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Hen Harrier, male

© Dan Brown

Islay, Scotland

Islay & Jura in Autumn — The Eagle Islands Wildlife Tour

With 7 full days on Islay and Jura experience daily encounters with Golden Eagles, White-tailed Eagles and thousands of geese. Hen Harriers, Otters, Deer, Seals and countless dabbling and wading birds await you on the Queen of the Hebrides.

Tour Dates

28th Oct - 4th Nov 2023

Highlights
  • Seven FULL days on Islay & Jura
  • Daily encounters with Golden & White-tailed Eagles
  • With as many as 30,000 Barnacle Geese and 6,500 Greenland White-fronted Geese we will be in for a spectacle
  • Witnessing the arrival of not only geese but Whooper Swans from Iceland
  • Enjoy communal roosts of Hen Harriers and sightings of Merlin & Peregrine
  • The shores of these islands are excellent for Otters
  • Jura is home to as many as 5,000 Red Deer as well as Roe Deer
  • Common & Grey Seals can be found all around the coast
  • As well as the geese there are thousands wildfowl & waders including Purple Sandpiper and many seaducks
  • The expert leadership of husband & wife team, Dan & Rachael
  • Stay in high quality accommodation
Islay, also known as The Queen of the Hebrides, is a wildlife haven with resident Otters, seals and deer and in autumn this rugged island explodes with tens of thousands of birds. Take a short ferry ride to Jura and share the landscape with numerous pairs of Golden and White-tailed Eagles soaring overhead, over 5,000 Red Deer grazing the stark hillsides and good numbers of Otters along the coastline. There really isn’t anywhere better to be in Autumn than on these southern-most Hebrides searching for the best of their wildlife. 

Itinerary

Day 1:

Meet in Glasgow and travel west through Argyll to join the ferry over to Islay. We will keep an eye out for interesting animals along the route and the ferry crossing can be good for Porpoises, dolphins and seabirds. We will settle into our base on Islay for the next 7 nights.

Days 2-5:

We will have four full days to explore the magical island of Islay. In autumn it is home to tens of thousands of Barnacle Geese, alongside them hundreds of Greenland White-fronted Geese and also often rarer species such as Cackling Goose and Snow Goose may be found. The estuaries and floods attract flocks of Golden Plovers and Lapwing, up to 2,000 Teal, Pintail, Wigeon and Shoveler, whilst of the mudflats Knot, Grey Plovers, Bar-tailed Godwit and Dunlin will all be actively feeding.

Along the open coast and sand dunes we will enjoy the enigmatic Chough and hopefully Snow Buntings whilst Purple Sandpipers may well be clinging to the rocks. Grey and Common Seals are common along the coast and with a bit of patience we should be rewarded with an Otter sighting or two.

With so many wildfowl and waders its not surprising that the island attracts an incredible number of eagles and we can expect to have daily encounters with White-tailed and Golden Eagles. The former can form small aggregations of up to 10 birds (sometimes more) in certain hotspots. Hen Harriers, Merlin and Peregrine are all widespread and at dusk Barn Owls can often be seen hunting the field margins and we may be lucky and find a Hen Harrier roost.

Days 6-7:

In stark contrast to our days on Islay, Jura is a formidable and rugged landscape. Here large herds of Red Deer graze the moors overseen by Golden and White-tailed Eagles soaring from the Paps of Jura. Wild Goats cling to the crags and along the shorelines Otters can be frequently found foraging in the seaweed strewn bays. Our focus will be finding and getting good views of Otters and hopefully some close eagle encounters too.

Day 8:

Depart Islay and make our way back to Glasgow where this tour will finish.

Visit our website for more details about his tour.

Why not recreate this experience with friends on dates that suit you? Build on our existing itinerary to customise your experience.

Informatie coronavirus

Safe Travels

Deze onderneming heeft bevestigd dat ze het Safe Travelsprotocol van de World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) heeft geïmplementeerd en dit naleeft. Het keurmerk Safe Travels wordt na een zelfevaluatie uitgereikt en is daardoor geen waarmerk.

Vanaf £1990 per persoon


Vertrekdagen

  • Maandag
  • Dinsdag
  • Woensdag
  • Donderdag
  • Vrijdag
  • Zaterdag
  • Zondag

Oktober — November

Contact gegevens

Wild Discovery

4 Fergach Cottages
Crathie
Ballater
Aberdeenshire
Scotland
AB35 5UL

Tour information

Beginnend

  • Glasgow
  • Glasgow Airport
  • Glasgow City Centre

Lengte

8 Days

Transport

  • Driver guide
  • Minibus

Type

  • Bespoke
  • Private
  • Small Group (1-16)

Talen

  • English

Thema’s

  • Food and drink
  • LGBTQ
  • Landscapes
  • Outdoor Activities
  • Walking
  • Walking/Hiking
  • Wildlife

Covid 19 Facilities

  • Advance booking essential
  • COVID-19 measures in place
  • COVID-19 risk assessment completed
  • Capacity limit
  • Hand sanitiser available to visitors & staff

Tour prijzen


Vanaf £1990 Per Persoon

Nu boeken

Prijzen zijn afhankelijk van het seizoen

Tourstops

Wild Discovery

Informatie over toermaatschappij

Wild Discovery

A pioneering wildlife-watching tour company run by experts for wildlife enthusiasts. Conservation and sustainability are at its core; travel with purpose, tread lightly and experience more. Founded by husband and wife team Dan & Rachael Brown, they bring passion and expertise to every expedition. Reconnect with nature through our fully inclusive, small-group tours, self-drive short breaks or custom-made tours around Scotland and beyond.

Openingstijden

Open all year.

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