“Argyll is a real wonderland for its wildlife, truly world-class, especially at this time of year”, says Zoë Stevenson, the wildlife guide aboard the small ship Elizabeth G, as we eke along the shore of Loch Etive tracking otters, porpoises and red deer. I’m aboard in search of Argyll and Bute’s wildlife, which really comes into its own from autumn into winter, when the smouldering hills and burnt red leaves provide a spectacular backdrop to a world-class wildlife show.
My four-night Hebrides Cruises voyage aboard this eight-person family-run small cruise ship is themed around the wildlife, which Argyll boasts in such abundance. We’re talking about a region alive with thrusting mountains, thick forests (including patches of the temperate rainforest), surging rivers and island-studded coast. Argyll and Bute offer an ideal habitat for all manner of flora and fauna. This really is an oasis of flora and fauna, where you can see all five of Scotland’s wildlife Big Five: common seals, golden eagles, red deer, red squirrels and otters.
Over four days our skippers Rob Barlow and Zoë sweep us around the coast and islands, ticking off the Big Five and revealing the real strength in depth that Argyll offers. Why would you go abroad to view wildlife, when as well as the Big Five I see here we catch sight of porpoises, dolphins, sea eagles, gannets, herons, hen harriers and a very out-of-season arctic tern?
I’ve cheated a little with the Big Five, but then that’s wildlife in Argyll for you – it’s everywhere. I only got out of the car at Ardgartan to stretch my legs on a wee walk in the forest and a brace of furry-tailed red squirrels bounded along a branch high above. “There really is wildlife everywhere you look, especially in autumn and early winter as animals get ready to hibernate or come down from the high hills in search of food and shelter,” explains Zoë when I’m aboard.
Breaking out of Oban Bay an instant welcome is a brace of harbour porpoises, who leap by the bow and disappear into the cobalt waters starboard. My attempt to get back in to chat with my fellow passengers about the sighting is rudely interrupted by a solitary gannet who breaks into one of his 60mph dives in search of fish, risking breaking his neck as he carves the correct angle into the water. What an introduction!
First up is Loch Etive. A fleeting glimpse of an otter at the Falls of Lora under Connel Bridge is followed by a slow lingering heron who swoops right over us, a modern-day, more graceful tetradactyl silhouetted against the setting sun. The next morning, he is back, snatching fish from the water.
We push south on day two bound for Loch Spelve on Mull. This takes us through some of the best marine mammal viewing grounds in this part of Scotland’s west coast. Even catching the CalMac ferry from Oban to Craignure on Mull offers a good chance of viewing. After more porpoises off the southern tip of Lismore, we’re joined on our bow for a moment by sleek common dolphins, distinct by their white hourglass pattern on their sides.
Day three brings a walk ashore on a trail around Loch Spelve. Stepping off the wee tender we’re met with a bellowing, murderous roar. Then another. It’s autumn, the time of the rutting when mighty red deer stags take on each other in a battle for territory. And mates. It feels like a BBC documentary as a stag appears on the skyline atop a hill antler standing proudly in the glinting morning sun.
More red deer roaring accompanies us as we work out a way around the loch–deer descend in autumn and usually stay low down into spring. And then another highlight soon follows. We see a splash wondering if it’s an elusive otter. It’s not – it’s a gleaming harbour seal, another of the wildlife Big Five. We don’t have to wait long to see an otter. She appears for a moment, and I think that is that. But she hasn’t noticed us, so clambers up on a rock just metres away and stretches out. This is the moment otter lovers wait years for and we’ve just chanced upon it thanks to Zoë’s route.
Our last day brings the gorgeous green island of Lismore. There are more otters, than the last of the wildlife Big Five. Soaring high on the thermals are a pair of graceful golden eagles, masters of all they survey in a world few humans ever touch. The geese are out too, flocks of Canadian Geese migrating in from Greenland. I think we’ve seen it all then suddenly they are there. The flying barn door of the Scottish birding scene. High above is a brace of unmistakable sea eagles, their giant nigh three-metre wingspans gliding them around with real grace.
Steaming back into the world of man in Oban Bay I’m still trying to process the world-class array of wildlife I’ve witnessed against Argyll and Bute’s cinematic backdrop. My maritime steed has shot me straight to the heart of the region’s wildlife, but it’s a world anyone can enjoy when you head into this wondrous escape of mountain, glen and sea, whether on the water, on two feet or two wheels.