Monday 23rd June - Otters and Squalls!

Jack and Ewan both conducted Mull Nature Explorers tours covering the central and southern parts of the island. The forecast was mixed, with showers throughout the day. These days are typically the best for wildlife sightings, as when the rain stops, there is an eruption of life due to the juveniles needing to be fed at this time of year.

Both tours started on the coast, looking for otters as the tide was mid to low, which otters prefer because they have the safety of resting or bringing their food onto the brown seaweed. Ewan saw a remarkable four otters, and Jack also saw an otter in the choppy water. It was incredible that both tours had such great views of otters today.

Ewan's tour then had views of the golden eaglet standing upright on the nest, and everyone loved seeing this white, fluffy chick. Could this tour have started any better? Continuing with the eagles, Ewan also witnessed one of the best behaviours on Mull: kleptoparasitism, which is when an eagle interacts with an otter. Through binoculars and scopes, the whole tour saw this rare behaviour—a white-tailed eagle trying to get food off two otters. The guests were enthusiastic about this magical moment, as it genuinely felt like being part of a nature documentary.

It seemed like Ewan's and Jack's tours couldn't get any better, but they did. Ewan's highlight of the trip was seeing short-eared owl fledglings. There were two birds sitting out in the open on the moors, and the guests had excellent scope views of this special encounter. To put the cherry on the cake, Ewan saw both a ringtail and a male hen harrier quartering along the moors to finish off an absolutely incredible day.