Last week's appalling weather had us on the edge of the seats as we wondered what was happening with our Sea Eagle family.
Torrential rain and low cloud meant that most of the time the nest was completely obscured and for two days we did not even see the adults going out to hunt. On the odd occasions we could see the nest the adult bird looked bedraggled and wet, but still huddled as low down as possible to keep the chicks dry and warm. Then to add to the eagles' problems a strong wind got up and the adults struggled to keep a hold of their favourite perch.
The worst time of all for me was when I saw both adult birds leave the nest and fly off towards Calgary, leaving two vulnerable little chicks lying wet and cold in the nest. Frisa was only gone for 30 minutes but it seemed like forever. When she eventually returned she brought in some food at last.
After the last visitors had gone I went down to our forward hide where we have a telescope trained on the nest. I really didn't expect to see anything as the cloud was so low, but it cleared just enough for me to see Frisa standing on the nest delicately feeding her chicks with the two little white heads bobbing up and down. The sense of relief was enormous, and we are hoping for better weather for the week ahead. This week is Mull Wildlife Week and we are usually blessed with sunshine, so fingers crossed!
We have had plenty of other sightings around the hide, so more of those in my next post.
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