2nd September 2018

We were spolit with eagle action last Thursday at West Ardhu!

Hope arrived with a measly portion of food but, instead of dropping it in the nest, she perched underneath Misak to eat it herself, despite the incessant calling from the hungry chick.

Ulva, appeared at the same time but, realising the food wasn’t for sharing, she swiftly moved on and soared up high for our visitors for a while before…

The sturdy oaks will have offered their usual sanctuary for an eagle looking for a safe roost site. Last night the Hebridean skies were clear and the temperature plummeted below freezing. By late afternoon, as the light was fading, three young sea eagles dropped out of the dark sky, circled and chased each other once or twice before vanishing out of sight into the wood. Their haunting calls echoed round the glen for a few…

There are some good dates which stick in your mind. You know the kind of thing - birthdays, wedding anniversaries, happy times. Then there are the others. Less good times. Much less good. Two dates are now etched into my memory for all the wrong reasons and I need to explain to you why that is. January 21st and June 6th 2010 are the two dates concerned. I've already written about the first date January 21st which is the…

(sorry couldnt think of a song title for this blog)

Its true I tell you!  I am sitting here on Sunday evening with after sun cream on my face!  Mull has been experiencing some amazing weather over the last few weeks.  Beautiful crisp, clear days, and last night the snow returned.   It  has been the half term holiday for English schools, and there has been a noticeable increase in the visitors to the Island.  We had a  couple…

"So no one told you life was gonna be this way?"

I often wonder how some of the white-tailed eagle chicks that have fledged from Mull have fared over the years. The biggest question mark of all is what became of that first historic chick in 1985? We didn't wing tag, satellite or radio tag chicks in those early days. Especially not the first one for 70 years!  We just couldn't risk anything going wrong. But…

Well as I sit here typing, there is not a cloud in the sky and as the sun goes down, there is a lovely pinky hue.  It has been lovely and warm today and the sun cream has made a welcome return.  We are having some truly wonderful weather, although there are signs of Autumn creeping through.  The bracken has started to turn golden yellow and the rowan trees are weighed down with their bunches of brightly coloured berries.

Nature always has a way of surprising you, however long you’ve been observing it. Take today for instance. A glance out of the office window at the flocks of chaffinches on the sunflower seeds; lovely in their own way but nothing out of the ordinary. Some were even coming into their bright spring breeding plumage now. Further across the lawn (or what passes for a lawn – it’s more a bed of moss) several blackbirds were…

Last week, we welcomed David Lindo, also known as "The Urban Birder" and photographer Russell Spencer to our Island.  Some of you may have seen David on Spring Watch, The One Show or read some of his articles in the RSPB's Birds magazine, BBC Wildlife Magazine or BirdWatching.  David lives in London and his patch is Wormwood Scrubs which some of you may be familiar with as the prison!  For David, its his piece…

Finally, one evening this week, I had the briefest glimpse of one of our precious sea eagle chicks. A weak, wobbly white wee head appeared for a second or two as Frisa looked down proudly at her new offspring. I could only see one. We hope there may be two. Frisa tenderly fed tiny morsels of food, pausing occasionally to gaze around and to look to the far horizon for any sign of Skye approaching with new prey for the…

I returned to the Eagle Hide today, having had a couple of days off.  What do you do on your day off on Mull?  Why, check on the other eagles of course!  I had a great day and had some wonderful views of both white-tailed eagles and golden eagles - we are so lucky on Mull to have both these magnificent birds - I don't think I could ever tire of watching them. 

Both trips today were fully booked and the visitors were not…

Just a little more detail on the latest data from Mara and Breagha. On the 16th November, Breagha was on the south side of Loch Buie in the south of Mull at 1005. Her brother Mara was just north of Salen on Mull's east coast two days later on the 18th at 0648 so he had probably roosted nearby - and not a million miles from his old nest site at Loch Frisa.

The sat tags are now on their winter timings which means, I…

It's been a crazy and exciting week here on Mull Eagle Watch. Frisa and Skye have been up to their usual tricks and have made life even more frustrating than usual for us this year. There have been days when Frisa has been sitting on one nest and Skye has been building at another. Behaviour I've never seen before at this late stage in their breeding cycle. It's almost as if they've had a serious disagreement. …

Sorry couldnt come up with a song title about how much our buzzard chick has grown.

Our buzzard was 4 weeks old yesterday and just look at the size of it!

