Our chick is desperate to get up in the air!

We have had a mixed week of weather from sunshine to mist to rain and the chick has sat through all of this and at the same time wings flapping like mad !

During this week there has been a very International flavour at the hide with visitors from Wisconsin USA, Australia and families from from Austria & Germany.

Our male bird Fingal has been around a lot more this week flying in with food at regular intervals. Many small gosling have been eaten and often the nest if covered with white fluff and feathers! When Fingal lands on the nest, its like a hover craft coming in and blowing all the feathers up in the air, a sight to behold!

Iona watches over her chick at the nest

Iona has been sitting on the branch very close to the chick, to the right as you look at the nest. On Thursday, she sat there for five hours without flying off!

The hide will be open all summer until the end of August as the chick will stay in the area and they often come back on the nest for about a month, so please still come and see us.

Once the chick has fledged we will walk you through the Glen to observe all three birds.
Booking is a must and can be done by calling 01680 812556 or visit forestry.gov.uk/mullseaeagles for more info.

Blog published by Colin Baxter on behalf of Cheryl Callow, Mull Ranger

Glorious weather on Mull - great for eagle viewing trips!



Parents and chick all at the nest together

I returned from a few days off to find the chick nearly fully grown. It is very big  and beautiful.

There is much wing flapping and many poo’s over the side of the nest! John and I have gasped many times when she does this and we think we should have safety around the top of the nest next year!

In the early part of the week all three birds were on the nest, a rare sight.

We have had some wonderful guest to the hide including wild life.I was helping an elderly couple view the Eagles near the hide with their daughter when a dragon fly came down and landed on my brand new van.

The colour of it against my very clean van stood out. It was a golden moment we both stood still and took pictures and marvelled at nature and its beauty.

The weather has been excellent with wall to wall sunshine, but in the morning we have been having a sea mist. The same day I was at the hide with the elderly couple and the dragon fly, I had to go off for five minutes to check some mist/smoke that was rolling in. It was sea mist and when I drove down the drive away from the hide it had  dropped 6 degrees in temperature.

The next day we had a group of gentlemen from Israel visit us. Also in the group were Lyn and her mum Dorothy. During this visit, a parent bird came in with a large object. Dorothy asked to see the back play on one of the Isreali gentlemen's cameras and we all saw it was a large fish they had brought into the nest which the chick eat straight away…. Great shot, great timing .. thank you Dorothy for asking ……

It was a small group that day, but plenty of questions were asked, whilst there was lots of camera activity, which was so fast it sounded like ticker tape off the old teleprinter machines , if you remember them !!!

I met Lyn and her mum again yesterday on my ranger walk at Calgary where I had 22 people. It was a stunning day of weather and we had great fun.

 

Well I must go to the hide. John is off today and I am on my own so I will have some private moments with the chick on the nest to cherish. What a privileged job I have helping the public see this rare bird , speak soon……

If you have not visited us yet, or your back on the Island do come and see us, we run trips at 10am or 1pm. If you are passing at these times and you have not booked, just check with us at the lower car park.

To book please phone 01680812556. Just to note, we are at the South of the Island at Glen Seilisdeir and not at Loch Frisa as in year's previous.

Blog published by Colin Baxter on behalf of Mull Ranger Cheryl Callow.

Back to work to find our chick almost full size!

Friday’s chick is now in it's 10th week of life as I return to work after a few days off to catch up with Mull life.

This week I have returned to find that the chick has grown even more and looks full size!

We are still waiting to find out what gender the chick is and hope to hear soon.

The weather this week is outstanding, so hot with bright sunshine.

As I came to work this morning, there was a wonderful mist over the Glen from Dervaig. It was stunning, a landscape photographer's dream.

If you are visiting the island in the next month please do visit the hide.

Book now or if you are passing the south of the island do pop in and ask…..
The trips go at 10am in the morning and the next tour is at 1pm to make sure people coming over on the ferries for day trips can link in. It’s a guided walk of two hours. Call on 01680 812556 or pop in to the Visitor’s centre at Craignure as you get off the ferry and book your place!

Blog published by Colin Baxter on behalf of Mull Ranger Cheryl Callow

Our chick is nine weeks old today!

