If she'd stayed in Scotland, there's no guarantee she would have been any safer. And yet I can't help feeling we betrayed her. A young golden eagle chick from Mull - like others before her - was donated last year to the bold and successful golden eagle reintroduction project in Ireland. She was from a brood of two and was whisked off to her new home along with other young Scottish goldies. Her sibling fledged successfully…

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. …

Even with the thick cloud this week, it's been noticable how light it is at night with the full moon occasionally breaking through. And for several evenings running at about 7 o'clock, just as the moon is rising, there have been excited shouts from the children of "Barn Owl!" We've raced to the conservatory at the back of the house to watch the beautiful pale form of a barn owl floating over the rushy pasture at the bottom…

Well it's finally happened. It's been months of waiting. Sometimes we thought it would never happen. Where would she lay? Which nest would she choose? But at last, all the signs looked good. She kept herself to herself all morning and then quietly slipped away. We kept watch from a safe distance, checking in on her only occasionally so as not to disturb her at this most important moment.

The world around her carried…

I've been holding off writing, hoping to give some news on Frisa and Skye - like where they're going to nest this year. Not too much to ask by early March you'd think. But a combination of dreadful weather and the birds going AWOL means that we still have no definitive news. There have been occasional sightings but the wet and cold seems to have cooled their nesting instincts for now. Oh well, plenty of time yet...…