Seals, highland cattle, deer and plenty of birds were seen on our campervan trip to Scotland. A wonderful Spring trip taking in Oban, Machrihanish, Islay, Arran and Culzean. It turned out to be something of a whisky trip, but as this is a nature blog I thought it best to stick to animals and not the ‘Uisge beatha’ (water of life).
Being honest, there was a slight disappointment, but only slight. If there was a tick list of wildlife to see on this trip it would have to include White Tailed Eagle, Golden Eagle and Otter. But, the chances of those were slim and regardless, we had a most excellent trip. We did actually see two golden eagles – sort of. They were high up, above a hill in Lochranza, Arran. Looking through binoculars you could see them but not in any detail and certainly not a photo opportunity. Full disclosure – we were sat outside Lochranza distillery on a bench, in the sun, waiting to do the tour and taste a few whisky’s (and I succumbed to buying a couple of bottles!).
Anyway, as mentioned, whisky aside, it was a brilliant holiday. The sun shone. There was stunning landscapes, beautiful beaches and lovely harbours and still plenty of wildlife to seek out.
The campsite in Oban had a nice surprise. Its own herd of Highland cattle in the field next door. On the first night I went for a walk, through the gate and round a bend and there they were. Minding their own business and completely ignoring me! However, it wasn’t even necessary to go into the other field.
The next evening, several of them came right down to the fence, opposite our campervan. They really weren’t bothered by all the people going for a look. I took some very close up photos of their long haired, scraggly heads. I’m not sure how they can see where they’re going, but they obviously manage okay!
We did get to see a number of seals at different locations on our trip. When we cycled up the coast from Oban we spotted a couple from the shoreline. Walking along the beaches from both campsites on Arran we got a closer look at some. The header photo above was taken at Lochranza. And on Islay, behind Lagavulin distillery (a beautiful location), there were plenty seals on the rocks in the harbour. It’s quite amusing to see them, big ‘blubby’ animals, lazing on rocks near the shore.
Walking along the beaches there were a number of coastal birds to see. Some we’ve seen before on other travels, such as sanderling and oystercatchers, but there were a couple of new ones.
The birds here are a bar-tailed godwit and a wheatear.
Unfortunately no eagle photos.
It couldn’t be a trip to Scotland without deer! The ones we got to see close up were at Lochranza – on the campsite! There were two stags wandering around the site. At this time of year they still have the ‘fur’ on their antlers. This is how they look when they re-grow every year. The fur is providing nutrients to the antlers which will eventually be shed when the antlers grow fully.
The first night there was a herd of female red deer, but we didn’t see them again.
And finally. On our last night on Islay, we camped over in the Lagavulin distillery car park (we got permission). It was a beautiful evening. We took a walk around the back of the distillery, to the harbour – a gorgeous setting. Anyway, the biggest surprise was a hedgehog! OK, not particularly Scottish, but I haven’t seen one in decades back home, so it was rather exciting. What a cutie!