The chick is nine weeks today and is growing very fast.
It’s been amazing to watch the female Iona, who has been bringing in afterbirth from seals.
I have now seen this three times, it’s been a bit messy and Iona’s tail has been blood red instead of white!
The chick has been eating it very much like a piece of elastic at times, pulling up on stringy pieces of flesh like material.

I spent a private half hour on Friday on my own at the end last week, watching this wonderful sight. The feathers of the chick were drying out, after a morning of rain, and then sea mist. The feathers were just fluttering, in the slight breeze, so delicate to watch.


Our growing chick flapping
it's wings


The sharp beak is working well, and the chick is feeding itself. I realised that I have become very fond and very attached to this wonderful chick. What an honour it is to be able to watch this beautiful bird grow up.
My heart is in my mouth every time it flaps it's wings, building up its strength. It tends to move to the back of the nest and very close to the edge, if it was to fall out now it may not survive and could spell disaster!

I have got to say the groups that have been in the last week have seen some great views of the wings flapping. I am keeping my wings crossed that when I return from my holiday the wee young bird I have given the name 'Friday’s Chick’ will be safe and well. The chick will be named formally soon by a local school.
We are still waiting to hear what gender it is.

I thank every one who has visited us so far this season and thank you for all your emails, blog comments and trip advisor entries.

Please keep coming to see this wonderful chick and parents. John Clare ,the RSPB Ranger will be there ready for you. He likes chocolate and do laugh at his beak joke!
Bye for now Cheryl back on Monday 8th July 2013.
To book now please phone on 01680 812556

Blog published by Colin Baxter on behalf of Mull Ranger Cheryl Callow

Busy times at the Mull Eagle Hide - our chick is growing up fast!

The chick is now 54 days and growing so fast! It is being well fed by its parents and since last week we have seen small goslings, a grey bird very much like a gull and today a bloody mass which looked like a placenta of an animal brought in to the nest.

The chick is very vocal now and will soon let you know when a parent bird is coming into the nest by its calling and looking up and around.

The nest itself has had some extra layers added but you can see at times the heat haze coming off the top and the flies from the dead bodies in the nest.

The wings have filled out now and there is much flapping happening. I just cannot get over the size of growth, come and see for yourself!

We has a large number of visitors last week, with several families returning to Mull to enjoy the wealth of wildlife. The weather has also been kind to us which always helps!



Great picture taking by one of our visitors Peter

 We have had several couples that come back up to the hide three to four times a week to observe and take photographs. We had one such couple Sharon and Darren, who were a delight to have in the hide and we really enjoyed their company.

Another couple, Peter and Monica, were also excellent company and provided wonderful fudge on their  visit! They sent in some wonderful pictures too , thank you to both couples for your kindness.



Picture of Iona taken by Matthew Syratt



We also had a lovely family who brought their daughter and granddaughter Chloe to the hide. She was treated to activity sheets and things to do during her visit. It is so lovely when parents bring the next generation to the hide and I thank Chloe's father Matthew for a great picture of Iona sitting out proud watching over her chick ...

On Monday we had Dervaig Primary school come to the hide. We had a great morning viewing the birds and I did a talk on some basic facts before RSPB ranger John escorted them to the forest hide. The feedback from the head teacher is that it was the best visit ever to the hide in all the years they have been taking the children. 



Dervaig school children visit Mull Eagle Watch



Just a reminder, that residents of Mull can visit the hide free. So call us to arrange your visit to this wonderful wildlife experience right on your doorstep!

With the Scottish school holidays starting at the end of the week, a trip to Mull may part of your plans, so don't foget to give us a visit. Call us to book on 01680 812556.

We look forward to seeing you!




Blog published by Colin Baxter on behalf of Mull Ranger Cheryl Callow

A visit from Radio 4 as we witness our growing chick

Last Friday the chick was growing at such a fast rate that all of a sudden wings appeared and they started to flap! I managed to catch this on camera whilst Iona looked on. I was amazed by the length of wings and the fine skeletal vision through the scope.

The new chick flaps it's wings as Iona looks on



The chick is now about 43 days old and being well fed by the parent birds. I have recently seen two shag brought to the nest with several other sea birds and fish . So far this season I have only seen two lambs in the nest.

After the ringing of the chick, the parent birds take it in turns to guard it, perching on a tree at close distance .

On Monday, we had a wonderful day with the children of Lochdonhead school coming to visit us, with the Head Teacher and three other members of staff . Some of the children and staff had not seen a White Tailed Eagle before.

