February 2012

Scroll down to read all about the preparations for The Loch Visions Squirrel Weekend and find out how our first Otter Weekend went.

Announcements:
2012 Weekend Experience dates are now online

Loch Visions Vouchers now available: a great present for the photography and wildlife enthusiast.

Guest galleries have now been updated

Preparations for The Loch Visions Squirrel Weekend February 2012

Plans are going well for the Squirrel Weekend this month - with two new locations being prepared to entice these cheeky characters into the open.

Our best location at the moment seems to be out of our kitchen window where they can be seen doing acrobatics in the trees and nibbling hungrily on the cones of a nearby conifer.

Loch Visions Otter Weekend November 2011

With slight apprehension Philip and Lizzie headed off to the Isle of Carna on Loch Sunart on a cold November Tuesday to prepare for the first Loch Visions Otter Weekend.

Our accommodation was in a small stone cottage on the island that only has electricity (via a generator) for a few hours morning and night, and is otherwise heated by a wood burning stove and lit by candles.

On Friday our intrepid fellow photographers arrived at Laga Bay and were transported over to Carna, where wrapped up against the cold they headed off along the shore.

A brief sighting wetted their appetites that evening but as the light was low no photographs of note were taken. That evening tales of photographic exploits abounded and technical knowledge was shared in preparation for the next day.

Before light we set out along the shore to a small peninsula that had been the best location so far that week. For three chilly hours we camped out. Cold and a little dispirited they were seen trudging back towards the cottage, when suddenly Philip dropped to the ground and gestured for the others to crawl like marines through the seaweed towards the shore.

photograph by Chris Smith

There, swimming towards the shore was our subject. Excitement built as the otter ventured out onto the shore just a couple metres in front of everyone.

photograph by GeorgeHouston

The next hour was awesome. The otter scratched, shook, yawned, peered about and groomed while cameras clicked and wirred.

photograph by Chris Smith

Finally, with a flip and a jump it swam off into the current and was gone.

photograph by Ian Haskell

The images are amazing, the experience was incredible. To be so close to the otter, to feel such proximity to this wild and beautiful animal was an honour. I think everyone was stunned at how close we got, and delighted with all of their images.

The afternoon was spent doing some macro work, photographing some of the seashores inhabitants, including a very slippery eel.

Photograph by Chris Smith

On Sunday, once again everyone was up and out before dawn, with a sense that yesterday could not be topped. O yes it could! An hour in the company of two otter pups playing and squabbling over fish on the beach, brought to them by their attentive mother stunned everyone.

Carna really is an amazing island. Sea Eagles swoop overhead, deer quietly graze round the cottage at night and some incredible meetings with otters make it one of the finest wilderness wildlife locations. Loch Visions are heading back there for two weekends in 2012, with great expectations of enabling another group of enthusiasts to share in these amazing experiences.

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Guest Galleries from The One Day Loch Visions Experience
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Guest Galleries from our Weekend and Tailored Experiences
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Philip's Escapades Adventure Race World Championship 2009

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