Since Rhian's post in April on the nest watch volunteers there has been a lot of activity in the project...
We are absolutely thrilled to have a white-tailed sea eagle nest this year - this is the second successful breeding attempt in East Scotland and a very exciting time for the partnership project! The initial six nest watch volunteers were crucial in helping us to set up the surveillance scheme and we now have over 30 staff and volunteers involved.
The summer will be an even busier time for us and we will have more updates on this soon. In the meantime, read on to enjoy the blog post, photographs and video from our excellent volunteer Andy Guppy.
Another Sunday morning, another eagle watch shift, during the walk to the hide at 7:30 in the morning I did not expect a mosquito to dine on my hand as I walked, sadly it no longer exists and my hand throbbed the rest of the day.
On the lovely walk to the hide I managed to observe many species of birds, insects and obtain some lovely pictures of local butterfly life, Orange Tips were in abundance, along with some small coppers and I even managed to grab a Cinnabar Moth, a first for me.
Green Woodpecker yaffling in the woodland and a family of newly fledged wrens as I walked the last 200 metres or so.
Many people have asked why I do what I do in relation to watching/monitoring the sea eagles the answer is simple – “When you are rewarded with such beautiful wildlife before the actual real fun begins why not?“
On approach to the hide I checked on the Willow Warbler who decide to set up home just yards from the hide, they were busy feeding a nest full of young. Quick picture and left them to contend with the hungry gaping mouths.
At last the hide, 400 metres plus from the nest.
As usual got my gear set up, most use a scope, I have adapted a method that allows me to observe and record footage at the same time using my camera as a scope since it has a high power zoom.
Turned out to be a very eventful morning, as I arrived the male came in with what looked like a rabbit, however I did not quite have my kit set up to capture, however 2 hours later I observed and recorded a change over on the nest, this is where one bird comes in and swaps nest duty with the other. The video attached has a haze about it, that is the result of the heat wave at ground level when filming on a hot day over such a distance.
When I realised what I had just captured on film, I was grinning like a Cheshire cat :)
Other than that change over the rest of the shift had become a norm shall we say during the incubation period, not much activity on the nest and numerous hours spent flitching at every move you see in the nest hoping to see the hatching youngster, alas not on this shift, perhaps I will get lucky on the next.
What a wonderful way to spend a Sunday morning, sitting in the middle of nowhere, nothing but the songs of the local birdlife, watching and protecting a bird as elegant as the White-tailed Sea Eagle.