Alongside this visit, we had Yvonne Slater visiting us from Radio 4 who was recording the event and the children's reactions to what they were seeing . We spent about an hour at the forest hide, enjoying the questions asked by the children, whilst John Clare and myself  gave them some interesting facts about the eagles, which the children enjoyed. The School staff were as excited as the children at what they saw and remarked on the size of this large chick with a white fluffy crown and a large beak.

When we came out of the hide to head back along the track, one of the parent birds flew over with its majestic white tail and head.  I saw its under carriage come down ( my technical talk ), with the massive talons and land with ease on a tree behind the hide.

The children were excited and gather round making noises of enjoyment and laughter whilst the teachers took the binoculars and focused in quickly. The staff were taken a back with what they had seen and a resounding wow!! came from our group .


Radio 4's Yvonne Slater with RSPB Ranger John Clare

 

At this point I was looking at Yvonne who had the big grey fluffy radio microphone boom. This was now wobbling as she too got so excited. I spoke to her afterwards and you could see from her eyes the emotional connection to these special birds. One of the school staff , who has lived on Mull for many years, commented that they had never seen a White Tailed Eagle, and today they got their wish!

The radio programme goes out later in the year I let you know when it's on ...


Monday afternoon brought a large group of 31 people to the hide. They saw the chick sleep, then wake up to stretch its wings. The adult birds were out of sight although we could hear them calling.


New hide discovered on Mull



The next day I was off on a Ranger walk north of the island where 14 very keen people joined me for a fantastic day.  During the trip, I found a new hide to watch the eagles and otters from ...

Back to the office today looking out at Ben More, John Clare and the wonderful chick , speak soon .....

To book a trip to The Eagle Hide please call in advance on 01680 812556

The blog is published by Colin Baxter on behalf of Mull Ranger Cheryl Callow

Mull is in bloom as our eagle chick grows



Our chick is growing up



After this weekend I returned to the hide to find the chick had grown another two inches and the nest had a new dead sea bird in it . The grey fluffy chick from last week was now darker in colour and looking more like a bird.

The activity on Monday afternoon after the public had gone home was interesting as both parent birds were calling out and in the background I could hear the mew of the buzzard that was flying close to the nest. At one stage it reminded me of being a young girl at London zoo, the noise was immense.



Yellow flag on Mull



The island has blossomed into the most wonderful colour as bluebells, yellow flag and iris’ are all out in bloom.

Its an amazing burst of colour that has happened in the last week. I spotted a yellow flag over looking Inch Kenneth as pictured.



Bluebells on Mull



We had some very good news that John Clare the RSPB ranger and myself,  passed our recent 'mystery shopper' examination who had visited during May bank holiday week.

Some questions and comments from the visit below -

Q Did a member of staff go out of their way to enhance the visit for you or another visitor ?

A "Both Cheryl and John were superb. They had passion for the site and were able to provide information either in answer to questions or as part of the tour. Both were outstanding in dealing with children."

We got 100 percent for staff service, skills and image.

Q One thing that could have improved this visit ?

A "Genuinely there was nothing that could have improved my visit."

 
So with that recommendation please come along and visit us!

Book ahead to avoid disappointment - www.forestry.gov.uk/mullseaeagles

Blogs posted by Colin Baxter on behalf of Mull Ranger, Cheryl Callow

Our new chick is ringed in the nest

It's been a very eventful week with the chick being checked and ringed in the nest on Wednesday 5th June .

A team arrived of Forest Commission and RSPB staff came to ring the chick in the nest . The parent birds were not on the nest as the chick is much bigger at about 18 inches tall and grey in colour.


Staff at the nest checking and ringing the chick


The public group in attendance had the most marvellous morning witnessing this rare event .

There were three main tree climbers who made their way to the tree and two entered the nest . The chick went very flat and stayed still . The nest was also checked for food. It was full of sea birds and fish .
The chick was measured, ringed and a salvia swab taken for genetic checking .
After the team had completed their task they left a dead rabbit in the nest and came down .
It took an hour for Iona to come back to her chick . The parents made no noise or calling whilst this process was going on .


Chick in the nest after ringing



In the hide, James, the Forest Commission Wildlife Officer gave an explanation to the group as to what was going on.

