Isle of Mull March and July 2025

Isle of Mull, March 2025

After what seemed like a very long dark winter were finally beginning to see signs that spring had arrived. I am not a fan of the winter so spring always lifts my spirits and makes me want to get out with the camera again. How better to get back into the flow than a trip to the Isle of Mull for a few days of otter photography. If I had to choose my favorite animal to photograph it would have to be the otter. It never gets old, every encounter is special and never fails to get my heart pumping with pure adrenalin. I only had four nights booked so needed to make the most of my time. Past trips to Mull at this time of year have given me pretty rough weather but the forecast was looking great for my time there. Now all I had to do was find the otters.

Isle of Mull, July 2025

After a fabulous trip in March I began to feel the call of Mull again a few months later. Another four nights were booked for late July. I also spotted a spare place on a Mull Charters boat trip to photograph white tailed eagles. We quite often visit Mull out of season as I prefer when the island is a little quieter, so boat trips are usually not an option for me. I couldn’t resist the opportunity so I grabbed the available slot as quickly as I could. The boat trip did not disappoint. The light was a little grey but I would rather have grey skies over the heat haze I had been suffering with over the previous few weeks of hot weather.

This trip gave me a few otter sightings where I just didn’t have the opportunity to get close, but there was one opportunity which could have been my favorite otter experience yet. I spotted a pair of otters out in the water at a distance. I decided to watch from my car to see if they would work their way along the shore in my direction. The otters started to play on a small island of rocks and kelp and caught the attention of a group of cars passing by. I watched as three cars full of people pulled up and jumped out excitedly shouting about the otters. My heart sunk as the otters slinked off back into the loch obviously aware they were being watched. Eventually the cars drove off having lost sight of the otters. I waited in the hope they would re-appear and eventually they did. I decided it was probably time to start working my way closer and as I did another car appeared, this time with a wildlife guide and two guests. They jumped out of the car and started working there way towards the otters. I was in two minds whether leave them to it or still go for it. I am so glad I chose the second option. The two otters played in amongst the rocks in front of us with no idea we were there, exactly how it should be.

The Outer Hebrides - Part Two

Lady Anne Wildlife Cruises

Along with photographing Short Eared Owls ( The Outer Hebrides - Part One) I had planned two trips out with Lady Anne Wildlife Cruises. My thinking was that by doing two trips I would maximise my photo opportunities and also safeguard against missing a trip if one was to be canceled. That turned out to be a pretty good plan as the first trip was indeed cancled due to high winds. A replacement trip was quickly offered later in the week, so no photo opportunities were missed thankfully. Day one was very wet but calm and we saw lots, day two on the other hand was a lot brighter but more windy so sightings were a bit less. This is often the way wildlife photography goes, you are completely at the mercy of light, weather and just the chance of even getting a sighting of anything. If it was easy it would be less of an accomplishment when you do get an image. I can highly recommend this trip. The Nye and Rosie were very friendly and knowledgable about all of the islands and wildlife we saw. We even had a fantastic encounter with juvenile white tailed eagle circling the boat at one point. A great trip which I shall be returning for next year.

The Outer Hebrides - Part One

I have just returned from a fantastic trip to North Uist in the outer Hebrides. After an epic drive taking us up from Dumfries and Galloway through some of the most beautiful scenery you can imagine we arrived on the Isle of Skye to catch a ferry across to Lochmaddy, Uist. After a very long journey our beautiful grass roofed holiday accommodation in North Uist was a very welcome sight.

Our accommodation

SHORT EARED OWLS

My plan for the week had been mostly to focus on finding Short Eared Owls to photograph. I had heard of a couple of locations in the area which would be worth a look so I planned an early rise the next morning and headed out to see what I could find. I was in luck, my first morning out gave me my first sighting. I spent a couple of hours watching this beautiful owl hunting. The light was difficult to begin with and a couple of heavy rain showers were thrown in too. I don’t think bad weather is always a bad thing, it can add some fantastic atmosphere and a sense of the true conditions that the wildlife has to survive in.

For the rest of the week I saw short eared owls every day. Often in poor light and often at too much of a distance to actually get good photos. It didn’t matter though, because I just loved watching them and enjoyed the moment without even lifting the camera. Whilst driving around looking for owls I managed to see so many deer, white tailed eagles, kestrels, buzzards, curlews, lapwings, amongst so much other wildlife. I saw many male and female hen harriers at a distance and I was desperate to get good shots of them but it wasn’t to be, well not this time anyway. Uist really is an amazing place and we have already booked to go back. These pictures are from the rest of the week at various locations throughout North Uist. Whilst we did have some short visits next time I hope to spend a little more time exploring Isle of Benbecula and Southern Uist.