It's great to be back!

I'm delighted to say I'm back after six months away from Loch Frisa - although I have to say that I couldn't stay away completely and had to pop back from time to time to see how Skye and Frisa were doing!

The hide is now open again all week, and this year our White-tailed Sea Eagles have chosen one of their old nests. They are just over half-way through incubation, and as ever are being model parents. As one bird leaves the nest the other takes over immediately and we can often hear them call to each other when it is time for a changeover.

The weather this week has been changeable to say the least; as the clocks went forward last weekend we all thought Spring had truly sprung. How wrong we were! On Wednesday temperatures plummeted and we were treated to a day of blizzards, sleet, hail and strong winds. We had to cancel trips to the hide as the track was too slippery to drive along, but by the afternoon the snow was beginning to thaw and on Thursday the weather was improving (although still bitterly cold).

It is always a worrying time when the weather changes for the worst whilst the eagles are incubating eggs. The sitting adult needs a break from incubation from time to time, whether to go hunting or to stretch their wings and legs, but the changeover needs to be rapid to avoid the eggs chilling.

Two years ago another pair of Mull's Sea Eagles were disturbed by a photographer who stood under their nest to try to take the ultimate photograph. The female eagle was sitting on the nest at the time, on the first day of incubation. She was frightened off the nest and was away for long enough for her eggs to chill and die. Of course, she could not be sure that the eggs weren't viable, and the pair went on to incubate for over 60 days (when the normal incubation time is around 38 days). It was heartbreaking to watch them sit there day after day long after the date when their eggs should have hatched.

Fortunately our excellent "Operation Easter" Scheme (of which more later) meant that the photographer was arrested, charged with reckless disturbance, fined and had all his photographic equipment confiscated. Last year the birds built a new nest and successfully reared two healthy chicks, and they are incubating eggs again this year - not bad for a pair of birds over 30 years old. We would normally expect them to stop breeding in their early to mid twenties.

The weather today is beautiful; one of those clear, crisp days with blue skies and brilliant sunshine that make you glad to be alive. Our eagles must think so too, as at the 10 a.m. changeover Frisa (our female) stretched her wings and, after checking that Skye was safely settled on their precious eggs, flew off into the sunshine to find her breakfast.

Just to convince us that Spring really must have arrived, our Sandmartins have arrived back from Africa and are already checking out last year's nest holes in the old quarry wall at the rear of our visitors' car park by the hide. Lapwings are flying across the fields in front of the hide and our feeders are a constant hive of activity with chaffinches and siskins squabbling over the feeders and a Greater Spotted Woodpecker coming in to the peanut feeder.

At present our hide is in the same position as last year and we are not able to see the nest, although we have excellent views of the "off-duty" bird sitting in their favourite perch just opposite the hide. We can't risk moving the hide at this sensitive time whilst the birds are still incubating, but as soon as those eggs have hatched the hide will be moved into position and we are promised excellent views of the nest, chicks and adults. 2010 is destined to be an exciting year for us, for Skye and Frisa, and for our visitors. Do come to see us if you can.

Will they ..... won't they

After last week's appalling weather we are once again blessed with blazing sunshine. There were times last week when we were seriously concerned for our Sea Eagles' nest. Two active chicks weighing nearly six kilos each on a nest battered by the wind and beaten by torrential rain seemed a recipe for disaster - especially when we saw the adult birds bringing in extra material to shore up the nest. On Monday this week the cloud was so low it was impossible to see the nest tree, let alone the nest and chicks.

But Tuesday dawned bright and warm, and our Skye and Frisa were busy hunting to feed their chicks. Although the adults always keep a "larder" of food on the nest in case they are unable to hunt, last week's supply must have been rapidly depleted. We were able to go back down to our forward hide where we can see the nest and the chicks. The first visitor to look through the scope was almost speechless, as one of our chicks was right on the edge of the nest flapping its wings hard. This behaviour has continued on and off all week, and at ten weeks old the chicks could fledge at any time now, although they usually go at around twelve weeks.

We are waiting to see the adult birds bring in food and sit in a nearby tree with it; this is the signal for the chicks to leave the nest for the first time. We can barely tear ourselves away at the end of each day, as we don't want to miss that first flight.

When the chicks first take off it will only be for a short hop, but each "flight" will be a little longer. Usually the flights are quite successful, but the first few landings are not so good with the chicks trying to land on branches that are too small for them. They spend time on the ground too, and in previous years we have received calls from members of the public telling us that a chick must have injured its leg because of the way it is walking. In fact the birds are quite ungainly on the ground and tend to look like John Wayne as they waddle about.

Our red breasted mergansers have beaten the eagles to it, as we have seen the female this week with a little flotilla of chicks behind her. The sand martins are on their second brood, the young greater spotted woodpecker is changing daily and has really mastered the peanut feeder, and the buzzards are due to fledge any day now.

Our hay meadow next to the forward hide is a mass of wild flowers with yellow rattle, ragged robin as well as common spotted orchids and fragrant orchids.

So we continue to watch our two chicks with bated breath and I hope that my next blog will describe their first flight.