Later we were joined by David Sexton the RSPB Manager who also came into the hide to explain what would happen afterwards and notified the group that initial thoughts are that it could be a female chick but this will need clarification.

Such a great day and experience , one I shall always remember, a golden moment for me.

Blogs published by Colin Baxter on behalf of Mull Ranger Cheryl Callow.

First two chicks make an appearance on Mull!




Iona and Fingal at the nest - by Claire Hammond

 The first chick hatched to Fingal and Iona on Friday 3rd May witnessed in pouring rain by John Clare the RSPB ranger .

The second chick hatched on Sunday 5th May, again witnessed by John Clare as he went  to check on the white tailed sea eagles over the weekend as it has been so wet.

Yesterday it rained all day and we arrived to find both Iona and Fingal on the nest eating some carrion that had been brought into the nest.

The female bird at different times has got up and moved around removing the rain from her body with a quick shake down and then back on the nest keeping the chicks protected.

Fingal flew off about 10.45 am and had not come back when we left at 3pm yesterday. Thankfully, the weather had justed started  to clear a little. I did hear him calling to her about 2pm when the public were in the hide so he was not far away.

We wish for some dry weather to give these chicks a chance this week .
No pics as yet but we hope to have some for the next update later this week....

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!

Our Eagles and other wildlife enjoy Mull's great Easter weather

The weather this Easter week has been fantastic on the Isle of Mull. Iona, the hen bird has been busy sitting on her eggs in the warmth of the sun incubating. Fingal the male has been busy too, making sure the nest is kept fresh with larch and melina (white hill) grass .

He has also been bringing in food for his mate, in the form of large fish and small mammals each day.
There have been several change overs which we have witness at the hide with Iona going off to have a break and feed herself.
Our visitors have been treated to a number of great sightings and yesterday afternoon they witnessed Fingal on the nest calling out for Iona. This was a new noise to many of the children and adults visiting the hide, who had never heard eagle conversation before.

We have also had the delight of a visiting sparrowhawk at our woodland hide, who boldly flies through the hide to the amazement of our visitors! Other visiting wildlife include a small robin at the hide who greets us on a daily basis, whilst we are keeping our eyes peeled for the Scottish Crossbill that is resident in these woods too but no sightings as yet.

Other birds of interest are the local buzzards ,who nest near by and the regular female hen harrier who cleared all of  the chaffinches off the feeders at the reception hide on Tuesday with ease. The male chaffinches are in abundance too on the spruce tree on the feeders in their bright red colour, just like Christmas baubles.

The weather for the week is looking very good so if you are planning a visit to Mull, don't forget to book a trip to the Eagle Hide.

Mull Eagle Hide now open for 2013



Our first visitors of 2013 ready to enjoy their trip to the
eagle hide at Glen Seilisdeir 


The wait is finally over and the Eagle Hide on Mull is now open for the 2013 season.

The first visitors arrived on Monday 25th March and were joined by John Clare, the RSPB Ranger and Cheryl Callow, the Seasonal Ranger for the island.

The weather has been kind to Mull over the last year and although it has been cold we have not had the weather that has hit the Isle of Arran and Ireland.

Bookings to visit the hide are a must and you can reserve your place by calling 01680 812556. The trips will  run daily from Easter weekend to October and last approximately 2 hours, subject to availability.

Costs are Adults £6 (including RSPB members), under 16’s £3. Trips to permanent Mull residents are free.

Both Fingal  and Iona the resident White Tailed Sea Eagles are ready and waiting to greet you at the nest.

We look forward to welcoming you to Mull.

Mull Sea Eagles go green (and silver!)

Following our recent assessment for the Green Tourism Business Scheme (run by Visit Scotland), I'm delighted to say that we have been awarded a Silver award for the Eagle Hide. I'm told that it is not often for a Silver to be awarded at the first attempt so we are very proud.

Although we don't need to generate much electricity, our TV monitor and CCTV camera with all the attendant wiring are run from our bank of solar panels, and we have the option of a small wind turbine if we need any further power.

Over the last two weeks we have been visited by primary school children from all over the island and they have had a great time watching our rapidly growing chicks on the nest, learning the story of the White-tailed Sea Eagles and impressing us with their own knowledge of the eagles and other birds of prey on the island. Before going to the viewing hide the children built a life-size eagle nest out of branches, twigs and sprays of foliage collected from the forest.


