An adult male Adder out at a spring basking site this week. Concern has been growing about the status of UK adder populations, with expert opinion reporting widespread declines. Assessing the true scale of these declines, however, has been hampered by a lack of quantitative data. Make the Adder Count began in 2005 as a national surveillance programme collecting standardised counts of adders lying-out after emerging from hibernation. Read the full paper here... https://www.the

The Isle of #Islay Wildlife Experience with Iolo Williams During the week we explored a broad range of habitats including wetland, coastal, oceanic, estuarine, beach, dune, peatland and moorland. #Islay #IsleofIslay #IoloWilliams #naturetourism #WinterTours #WinterWildlife

26th February 2018 - After receiving a report that a local creel fisherman had encountered Orcas off north-west Mull a few hours ago, I headed out to a high vantage point near Calgary so that I could cover as much sea as possible. The report mentioned a bull so I knew that if they were still in Mull waters, the large dorsal fin of the animal would be visible from a greater distance. Equipped with my spotting scope and a pair of binoculars, I scanned the seas for around an hou

The Isle of Mull Wildlife Experience with Iolo Williams - day 2 & 3 We explored the Ross of #Mull yesterday and had distant view of Golden Eagle displaying along with a pair of White-tailed Eagles soaring on a thermal. A haul out of thirty plus Harbour Seals was observed along with Red-breasted Mergansers, Great-northern Divers and much more. a skein of twenty five Greenland White-fronted Geese was good to see at our lunch stop! Today we had some memorable eagle encounters wh

ORCAS - ISLE OF MULL 26/02/2018 It was a privilege to witness one of the rarest wildlife communities on the planet again today. Two bull killer whales patrolling Mull waters this afternoon with one animal positively identified as the well known male from the resident group, John Coe. #Orcas #KillerWhales #naturetourism #NatureScotland #MullWildlifeTour #mullwildlife #MullTour #IsleofMull #Mull

Exploring the ecology of a montane environment... It was great to get up to higher altitudes during a sunny weather window at the weekend. On the ascent we watched an adult Golden Eagle perform a short display as a nearby pair of Kestrels were constantly interacting with it. A herd of Red Deer stags were keeping an eye on us as we made our way up the slopes. One interesting find was a Mountain Hare remains on a sheep/deer track at about 1600 feet up. Ravens 'gronking' from th

A great five days staying at Islay Cottages last week with species including Merlin, Peregrine, Golden Eagle, White-tailed Eagle, Otter, Hen Harrier, Chough, thousands of Barnacle Geese, Greenland White-fronted Geese, Iceland Gull, Glaucous Gulls, Barn Owl, Whooper Swans, Twite, Slavonian Grebe, Black-throated Diver and much more! On day 4 we had five separate male Hen Harrier sightings! Day 5 may have topped that with stunning Crossbills and a memorable Otter encounter with

The Isle of Islay Wildlife Experience with Iolo Williams 2018 On our crossing to the island on day one we managed to see Golden Eagles, Great-northern Divers, Kittiwakes, Common Guillemot, Black Guillemot and Red Deer on Jura. On day two, after we admired the Atlantic storms to the west of Islay we covered some habitat in more sheltered areas and recorded Glaucous Gull, Iceland Gull, Merlin, Hen Harrier, Pintail, Wigeon, Teal, Shoveler, RB Mergansers and thousands of Barnacle

We accommodated a family from Devon on a number of tours this week and their main reason for the winter visit to Mull was for the chance to see a White-tailed Eagle. This stunning encounter with a 1st winter bird yesterday must have made them feel like they had gone from Devon to Heaven! We hope to have more raptor action like this next week on Islay with Iolo Williams and guests. #Eagle #WhitetailedEagle #naturetourism #NatureScotland #MullWildlifeTour #mullwildlife #MullTou

It was a privilege to explore Findhorn Valley earlier in the week. According to legend, the last wolf of Scotland was killed by a huntsman in 1743 in this beautiful area. We enjoyed watching two 1st winter Golden Eagles, Red Squirrels, Red Deer, Roe Deer, a covey of Red Grouse and a Dipper. #WinterTours #Winterwatch #WinterTourism #WinterWildlife #naturetourism #NatureScotland #WildlifePackageHolidays #WildlifeBlog #WildlifeTours #ScotlandWildlife #scotlandwildlife #Wildlife

We encountered a flock of around 50 Snow Buntings on our Highlands Winter Wildlife Experience in the Cairngorms National Park. #WinterTours #Winterwatch #WinterTourism #WinterWildlife #naturetourism #NatureScotland #Speyside #Cairngorms #highlands

During the last few weeks on the Isle of Mull I’ve spent quite a bit of time at higher altitudes monitoring the upland ecology at this hostile time of the year. Only the hardiest of species survive in these conditions and you can go for an hour without seeing any sign of bird life. Winter mode is starting to set in, with increased snow cover in the montane setting and a chilly Atlantic air-steam powering in off the sea. Photo credit - Gary Jones Most of the small birds which

We have just finished our Highlands Winter Wildlife Experience in and around the Cairngorms National Park. With temperatures below freezing for the most part we had stunning snowscapes everywhere we visited! Look out for wildlife and landscape updates in the days to come... #WinterTours #Winterwatch #WinterTourism #WinterWildlife #highlands #NatureScotland #naturetourism #WildlifePackageHolidays

A fresh kill... At the weekend we discovered this Rabbit skull 1500 feet above sea level in central #Mull. It was located in a Golden Eagles home-range so this Mammal was potentially a recent victim of these avian predators? #MullWildlifeTour #mullwildlife #MullTour #MullWildlifeTours #IsleofMull #MullPhotography #Mull #NatureScotland #naturetourism #WildlifeTours #WinterTours