar-tailed godwits, curlews, oystercatchers, six gull species, eiders, and harbour seals. Such an abundance of great species in the bay was wonderful to see.

Continuing with the theme of the blog, another white-tailed eagle came into view, accompanied by a nice selection of whinchats and stonechats. The Scotch Argus is now in flight until the end of August, and right now is the peak time to see the adults, which are being regularly seen on the tours.

Driving around a loch, the tour was constantly scanning and spotted a distant hen harrier perched on a rock. They also saw a large red deer stag roadside, providing great views. On the loch, something quite spectacular happened: a grey seal caught a sizeable thornback ray and feasted on the prey not far from the shore, a great watch.

Following that, the tour reached its last spot, looking over the mountains, hoping for some eagles. I can't believe what I'm about to say: there were two golden eagles thermalling before one perched on the distant skyline, giving good scope views. But what shocked me was a juvenile white-tailed eagle flying along the hillside before disappearing. Suddenly, a convocation of six immature white-tailed eagles appeared on the opposite skyline, scrapping in the air with each other! Just absolutely unbelievable scenes that will not be forgotten for a long time to come. What a tour!