My Norwegian Adventure...continued!

Unfortunately, the theme of single chicks and empty nests continued. Despite another 3:30 am finish, and no matter how many nests we visited, it became apparent that the Norwegian white tailed eagles were having an “off year”. We visited some incredible areas during this time. We ventured deep into the fjords and scaled some harsh and steep terrain to check nests. On the other hand there was one nest on an island 400m away from the busy town of Molde overlooking the harbour. It was amazing to see how close the eagles were settling to large human settlements and fitting in perfectly without any bother.

(Just one example of a scenic nest!)

After two days of accessing remote fjords by boat, the rest of the time was spent travelling on the immensely complicated road and ferry network between islands  to some “mainland” and other island nests. This made a nice change as I was starting to struggle to walk in a straight line after spending so long in a rocking boat! It was also easier to fall asleep in a car than to attempt to curl up on a hard plastic bench in a boat.

 On day 6 out of 7, we finally came across another brood of two. This was an unusual nest. It was a long relatively flat walk in into this one, and despite being in a wetland area did not overlook at dramatic fjord or the sea like all of the other nests that I had been to so far. Interestingly, this pair had quite clearly been “hunting” over the local landfill! In the nest, one chick had been nibbling on the remnants of a pork roast and garden birds' fat balls, and the nest had been lined with black bin bags. Alv Ottar said that this has caused problems at some nests as they don’t allow the nest to drain properly and the nest will flood! After ringing the chick that was to be left behind in the nest, Alv Ottar challeneged me to climb down the tree with the chick (inside a hessian bag) in my hands. I wasn’t going to turn down a challenge from Alv Ottar, but I can definitely say that it was one of the scariest things I’ve ever done! And all because I didn’t want to hurt the chick! Both the chick and I made it down unharmed and I couldn’t stop smiling for the rest of the day….even though this was only the 2^nd chick in 6 days!!!

The following day I was due to go home. I knew that Alv Ottar and Ingar had kept a few nests that they knew contained twins until the very last minute. This was to make sure that they had the most time possible in the nest, and contact with the adults before they were taken…. I later discovered that in true Alv Ottar style, the last chick was collected at 3:30am on Friday morning-the day they were flying home to Scotland!! I cannot thank them enough for their commitment and mammoth effort they put in for the East Scotland Sea Eagle project!