September 2025

A good chunk of September was spent out west on Mull, guiding clients to see otters around the island.

The start of the month was pretty quiet, perhaps a hangover from the summer holidays, where visitors who don't want to clash with the school holidays haven't arrived back yet, so it was good for guiding, as places were quiet. Add to that the closed road at Gribun from the landslides, and it was really nice to be there.

Later in the month, more people were around, and getting an otter encounter alone was tricky. 

This image is from such an encounter. I spotted a lone otter rolling on a rock beside the shore, and parked up safely, guiding my client down to an area where our scent wasn't blowing towards the otter, and we had a bit of cover. Then it was a case of waiting. The otter slept for maybe an hour before stirring, when we started to get some pics. 

I had noticed, as we approached, a rock near us that was an obvious sprainting point (place to mark their territory), so had positioned us so we had a view of it, anticipating that the otter would use it, after waking.

It's nice to be right occasionally, and when the otter wandered over towards this spot, it paused, and we were able to grab some pics of her, dry and looking very fluffy, before she moved on. I love images where there's a background of blurred seaweed and rocks; makes their colours pop more.

And it was great to hear my client comment about how much they had enjoyed the encounter, especially as it had been just us two, and the otter.