Earlier this month, I had the pleasure of Becky and Simon joining me for a bespoke guided wildlife day on the Ardgour coast. Their main goal was to find an otter, although, they reassured me, ‘we are interested in all sorts of wildlife’.

Just as well, because we found a whole range of species, amidst great west coast scenery, blue skies and, amazingly, no midges!

Becky and Simon were staying not far from the Corran Ferry, so I met them there and, after a lightning-fast turnaround, we were heading for the shore of the Ardgour peninsula. This is a wild and remote place holds a good variety of Scottish wildlife and is an area that I called home for a few years, way back when I was in the early days of outdoor training.

Checking the high-tide coast

A leisurely drive along the shore brought us our first sightings of Common (Harbour) seals hauled out on the rising tide. There was also a distant group of roosting gulls, comprising Common, Herring and a few Greater-black-backed. A few distant Teal put in an appearance, but the most noticeable birds were a resting flock of over a dozen Goosander. They were joined by a few Shags.

Coast to Oakwoods

Exploring along the shores of the beautiful Loch Sunart brought us plenty of lush Atlantic Oak woodlands. The Ardgour peninsula is renowned for it’s diverse wildlife and this comparatively rare type of native forest. A short walk delivered a variety of woodland fungi, St Johns Wort and Old Mans Beard lichen everywhere. A Ruddy darter dragonfly also posed for us in the warming sunshine. Looking out over a wee skerry, we found a large group of resting Grey herons, a single Little grebe and a Harbour seal nursing her pup.

Dropping tide and rising temperatures

After a welcome topup of coffee and cake at the superb Ariundle Centre, we headed back along the loch in the search of otters. Since these were a target for the day, getting our timing and fieldcraft right were important. At this point the tide was beginning to drop, so we were in a great position to start looking.

Driving over the empty mountain road for a few miles delivered plenty of views of open, sunny, grassy hills, covered with bog and stands of conifers. But it was as we dropped back down towards the coast, that things really started to warm up.

Raptor action

First off, we got a distant Sparrowhawk, patrolling the hillside. This was followed a short distance later by an adult Golden eagle, which glided along the ridge behind us. It then treated us to several minutes of spectacular ‘roller coaster’ displaying. It wasn’t clear what the eagle was displaying at, but a couple of low-flying buzzards appeared shortly afterwards, which may have been it’s focus. After that, a brief kestrel showed up, high on the hillside nearby. Perhaps it was the increasingly warm temperatures that got all these birds of prey moving!

Wildflower excitement

This concentrated burst of raptor action was set against an equally impressive display of Grass of Parnassus flowers. These striking white flowers were dotted amongst the roadside grasses and were a joy to look at. As it tuned out, we found more and more patches of it as we descended along the coast road. Also in the roadside ditches were clumps of aromatic Bog myrtle, Devils Bit Scabious and some very easy-to-miss carnivorous Round-leaved sundew. Ardgour is the kind of place that rewards you with a wide variety of wildlife, if you are prepared to look closely.

Star of the show

Several groups of Scottish black faced sheep (and one or two Stonechats) watched us from the rough fields as we drove down the isolated and twisty coast road. And not long after getting back to sea level, we came upon our target species for the day – an otter! Apparently an adult male, this animal was contentedly hunting in the dropping tide, surfacing regularly and without apparently being aware or bothered by us. Interestingly, this otter seemed notably dark-furred. So much so, that I had to double check it wasn’t a larger-than-life mink!

Thankfully, the otter continued to work the shore, until it went for a rest and left us squinting through the scope at it’s ears and whiskers, just visible above some rocks. After around fifteen minutes or so (long enough for us to enjoy our lunch), it went back into the sea and quickly returned with a flatfish. We had to do a quick ‘hope-he-doesn’t-see-us’ walk along the road to get into the best viewing position. But pretty soon, we were enjoying great views of him chomping his fish amongst the seaweed. It also became clear he had sustained quite a significant injury to his left ear – perhaps a close encounter with another otter or a dog.

Going, going…goat

After around an hour of watching, we let him swim off down the coast, while we proceeded on our route. We got more views of some shags, together with a few obliging Red breasted mergansers. It was about this point that we got another mammal species: a small family group of wild goats. Always full of character, they variously ambled, skipped and climbed their way through the roadside boulders and bracken, giving us a great view.

Off-piste finish

We had just enough time to squeeze in a wee off-piste amble up through the regenerating dwarf pine and heather scrub. Being able to walk off the path was another highlight for Becky and Simon, although we did so after a good chat about ticks, Lyme disease and the responsible access!

Having survived the short, boggy and tussocky ascent, we added Long-leaved sundew to our list, together with Beak sedge and a fresh-looking Angle Shades moth (which hitched a ride on Becky).

Not long after that, we arrived back at the ferry and said our farewells on the other side. All in all, a great day with lots of sightings and lovely company.

Arc Guiding provides a range of private and bespoke wildlife tours in Scotland.