[Closed] Spotted: A Sea Otter

Great stuff, and timely too, am off to Mull on Friday, can't wait! Staying at Fidden Farm which is supposed to be pretty pleasant. Hoping the weather holds out

Nah, nothing to see here, move along now please…😉

Nice Otter, Mull is ace for wildlife, we are back there in July for a week.

If you want to see the white tailed eagles close up, go on a Mull charters boat trip, best wildlife experience in the U.K. in my opinion.

And really don’t want to be a pedant but they are actually normal Otters, who have been habitual to feeding in the lochs and coastline, best place in the U.K. to see them is Mull, unfortunately we only managed fleeting glimpses when we were there last.

Aw! I love otters. They are vicious little sods, but look so adorable. Same with seals... Look like my old dog (sort of), and just seem to play the whole time.

You lucky lucky barsteward

^ I think it was a play on the Sea Otter Coverage 😁

It’s on the list! Fidden Farm - especially with the kids being that little bit older. Update this thread Doug please 🙏 and enjoy!!

Wow! Very envious, though I have seen a White tailed Eagle here in the wilds of Norfolk.

Nah, nothing to see here, move along now please…

We are so coming back with bikes and no octogenarian with us...a proper explore needed of the mountains and roads by bike, not car.

And really don’t want to be a pedant but they are actually normal Otters, who have been habitual to feeding in the lochs and coastline, best place in the U.K. to see them is Mull, unfortunately we only managed fleeting glimpses when we were there last.

Indeed.
It was just a play on the Sea Otter coverage...

Scottish Islands ......ah!!

My lad had a uni placement on the Isle of Bute. That was absolutely teeming with wildlife. He was given a beachfront bothy backing onto the policies at Mount Stuart House, full of Roe deer which often came into the back garden, there were Oystercatchers nesting on the little jetty yards from his front door, seals in the bay, porpoise racing the ferry, I counted at least five owls competing in the woods round his house. The trust he worked for then were involved in protecting the nesting Ospreys, and we had sightings of Sea Eagles and Golden Eagles. The resident wildlife photographer often posts updates on his favourite otter family, and there's a well-known seal colony at Scalpsie. The wilder North end of the island is heaving with Red Deer. He fell in love with Scotland (and a lovely lass from the Island!) Four years later and he is employed by the Management Consultancy firm that oversees Bute and many other estates and Islands, so spends his life in and amongst it all. Talk about living the dream!

Mull is great for wildlife, and the Mull Charters boat is brilliant for the White-tailed Eagles:

Any excuse for some Mull pictures.

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I've started looking at accommodation on Mull for 2023. Need a cottage by the sea for 2 couples with 2 bathrooms.
Any recommendations?

Great photo's by the way!

Nice photos ,Tim.

Should of figured that sea otter link out, very sorry for my pedantry.

We went to Mull and didn't see any eagles, otters, seals or anything. Only sea life I saw were millions of crabs. So much so that whilst snorkelling I had to swish the sand with my feet before putting them down to avoid stepping on one.

Staying at Fidden Farm

Take a paddleboard or kayak!

We only saw otters in the distance crossing the road. Tried sitting out waiting for them but think they might be allergic to teenage impatience. Did see some sea eagles and a whale on our trip to Staffa. Mull is great.

I’ve started looking at accommodation on Mull for 2023. Need a cottage by the sea for 2 couples with 2 bathrooms.
Any recommendations?

Book early, particularly if you have specific requirements.

We stayed at https://theoldschoolsalen.com/ - it doesn't meet your criteria, but was very good.

Head to Alaska and you can see the real thing. Excuse the quality as it is a scan of a slide taken 25 years ago now!

[img] [/img]

Great pictures all!

Very jealous, and would love to visit Mull.

I remember seeing my first wild otter on a sea kayak trip heading south from Stonehaven past Dunnottar Castle. I was playing around in between rocks as I normally do and squeezed through a gap between 2 rocks to spot an otter not 2 meters away sunbathing on a rock. It looked at me and I looked at it with equal surprise. I reached for a camera and it jumped into the water and was gone. Was the last paddle I had with a relative before they passed due to cancer so have some strong memories of that trip which your post has triggered.

Thank you for posting.

I’ve started looking at accommodation on Mull for 2023. Need a cottage by the sea for 2 couples with 2 bathrooms.

If you want to find somewhere right on a beach, try somewhere like Carsaig, Uisken or Kintra - small settlements of a few houses right down on the shore. These are down on the Ross of Mull, at the southwest end. For more distant views, up in the north try Croig, Dervaig or Calgary Bay.

We stayed here a few years ago:

The Library

Great location, supposed to be otters right in front of the house, but we never saw any🙁

I love Mull. I've stayed at the hostel in Craignure a few times. Put aside any preconceptions you have about hostels, it is like really good self catering but with some other interesting people staying there. It is great.

Lovely photos, eagles and otters, with possibly orca are things I’d dearly love to see, and the Scottish islands have been somewhere I’ve wanted to visit for many years, especially after reading ’The Stonnor Eagles’ years ago.

Deeply envious. 😁🎩👌🏻

On the few trips we've taken to Mull, the abundance of wildlife is astonishing.
On our first visit we booked a wildlife guide. The second time, we did our own wildlife watching and saw even more.
My first encounter with an otter was on Vatersay, next to Barra.
The trick for wildlife watching is knowing habitats and having patience.

Classic!

If you look closely at that first pic you can see he is demo-ing the new slick coat fur treatment from mucoff

Had a fantastic curry on Mull recently; the chicken tarka is similar to a chicken tikka, but a little 'otter

The trick for wildlife watching is knowing habitats and having patience.

Also, seeing people with farking big lenses pointing at something, and stopping to quietly ask what they are looking at. We chatted to one chap who started with the line 'my wife and I have come wildlife watching on Mull for 30 years'....and proceeded to tell all the places, spaces and more that we found most useful.

Sea Otter spotted on my last holiday

@tlr - is that a corncrake?

@ElShalimo, yep, a corncrake on Iona. I really didn't expect to see one, let alone get a decent enough picture so I was very pleased.

wow, often heard them and seen movement in the machair but never seen one