A worrying time

I got the call from Strathclyde Police this morning at 1100. A local lady driving near Tobermory was sure she had just seen a sea eagle by the side of the road - the main road into the town. She thought it was struggling to take off. I wasn't too far away so quickly made my way to the scene. When I had passed this spot an hour or so earlier I was surprised to see several ravens hanging around by the road. I assumed some animal had been hit during the night and they were clearing it up. As I got to the area described by the police, there were still ravens about and a few buzzards too. They were indeed feeding on the remains of a red deer in a roadside ditch. It must have been struck while crossing the road last night - sadly an all too common event on the islands. I could see no eagles so I left the birds to their feast. I'd only travelled half a mile when the phone rang again. I pulled off, stopped the engine and rang the number back. It was our local police officer PC Finlay Christine. He'd just taken another call. This time from a lorry driver. He too had been travelling along this road just half an hour beforehand when a sea eagle had tried to take off from the side of the road, he'd tried to avoid it but thinks he gave it a glancing blow with his wing mirror. He had done his best and it shows the depth of concern people here have for their eagles that he and the lady before him had taken the trouble to report it to the police. But my heart sunk. There was no doubt in my mind now. Clearly a passing sea eagle had seen the ravens and buzzards and realised there must be food nearby. They get their clues like this all the time - it's just not normally near a busy A-road. We needed to do a search of the area, just in case the eagle was lying injured nearby. Before long I was joined by other colleagues form the Forestry Commission Scotland and the police - all concerned about what might have happened. The first job was to remove the deer remains from near the road so no other accidents happened. Then we spread out to search. What would an injured or shocked eagle do? Land and rest in a tree, on the ground, by the nearby shore? The lorry driver thought he saw it wheel around and fly off - maybe it wasn't seriously injured? My mind was racing. It was perhaps more likely to have been an adventurous immature sea eagle than an experienced adult to have come down so close to a road. I knew Mara and Breagha were last recorded not too far away. Mara had been on that deer carcase on Ardnamurchan just across the Sound of Mull and Loch Sunart from where I was now searching. I didn't want any sea eagle harmed least of all our two chicks. It was just too awful to contemplate.

I reached a ridge in the forestry and looked down to the shore. There on a rock sat a sea eagle. It was too far away to tell if it was an adult or an immature. Do I go all the way back to the landrover for the telescope and risk losing sight of it or do I try to get closer and use the binoculars. I decided it was better to keep it in view and crept closer. It was so close to the scene of the deer by the road that I felt sure this was likely to be the eagle and that it had landed here by the shore to recover. Just as I got close enough to work out roughly how old it was through the bins, an adult sea eagle flew passed it and then it also took off - both were full adults. They flew towards me and then south down the Sound of Mull. They flew well and strong. Part of me could relax. Surely it was one of them attracted into the carcase? Tonight I continue to have everything crossed for luck - please join in! But until we get that next set of satellite tag data to prove that Mara and Breagha are still active and a long way from that area, I can't really rest easy.

Dave Sexton RSPB Scotland Mull Officer

Farewell 'Autumnwatch' for another year! If you missed the Mull Eagle Diaries, watch them at www.bbc.co.uk/autumnwatch/meettheanimals.

Update on the sea eagle pair that lost their chick this year (see diary 3): both adults have already been seen back on an old nest and are beginning to repair it. Their breeding cycle has already begun.