I decided to head to the Isle of Mull at the end of November this year. Not the best time to visit, by any stretch of the imagination but as the weather looked great, I decided to just go for it! Accommodation is also easier to come by, when you visit out of season. However, the downside is that you only have about 6 hours of daylight for photographing.
With so few hours in the day I had to have a plan, so I stuck to the south half of the island. The route I stuck to was Craignure to Salen with various stops along the Sound of Mull; I would head on to Loch na Keal (both shores) then over to Loch Scridain, Loch Beg and Pennyghael. Returning to Craignure, I would stop off at Loch Spelve & Loch Don. The following day I would do the same journey but in reverse.
This route worked for me for this particular trip & I definitely got to see a good variety of wildlife in the time that I had. By doing the route in reverse the following day, it gave me a different perspective & different light from the previous day.
This was my sixth visit to Mull & whilst I knew my way around, you never quite know what to expect. I generally walked the shores of the lochs that I visited, as I can only walk on flat terrain (ie I can’t go up or down hills). Armed with a pair of basic binoculars, I was able to spot otters, seals, WT sea eagles, red deer, fallow deer & much more! There were many birds that I have not documented or photographed simply because of time.
Below, you’ll see some of the shots I took over the four 6 hour days, in this past week. Whilst it may look as if I was very close to the wildlife, I was using 2x large zoom lenses & 1x 500mm prime lens with a 2x teleconverter on it occasionally. This gave me a lens range from 150mm right up to 1000mm.
In some of the White Tailed Sea Eagle photos below, I am about 300 yards away from them. The first few close up otter shots, I was initially about 60 yards away when I spotted them on a loch. I tucked myself between 2x large boulders and was downwind of them and out of sight. Shortly after, they swam up to a large rock just off the shoreline, about 25 yards away from me. As I was using a mirrorless camera, there was no shutter noise to startle them which allowed me to take a number of shots without them knowing I was there at all. If you can stay completely undetected it is amazing what you will see. You don’t always have to be photographing them either, just watching is an absolute joy for me, as much as getting a good shot!
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