Eagle Island - A Year On The Isle Of Mull (DVD)

My family have always had an interest in the Western Isles of Scotland; as a child, I spent all of my holidays on islands such as the Uists, Eigg, Coll, Tiree, Islay and Jura. I never got the chance to go to Mull - at the time, it was not particularly popular as a tourist destination and the birds that attracted my dad to the islands could be found elsewhere. Over 20 years later, Mull has a thriving tourist industry, both because of its wildlife ...
...coloured houses actually exist in Mull's main town, Tobermory. I still haven't had the chance to go myself, although I hope to later this year and when my dad was given this DVD for Christmas, I knew I'd enjoy it.

Colin Buchanan, who presents this DVD, was raised on the Isle of Mull until the age of 17, when he left the island to take on a career as a wildlife photographer, a job that led him all over the world. After 15 years, he ... more

My family have always had an interest in the Western Isles of Scotland; as a child, I spent all of my holidays on islands such as the Uists, Eigg, Coll, Tiree, Islay and Jura. I never got the chance to go to Mull - at the time, it was not particularly popular as a tourist destination and the birds that attracted my dad to the islands could be found elsewhere. Over 20 years later, Mull has a thriving tourist industry, both because of its wildlife and because of a children's programme called Balamory - those coloured houses actually exist in Mull's main town, Tobermory. I still haven't had the chance to go myself, although I hope to later this year and when my dad was given this DVD for Christmas, I knew I'd enjoy it.

Colin Buchanan, who presents this DVD, was raised on the Isle of Mull until the age of 17, when he left the island to take on a career as a wildlife photographer, a job that led him all over the world. After 15 years, he returns to the island to spend a year filming and photographing the island's wildlife, particularly paying attention to the sea eagle, the largest bird of prey in Europe, which has started breeding on Mull in recent years, but also looking at other wildlife, including golden eagles, otters, seals, whales, sharks and dolphins. The film was made for BBC's Natural World. Apart from being very knowledgeable about the island and its wildlife, Buchanan is an extremely likeable presenter with a beautiful accent.

There are some incredible shots of the sea eagles. The birds are obviously protected; to the extent that he has to get permission to go anywhere near the nest, but once he has permission, he manages to get close enough to see the eaglets and the food that their parents bring them, including, at one point, a lamb! Buchanan clear has to spend hours and hours in little more than a tent watching the birds, but his patience does pay off and his shots make up a fascinating part of the DVD.

One section that Buchanan clearly particularly enjoyed was going out to sea on a friend's boat and filming sharks and whales. By following the seagulls, they are able to guess at the most likely places to find sharks and whales and they are in luck. At one point, a minke whale teases the film crew by swimming underneath the boat that they are in.

The part that I enjoyed the most was Buchanan's filming of an otter family. This was one of his aims during his year on the island, but it proved harder than he expected; the otters were just not very cooperative. When he finally manages to find a family of otters that were either oblivious to him or that just weren't threatened, he got some terrific footage, particularly of the young otters.

Apart from the wildlife, I loved watching the constantly changing weather. As anyone who has been to the west coast of Scotland will know, the weather can change at the drop of a hat; one minute sunny, the next stormy and overcast. This was shown by speeding up shots of a particular piece of scenery, which showed the effect of the weather on the amazing scenery of Mull - never-ending skies, wild moorland and angry seas.

If I have to criticise the DVD, it is simply that it is far too short. 50 minutes is not enough to show the wealth of content that Buchanan must have filmed in a year on the island. Many of the shots of the wildlife were cut short and I would have preferred that the DVD was either split up into two or three episodes concentrating on certain elements, or that it was simply at least twice as long as it was. I would also have been really interested in finding out more about the island itself and how the inhabitants make a living. From the point of view of someone who once lived there himself, this would have made very interesting viewing. At the same time though, I can understand that people living there probably don't want their every move to be filmed; I'm sure I'd find it highly annoying myself.

On the whole, this was a very interesting DVD, full of information about the amazing wildlife that lives on Mull and beautifully filmed by someone who clearly has a big place in his heart for the island. Anyone who enjoys wildlife programmes and/or has an interest in the Western Isles will enjoy this. The Scottish background music finishes the DVD off to perfection. Recommended.

The DVD is available from play.com for £11.99.
 

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