Lochdon School sitting on

the nest frame before building


The children had great fun building the nest and all were surprised at the size of nest needed for the adult Sea Eagles and their rapidly growing offspring. Iona and Fingal's nest is about 2m across by 0.75m deep, and is extended every year the birds use it. By the time the children got to see the eagles through our telescopes they had realised just how much work the adult birds had to do before they could lay their precious eggs.

 

The hide continues to be as busy as ever, and our two chicks are now five weeks old. Both are doing well, and I hope to have more news of them when they have been ringed.




Ulva Ferry School with
their finished nes

 In the meantime, if you are planning a visit to the hide please book as far ahead as possible as most of our trips are filling up very quickly, and we don't want anyone to be disappointed.

Stop Press: We have been told that the footage taken by Iolo Williams at our hide will appear on the BBC Springwatch programme on Monday 11th June (or possibly later that week).



First white-tailed eagle chick hatches at Mull hide



Mull's White Tailed Eagles

The first white-tailed eagle chick of the year at the Mull Eagle Watch hide has been spotted by rangers.

It’s hopeful that a second egg is in the nest and that the proud parents, Iona & Fingal, will have another chick to look after in couple of days.

For the past 38 days, the adult birds have taken turns in incubating the eggs, sitting very low on the nest.

First indications that something had changed was on Tuesday this week when the female was sitting higher up on the nest. She was also fidgeting and fussing with the eggs so it was clear that a new arrival was coming.

Sue Dewar, White-Tailed Eagle Ranger with Mull & Iona Ranger Service said:

“We are thrilled to bits at the news and we are keeping our fingers crossed that all goes well with the remaining egg.

“It was on Wednesday afternoon that we first witnessed Iona, the female adult, bending her head down and gently feeding the chick.

“Tiny morsels of food were torn off by her huge beak and were delicately fed to her new chick. Iona was also very careful to keep her talons well out of the way so as not to put the chick in any danger.

”The new arrival is great news for the birds but also for Mull as so many people come to witness these massive and magnificent birds.”

Fingal, the male, was not seen during the afternoon the new chick arrived and was most likely to be off hunting to feed his new family.

If the female takes a break from her new duties the male adult will take over until she returns. If there is a second egg it could hatch in the next couple of days, as eagles lay eggs two or three days apart, but sit from the time the first egg is laid.

Dave Sexton, RSPB Scotland’s Mull Officer added:

“Whilst breaking out of the egg is one of the toughest parts of an eagle’s life, the next 10 days is also critical as they must be brooded by an adult at all times to avoid hypothermia. So Mull Eagle Watch and the CCTV will still be running 24/7 to ensure Fingal & Iona and their new family are not disturbed in any way”

Mull Eagle Watch is run by a partnership consisting of Forestry Commission Scotland, Mull & Iona Community Trust, RSPB Scotland, Scottish Natural Heritage and Strathclyde Police.

Part of the income from trips to the hide is put into a fund which is available to the islanders for local community projects. A recent survey reported that the white-tailed eagles alone bring in £5m annually to Mull’s economy, which is hugely important to the island.

All over the island, Mull Eagle Watch’s dedicated team of volunteers have been watching the eagles’ nests to ensure that no-one gets too close as the birds will leave the nest if they are disturbed by anyone – deliberately or inadvertently.

Because the Mull Eagle Watch are constantly on the lookout for egg thieves, nests are watched for 24 hours a day and this year CCTV is also being used with other high-tech equipment to back up our volunteers.

Once the chicks are hatched there are still problems from the very occasional photographer who wants to get closer than is comfortable for the birds, and two such people were prosecuted last year for ignoring instructions not to go too close. Fortunately on that occasion the chick survived, but only because volunteers and police reacted quickly.

The hide at Glen Seilisdeir is open Monday to Friday from April to the end of September, running two trips a day. White-tailed eagle rangers will tell the story of the eagles’ extinction and subsequent reintroduction, and then escort visitors to an outdoor viewing hide just 300m from the nest. Booking is essential on 01680 812556.

Have they, or haven't they?



Sea Eagle in flight - photo courtesy of Alan Jack

 This week we are playing the waiting game. Our egg(s) are due to hatch any time now and everytime the on-duty adult stands up on the nest, we wait with baited breath to see a tiny, wobbly white head, or the other adult bringing in food.

