Enraptured by an eagle-eyed character

Alexandre Thevenin is staring intently through his binoculars at the creatures gliding above the sheer, craggy cliffs of the Shiant Islands, a magnet for breeding seabirds off the north-west coast of Scotland. Our guide is open-mouthed for several seconds.

Then he begins to wax lyrical in an endearing burst of Franglais (French and English). “It’s magnifique, extraordinaire!” says Alexandre, revealing that what we’re seeing right now are white-tailed eagles, some of the largest birds of prey to soar around the British Isles.

“They can have a wingspan of around three metres!,” he adds, announcing that the eagles are probably on the lookout for lunch.

Alexandre is one of the most engaging members of the on-board French expedition team helping to make our Ponant cruise of Scotland such a rewarding experience. He’s piloting our Zodiac boat through the waters surrounding the Shiant Islands, which have no human residents but plenty of sheep and even more birds, especially now, in the northern spring, when numerous species come to partner up and nest.

With the eagles disappearing into the distance, our focus switches to other birds. In front of the Zodiac, we watch hundreds of razorbills and guillemots bobbing on the surface of the Minch, a strait in the Outer Hebrides.

There are Atlantic puffins, too. Loads of them. Dozens flap metres before our eyes, cameras and binoculars. Their beaks and feet are a radiant orange in the breeding season and their wings are rotating vigorously and comically.

Alexandre says they can motor at speeds of about 90km/h, with their wings flapping about 400 times a minute.

We see more of these “clowns of the sea” as we pass the rocky islands with Alexandre also pointing out fulmars, shags and gannets — though you can tell he’s pining to see those white-tailed eagles again.

We discover more about the breeding and migration patterns of the seabirds at the theatre of Le Boreal, our Ponant ship, whose expedition team offers daily recaps, port previews and themed lectures.

One of the highlights, for us, is a special presentation from Alexandre, where he shares his passion for birds of prey. He treats us to anecdotes from his travels, his three decades as a falconer back in France and how he helped train the owls that appeared in the Harry Potter movies.

Not surprisingly, we’re enraptured.

+ Steve McKenna was a guest of Ponant. They have not influenced or read this story before publication. fact file + Seabird spotting is a big draw of Ponant’s Scottish isle cruises, which depart Glasgow in May 2025, costing from about $7000 per person. The fare includes wining and dining, excursions and expeditions and wi-fi among other perks. See au.ponant.com.

+ For more information on visiting Scotland and Britain, see visitscotland.com and visitbritain.com.