Electra - Part II

I couldn't get through directly to the bird hospital at Wings over Mull - but I knew a man that could. It's one of the things that makes living on this island so special, how everyone pulls together when the need arises. One of our local police officers, PC Finlay Christine, on top of all his other duties, also takes a deep interest in the welfare of the island's wildlife and is instrumental in making  Mull Eagle Watch work successfully each year. I called him and got through and explained the situation. In the time it took me to drive from Glengorm to Salen - about half way to the bird hospital - he had contacted Wings over Mull himself and arranged for the owners Richard and Sue Dewar to meet me at my home in Salen. They arrived minutes after I did and instantly took charge - much to my relief. They agreed the female golden eagle had lost a great deal of blood and, I remember them saying, they don't exactly have a lot of blood to lose. But she was still with us and they were determined to do their best. They whisked her away to the bird hospital near Craignure (opened by Simon King in 2005) and began her treatment. Shock can kill these birds as quickly as any injury so the first step was to stabilise her, secure her damaged wing by strapping it tight to her body, rehydrate her and when the time was right, try and get her to eat something.

To cut a long story short, they worked miracles. They monitored her round the clock via CCTV and were rapidly able to seek expert help from a wonderful vet in Oban who often helps out with their wildlife cases from Mull. He was able to treat her wing which amazingly wasn't broken but they had all noticed something very worrying about her eyes. They looked cloudy and she didn't react properly to movement or light. Everyone agreed she had the plumage of an old bird but all were committed to doing the best they could for her. Once she had recovered from the original accident, she was assessed by the Glasgow Vet School and amazingly was found to have developed cataracts on both eyes, perhaps as a result of the trauma of the electric shock and the impact of hitting the ground. They agreed to carry out a world first of an operation and successfully restored her sight to one eye - an amazing achievement for all concerned - but the other eye was just too badly damaged and could not be operated on. By now she'd been named Electra - she looked great but she would never fly in the wild again. A bitter blow for everyone involved.

So is this the happy ending everyone craves in such circumstances? There will be those who feel she should have been put to sleep without having to endure the added stress of operations and captivity. She was once a proud eagle soaring over Mull's mountains - and yet, she has adapted to her new life incredibly smoothly. She is in fantastic physical shape and has everything provided for her - she even has the company of another younger male golden eagle who was also injured as a recently fledged chick - and they seem to have formed a close bond. She is calm and at ease. For a bird which has spent her entire life as a free spirit, the transformation is remarkable. She gives much pleasure to many visitors who get to see a golden eagle up close rather than a distant speck in the sky. Maybe she even takes pressure off her wild kin who can quietly get on with their lives without people trying to get too close?

Of course it would have been a dream of an ending to the story if we'd been able to take her back to Glengorm, opened the cage and she'd flown off fit and strong back into her wild haunts. If she'd not been seen by visitors on the day of her accident, if I hadn't answered the 'phone, if, if, if...she would probably have crawled off quietly in to the heather and died. Instead, today she is alive and healthy and a great ambassador for her species. Isn't that a happy ending?

Tomorrow - updates on our Loch Frisa chicks and an interesting twist in the story of Electra in 2008

Dave Sexton RSPB Scotland Mull Officer