Yesterday afternoon the weather was superb (as it has been for over two weeks now), and the conditions were perfect for a precious Sea Eagle chick to come into the world. But the adults seemed to be just turning the eggs and then settling down to incubate again.

Maybe they could hear the first chick cheeping inside the egg as it started to break its way out using the tiny egg tooth on the top of its beak. Or maybe not! Eggs can easily take 36 hours to hatch, so, like Iona and Fingal, we must be patient and wait for that first feed!

We can't help thinking back to last year, when the beginning of May saw horrendous winds sweep the west coast of Scotland, and the eagle nests were all checked the next morning. We were convinced that at least one nest tree would have come down, but no, everything was intact and Mull's Sea Eagles successfully fledged 11 chicks in 2011.

We suffered even stronger winds over the winter months with one gust on Mull recorded at 165 mph. Surely some of the eagles would have to build new nests this year to replace those damaged? Sea Eagles are obviously better nest builders than we give them credit for as most nests survived. One nest did collapse and the following day the eagles there carried out a hurried repair job - only for the winds to return and the new nest be blown out of the tree too. But Sea Eagles are resilient birds and it's always surprising to see how quickly they put their nests together.

The new "wild hide" - photo courtesy of Alan Jack

Our new viewing hide, set into the woodland, is proving a huge success. Everyone says they feel closer to nature, and the smell from the pine trees is all-pervading. The shading at the front of the hide means that the eagles can't see us although they know we are there.

Occasionally they will hear something and if we happen to be looking through a telescope at the time we see a beady pale lemon eye staring back at us.

With luck we will soon be watching food being brought in for the chick(s) by the parents, and then tiny slivers will be torn off and fed tenderly to their offspring. I wonder if we'll have a hatching today?

Glad to be back!

After what seems like a very long (and extremely wet) winter, I'm finally back watching eagles and sharing the experience with our visitors at our wonderful new location.


Our resident pair of Sea Eagles have been named Iona and Fingal, and are proving just as devoted parents as Skye and Frisa did at Loch Frisa. Iona (the female), previously known as Green T because of her wing tag which she lost this winter, was reared on the Isle of Skye by her parents who were from the first release of Norwegian Sea Eagles on the Isle of Rum. After fledging in 1998, Iona was first seen on Mull in 2001. Fingal (the male) was part of a second release scheme and was brought over from Norway in 1997 with 9 other chicks. All 10 were released on Wester Ross. Fingal was originally known as Blue 6, but lost his tags in 2006. Following his early visits to Mull. he paired up with Iona in 2002. After a couple of false starts the pair finally fledged one chick in 2005, and have successfully fledged five chicks in total.


Our new set-up at Glen Seilisdeir is very different from Loch Frisa - we still have a wooden hide where visitors can listen to our introductory talk inside (if it's raining), and pick up leaflets, booklets and make any purchases. We then drive half a mile along the track to our viewpoint car park where we all carefully close car doors and make sure no car alarms have been set, before silently walking 100m to our viewpoint - an outdoor hide just 300m from the nest! As I write the eggs are just over three weeks through incubation, so in around two weeks we should spot the first food being brought in and tiny morsels gently fed to a tiny fluffy white chick. With luck a second chick will hatch a couple of days later.


Our "rustic" hide is a clearing in the forest, expertly prepared with a thick layer of wood-chip on the ground, shielded from the eagles' view with a screen of spruce prunings and set up with spotting scopes and binoculars so that all our visitors get the best possible view of the eagles. And what views they have been getting! We watch the adult birds taking turns at incubating the eggs, carefully rearranging sticks on the nest, and preening their loose white body feathers prior to going through their full moult. Iona usually does the night shift, with Fingal coming in to relieve her in the morning and then they take turns to incubate the precious egg(s) during the day.


Recently whilst Fingal was incubating he must have become a bit "peckish" because he suddenly took off and flew towards Loch Beg. Our hearts were in our mouths as there was no sign of Iona and the eggs would chill if they were left for long. We timed his absence and after just three minutes Fingal returned with a large fish, settled himself back on the nest and proceeded to eat his catch. He must have been able to see the fish from his position on the nest, and temptation must have got the better of him!


All our visitors are thorougly enjoying the experience, especially the "wild" hide where they can really feel at one with nature.