Isle of Mull, Scotland

July 9, 2026

Thanks to Brent's early booking of excursions we and four others were able to go on a wildlife tour of the island in search of red deer, white-tailed sea eagles, and otters. We were lucky and saw all three!

The white-tailed sea eagle was the first we found. There were two in the trees. The Isle of Mull is nicknamed the Eagle Island because it has a high population of both the white-tailed eagle and the golden eagle. The white-tailed sea eagle is the largest bird of prey in Europe. The female eagle is larger than the male eagle

In the dense brush near the eagles, we spotted a red deer browsing. The red-deer os tthe 4th largest deer in the world. Although smaller than a moose (the largest) and an elk, it is larger than the white-tail deer we often see wandering our neighborhood in Tacoma.

It was still early morning and a gaggle of Greylag Geese were just waking up near the shore.

As we drove slowly along the shore looking for otters, we saw a curlew

and a grey heron.

We were lucky enough to spot some fallow deer which are rarer on the Isle of Mull than its large population of red deer. Ironically, we only saw the one red deer, but a small group of the fallow deer.

We next stopped to look at a colorful group of harbor seals with a couple of young pups.

While watching the seals, we also spotted our first otter darting along before disappearing into the water.

We continued our search for otters, while also keeping an eye out for other animals. We saw a family of Graylag geese,

a pair of Common Merganser,

an adorable lamb,

and an oyster catcher with its young. The young bird is nearing adulthood, but it still lacks the bright orange around the eye that adult oyster catchers have.

One of the mergansers had caught a large eel which it successfully swallowed. Then went back looking for more breakfast.

However, our attention was soon drawn away from the birdlife when we spotted another otter.

It also was successful in its hunt for breakfast.

However, after enjoying its breakfast, it too swam away. However, this time our guide knew where it might go. He suspected it was the female with pups and that she might be heading back to where they were. We headed on foot just past the bridge where her den was, keeping to the other side of the road so we wouldn't frighten her.

Sure enough, it wasn't long before she appeared.

She was a little skittish because another group of otter watchers was hanging out near the bridge. However, once they left she decided to take some time to groom herself.

She then made herself comfortable and curled up in a ball to take a nap.

Before heading out to look for more wildlife, we took a moment to enjoy the stunning scenery.

An old stone "fank", a Scottish word for sheep holding pen

We next visited a white-tailed sea eagle nest with two juvenile sea eagles hanging out- one on the nest and one on a nearby tree.

I was thrilled when we came to a small herd of Highland cows, or "hairy coos" as the locals call them. There were even calves. A couple of them were play fighting.

While watching the cows, we saw another curlew flying by.

Afterwards our time was short, so we tried to find more red deer as we headed back. We had no luck finding more deer, but did continue to enjoy the landscape.