Loch na Keal and Loch Scridain are the eagle lochs. White-tailed eagles — reintroduced to Scotland and now breeding well here — nest on the shores and fish the water, and the sight of a bird with a two-and-a-half-metre wingspan lifting a fish is Mull's signature. Golden eagles hold the higher ground behind, and telling the two apart in flight is the local skill worth learning.

The rocky shorelines at low tide are otter country. Mull holds one of the densest otter populations in Britain, and they hunt the kelp along the loch edges through the day — unlike English otters, these are coastal and diurnal. Scan the tideline slowly, watch for a wake, and stay downwind.

The waters off the north and west, worked by boat from Tobermory and Ulva Ferry, hold minke whales, harbour porpoise, common and bottlenose dolphins and basking sharks through the summer, with a real chance of orca in some years.

The Treshnish Isles and Staffa, reached by boat, hold puffins at close range from about April to early August, alongside Staffa's basalt columns and Fingal's Cave.

The moorland and glens hold hen harrier, short-eared owl, red deer everywhere, and mountain hare on the tops.

April to August is the fullest season, with seabirds, whales and long days. Autumn brings the red deer rut; winter brings divers, geese and a very quiet island.

Practicalities

Ferries run from Oban to Craignure and are best booked ahead with a car in summer. Single-track roads with passing places take longer than the map suggests — allow far more time than distances imply. Local wildlife guides know exactly which eagle nests are active and which otter holts are in use, and are worth a day.