Mum has been brilliant bringing in voles, frogs, slow worms and even moles.  The rate of growth is phenominal.  Each day there are huge differences.  The feathers are really coming through now and our chick (still has no name!) is grabbing food…

We haven't seen much of the sun lately but in one break in the deluge I watched Frisa and Skye relaxing and unwinding after their busy summer. I gently pulled the landrover in, switched off the engine and rolled quietly to a halt. Frisa was to my left high in the sitkas; Skye was on my right in a larch. I panned from one to the other just enjoying them as they preened their soft plumage in the brief warm, sunny spell…

This wasn't the blog I'd planned to write tonight but I thought readers might like to hear of an adventure at Loch Frisa today. The other blog will have to wait a while.

Today dawned bright and very frosty. There was ice on the road and the grass crunched under foot. The sheep were huddled round a bale of fresh, sweet hay munching eagerly after a long, chilly night. Loch Frisa looked idyllic: not a ripple on…

It was time to ground-truth the satellite tag data which has been coming in recently for one of the two 2010 white-tailed eagle chicks. The data was suggesting that the chick might have fledged but the last time I checked, the youngster was still firmly on the nest although it frequently jumped out onto a nearby branch and then back again. It wasn't quite ready just yet.

This sunny Sunday afternoon, I bumped along…

Well - if anyone of you were driving home from work this evening listening to Drivetime with Simon Mayo on Radio 2, you will have heard Dave talking about eagles! Yesterday's guest on the show was Glenn Frey from the band The Eagles (our favourite group of course!) - so this evening Simon wanted to go one step further and talk about the feathered variety.  If you missed it, here is a link to it - if you fast forward…

The office phone rang late today. An excited, breathless Ricky Clark, from the excellent Ardnamurchan Natural History Centre on the stunning mainland peninsula just to the north of Mull, was on the 'phone. He'd just reviewed the footage recorded earlier in the day from their remote cctv cameras placed near a golden eagle feeding area. They beam back amazing live pictures to the centre for visitors to watch without…

Not a great start to this week; wind, rain, hail, snow and strong winds...... it's true what they say about the weather on Mull, you really do get all four seasons in one day up here!

But in the midst of the heavy showers and even a hefty blizzard or two our eagles Frisa and Skye continue to delight visitors, (even if not appearing straight away.... good things come to those who wait!), and everybody goes home with…

You may recall Dave took a well earned Sabbatical earlier this year.

Here is a link to the article he wrote. http://www.rspb.org.uk/community/ourwork/b/scotland/archive/2011/09/05/from-sea-to-shining-sea.aspx

regards

Debby

It used to be Blondie's wood. Regular readers of this blog may recall an earlier posting titled 'The blonde bombshell'. You can read it again in the archive blog section for September. It's the place where it all began for Scottish sea eagles. The place where the first wild bred chick began his life. At this time of year with the leaves all long since blown into the deep waters of the loch, the wood seems…

Well for those of you who follow us on Twitter, @skyeandfrisa - you will have seen that something went on at Loch Frisa this afternoon.

Well to be honest, it really started yesterday.  As you may have seen on the weather forecasts, we have been experiencing some really blustery, showery weather, in between bouts of blue sky and sunshine.  This is great weather for birds of prey - they love to come out in between the showers…

Well the latest news from Loch Frisa is that our eagles arent ready to give up their nest just yet!  Its actually 67 days today they have been sat on that nest - Everyday I drive up the track to check on them, half expecting to see an empty nest.  It nearly happened mid week. 

On Wednesday, Dave and I travelled to Iona to lead a Corncrake Walk.  It has been Wild Isles week on Mull with a whole variety of events taking place…

It's been quite a day on the other side of the pond. Quite a day for all of us. Watching the coverage on TV, on cold, clear days like this in Northern Virginia, I'm transported back to my favourite university class in the US: 'Ornithology 1' - especially the field trips! I couldn't wait for those fantastic winter excursions in to the marshes and woods around the James River identifying cardinals, yellow-bellied…

First of all my apologies for the delay in posting a new blog. It's been a very hectic week with interviews, admin and field work. The season seems to be kicking off earlier than ever! Most of the pairs of white-tailed eagles on Mull are busy refurbishing their nests or building new ones. One day I feel like I know what's happening with each pair, the next it's all up in the air again - literally. Needles to say…