Eagle Island lives up to its name!

We have been sampling some truly wonderful Autumn weather on Mull at the moment - bright days with chilly evenings and this morning, for the first time, we had to scrape the frost from the car windscreen.  The colours will now come into their own with the leaves on the trees turning every shade of yellow, orange and brown before they finally fall.

Today, at the hide, with a backdrop of blue sky and sunshine, a glass was raised to this year's fledged chicks.  It has been a good year for both the white tailed eagles and the goldies - we wish them a safe journey as they embark on the long and dangerous road to adulthood.

This week at the hide, the visitors have been bowled over by some pretty spectacular displays from both types of eagles.  Skye and Frisa, of course, have provided some magnificent flying displays over the loch and then coming to rest on a branch, side by side like an old married couple.  We have also had a 3 year old female, fledged from Mull, hanging around.   She seems to want to join in with Skye and Frisa on some of their flying displays as we have seen the 3 of them flying high above the far side of the loch.  Not to be outdone, the Goldies have been pretty spectacular too - at one point, we had 3 juveniles circling high into the sky before swooping towards the ground at a rate of knots - quite a sight. 

But the best surprise this week occurred one morning as I drove down to open the hide.  Many of you who have visited Loch Frisa, may remember the small island in front of the hide.  As I pulled up outside the hide, I glanced across and thought "wow - thats a fat heron" - and then realising, "thats no heron, its an eagle!"  I quickly focussed my binoculars and there we had a young sea eagle, just going into its second winter, some white on its tail, still a relatively dark beak - Frisa sat nearby watching closely - yes, it was Heather, our female chick back home.   She has spent a fair bit of time around Loch Frisa - maybe with no chicks to feed this year, Skye and Frisa are quite happy to have her around.  She looked fantastic, healthy and well.

 

 

 

 

Heather - Photo Debby Thorne

 

 

 

 

Another sign of Autumn is the great migration with the arrival of geese and the change in plumage of our Divers.  We have a resident population of grey lag geese but their numbers are swollen at this time of year with birds heading down from the frozen north to spend winter in the UK at many of our reserves and estuaries.  This week we have seen the arrival of 4 little grebe and await our first whooper swans.

 

 

 

 

Grey Lag Geese - Photo Debby Thorne

 

 

 

 

 

Of course, the feeders are still busy with our small birds and even the chaffinches are a great source of delight to visitors to  both young and old.  The finches are forming large flocks now and the stunning goldfinches are moving in and eating up the seeds on the thistles around the bird feeders.

 

 

 

 

Female Chaffinch - photo Debby Thorne

 

 

 

 

 

The other great spectacle that is about to start is the Rut!  Already we are seeing large groups of deer coming down from the hillside and the occasional bellow has been heard.  I have to say, Autumn is my favourite season and on Mull, we are truly spoilt, not only with the colours but with some of nature's great events.

The hide will be staying open through the autumn and winter so come and share some of these magical moments with me - you wont be disappointed!  Mull Eagle Watch

Debby Thorne

White Tailed Eagle Information Officer

Isle of Mull