Visitors from far and wide, come to visit the Eagle Hide!

Easter week came and went bringing with it many visitors to The Eagle Hide. During this time, Fingal and Iona have been keeping their eggs incubated and whilst doing so, have witnessed a number of visitors to their tree! These brave birds have included a Great Spotted Woodpecker which flew in and landed right on the top of the tree, a Hoodie on a fleeting visit and then last Friday, a Siskin even perched right on the edge of the nest. Our eagles were very tolerant and just sat there, appearing to admire the incomer.

The week after Easter we had visit from a lovely family from Conneticut in the USA. Their parents had lived on the Isle of Mull, Mark and Fiona Eden-Bushell, whose daughters were former pupils at Bunessan School.


Our U.S visitors with Mull roots

  One of the daughters was named after the island of Iona and was with Marie, Jason and Calum. The other family members were Lucetta, Angus, Maggie and Grant.

They brought with them good weather on the day of their visit and it was lovely to see young people thoroughly enjoying their roots and heritage. Thank you for visiting us at the Hide and I hope I got all of the names correct!

The following week brought in plenty of rain and wind. I was a little worried about Iona on the nest but she sat right through the hard weather, determined to keeping those eggs protected and warm.
We had yet more great people at the Hide despite the conditions and Stu Darby was very helpful, sending me some lovely photos of the ‘changeover’ during the week of 15th April.



The changeover. Image by Stu Darby

 This was when Fingal flew in and the pair did some very careful manoeuvring around the nest with their talons turned in so as not to damage the eggs. This is always a very delicate operation and just amazing to watch.

During the week of the 22nd April some agricultural students, a group of Scottish Forest Rangers and Laurie Campbell, a Wildlife Photographer, visited us. It was a delight to meet all these wonderful people and to exchange wildlife tips, information, experiences and stories. The agricultural students were particularly complimentary about the Eagle Hide and staff.  



Iona and Fingal at the nest.
Image by agricultural student Claire Holland

 I was privileged again to see another changeover whilst on my own on Thursday and just before the group in the afternoon arrived.

On Friday a young couple, on holiday from Northern Ireland returned for their second visit of their stay and were lucky enough to share their morning with Laurie Campbell. He was there specifically to photograph the Eagles and the people visiting, for an article he had been commissioned to do in relation to Camper vans. What an honour to have him in the Hide.

I got plenty of tips about wildlife photography and he proved to be a very caring, sharing person who was clearly a consummate professional.
His patience and determination were second to none and both John and I left him on site mid afternoon on a cold grey day, sitting tight and prepared to wait for his shot until early evening. The Eagles had changed over with the male hunkered down and as I made my way back to the office, I saw the female flying out over the woods.

What will the week of 29th April bring? If you are coming to the Isle of Mull please come and find us.

Call us on 01680 812556 to avoid disappointment. We look forward to seeing you!

An empty nest, and all's well at Glen Seilisdeir



Adult Sea Eagle being mobbed by a Hooded Crow
(Photo: Sue Dewar)

 Firstly, my apologies for the gap between postings. The last couple of weeks has been hectic to say the least and I’ve barely been in the office.

The good news is that our second chick finally left the nest just over three weeks after his sister. To begin with the female chick kept returning to the nest as the adult birds were still feeding her brother there, and if the adults weren’t around she continued to bully him and snatch his food.

Thankfully, Iona was usually on hand to see
fair play, and eventually her daughter discovered that she could fly just as well as her parents and began to concentrate on following them and learning to hunt for herself. She has given us some great displays but the highlight was one day when both adults and the female flew together over the forest and up towards Ben More, getting higher and higher until the three of them were just dots in the sky. A cheeky Buzzard mobbed the young female relentlessly but she was having none of it and managed to shake him off.

Once the young male was allowed to eat his food in peace he really started to fill out, his tail and flight feathers grew down properly and he began wing-flapping exercises to strengthen his muscles ready for his first flight. Sadly we weren’t around when he finally took off, but the following morning we could hear him calling from somewhere in the forest and after a few days he proved that he too could fly when he appeared back on the nest. The adult birds occasionally bring food in and leave it there (and it doesn't take long for the chicks to find it), but most of the time they are trying to encourage both fledglings to follow them and learn how to hunt for themselves.

After the wonderful weather we have had on Mull this summer, yesterday we had torrential rain and strong winds and when I went to the hide I was relieved that the chicks had fledged as they would have been wet and miserable sitting up there exposed to the elements.

With the Scottish children back to school now I can now tell you that Bunessan Primary School (whose turn it was to name our chicks) decided to call the young birds after their school colours. So our young male is Gorm (pronounced Gorum) which is Gaelic for Blue, and the female is Buidhe (pronounced Bweeya), Gaelic for Yellow. Both chicks will stay in the area with Iona and Fingal for several weeks yet, perfecting their hunting and flying skills before eventually exploring the rest of the island and beyond. For a while they may enjoy the company of other young Sea Eagles fledged on Mull this year; in the autumn we often see groups of them perched together like a Sea Eagle youth club! Then they will begin their four-year journey of discovery, each year their tail feathers becoming whiter, their beaks turning yellow and their body and head feathers becoming paler, until at five years old they will look just like their parents. At that stage they will be searching for a mate and a territory of their own - who knows where they will end up?


This is our last week at Glen Seilisdeir - the hide closes on Friday 31st August as essential logging operations begin in the forest on Monday. It has all gone far too quickly, but it has been a real privilege to watch Iona and Fingal incubate their precious eggs through to hatching, and to watch Buidhe and Gorm grow from wobbly four-inch high, fluffy white chicks to full-grown magnificent Sea Eagles. Over the next few days I will gather together all the images that I (and others) have taken at the hide and post them on my final blog for this year.