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Otters and Sea Eagles The Isle of Mull - Mike Jones - part 2 of 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Published 01/06/2012

All the sea lochs on Mull hold otters and, with the coastal roads, the otters are relatively easy to spot.

The Treshnish Isles are a short boat journey from the harbour at Ulva and in the summer you can get close to the nesting birds, puffin, shag, kittiwake, guillemot and razorbill. In the autumn the atlantic grey seals come ashore to breed and give unrivalled views of the new-born, white seal pups.

Mull has a great number of red deer giving opportunities to photograph the rut in early October. The easiest location for the rut is at Grass Point. Wild deer are particularly easy to spook and Grass Point also gives the opportunity to photograph from the car.

There are two herds of fallow deer (Gruline and Loch Buie) which contain all the fallow deer variations of colour.

There are no badgers, foxes or squirrels on the island.

Photographing Otters

If ever a branch of photography required fieldcraft it is capturing images of otters. Otters are equipped with an amazing sense of smell and although their eyesight is reportedly poor they see well enough to detect a careless photographer.

To photograph otters you need to get down and get dirty; unfortunately anyone who wants to stand up and use a tripod will need to find another subject. In order to capture a decent image you need to get close to an otter and usually the best compromise on a focal length for the lens is a reasonably fast, 500mm prime lens. That is not to say that a smaller zoom or an 800mm lens would not suffice but if the subject stands off and more importantly if an otter lands at your feet, you need a compromise between the two ends of the scale. Other equipment of note would be an extra-large beanbag, Neoprene camo covers for your lens (more for protection) and a rain cover for the whole outfit.

• Otters and Sea Eagles The Isle of Mull - Mike Jones page 1
  
• Otters and Sea Eagles The Isle of Mull - Mike Jones page 2
  
• Otters and Sea Eagles The Isle of Mull - Mike Jones page 3
  
• Otters and Sea Eagles The Isle of Mull - Mike Jones page 4
  
• Otters and Sea Eagles The Isle of Mull - Mike Jones page 5
  
• Otters and Sea Eagles The Isle of Mull - Mike Jones page 6
  
• Otters and Sea Eagles The Isle of Mull - Mike Jones page 7
  

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