Wildlife of the Isle of Mull, Scotland
16th - 19th September 2020
Red Deer Stags on Mull (Cervus elaphus)
The Island of Mull off the west coast of Scotland has long been my favourite wildlife watching location in the UK with an impressive variety of animal life all year round. I like to base myself on the west coast at a simple campsite on the bank of Loch Na'Keal where I can watch otters, seals and eagles from the van. The loch shore is usually an excellent place to photograph otters as well as birds such as Red-breasted Merganser and White-tailed Eagle, but this year the crowds made photography very difficult.
Instead I booked myself onto two boat trips which turned out to be an inspired decision. The first was to the isle of Staffa, location of the famous Fingal's Cave. On the way we were entertained by a school of several hundred Common Dolphins cavorting around the boat and then when we reached Staffa I was treated to the sight of my first ever Basking Shark calmly scooping plankton into its huge gaping mouth.
Common Dolphins (Delphinus delphis)
Risso's Dolphins (Grampus griseus)
Grey Seal (Halichoerus grypus)
My second boat trip headed to the north of the island and within the space of a couple of hours we had excellent views of four species of cetacean including feeding Minke Whales and a pod of the uncommon Risso's Dolphin.
There was also plenty of bird life on view with rafts of young razorbill and guillemot out at sea, winter flocks of Greylag on th lochs and excellent views of the majestic White-tailed Eagles.
Greylag Geese (Anser anser)
Common Shag (Phalacrocorax aristotelis) eating an eel
White-tailed Eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla)
I was disappointed to find Mull so crowded particularly since my main reason for visiting was to try and get some decent shots of the otters, but thanks to a great couple of boat trips it turned out to be one of my most successful visits to the island. The whales, Basking Shark and Risso's Dolphins were all superb, but the highlight was undoubtedly being surrounded by hundreds of acrobatic Common Dolphins!
Mammal Species on and around Mull
Common Dolphin (Delphinus delphis)
Harbour Porpoise (Phocoena phocoena)
Northern Minke Whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata)
Risso's Dolphin (Grampus griseus)
Grey Seal (Halichoerus grypus)
Harbour Seal (Phoca vitulina)
Red Deer (Cervus elaphus)
Fallow Deer (Dama dama)
European Rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus)
European Otter (Lutra lutra)
Common Dolphins (Delphinus delphis)