Fingal and Iona - This is their Life

Whilst the numerous unfaithful osprey pairings around the UK go about their daily soap opera shenanigans, our rock steady pair of white-tailed eagles, Fingal and Iona, stick to what's important in life: their eggs - their future. These amazing birds have known each others funny ways for a decade or more and have seen each other through thick and thin for many years. And they really know what matters: each other. They've had their ups and downs since Iona laid her first eggs in 2003. It was also my first few weeks in a new job as RSPB Mull Officer and they were my first new pair of nesting white-tailed eagles. I watched them closely that year, like a couple of newly-weds, keen, eager, trying to do the right thing but not always getting it right.

They glared in apparent bemusement as their first eggs actually hatched before their eagle-eyes - and mine from my hideaway in the forest. I saw them one early May dew-soaked morning both standing nervously on the edge of the nest peering down in to the nest cup. Unseen by me, the egg shell was cracking and a wet, slithery eaglet was emerging into the scary outside world. The bright spring sunshine must have made them all blink and the soft down around Iona's brood patch soon dried and warmed the new hatchling. A few days later, as Iona attempted to feed the chick I could even hear the quietest of squeaky food begging calls. Like any new mum, she was a little hesitant, uncertain and yet determined by instinct to do the right thing. Characteristically for white-tailed eagles with tiny chicks, she drooled copious saliva from that huge yellow bill, mixing it with the fresh rabbit prey supplied by Fingal - his first such delivery. And one of his most important. It made the bite-sized offerings more palatable and digestible - from Iona's giant beak to the wobbling gape of her offspring. Down it went. Piece by piece, day by day.

They had chosen their first nest site well. A big old Sitka spruce in Glen Seilisdeir in the south of Mull. Glen Seilisdeir means 'Glen of the Irises' in the Gaelic and by early May, the yellow flag irisis were well advanced with even a hint of the first flowers emerging. Below Fingal and Iona's nest, lapwings displayed in the fields, greylag geese had angry and noisy disputes on the saltmarsh of Kilfinichan Bay and a late-staying summer plummaged great-northern diver called mournfully from far out in Loch Scridain.

Fingal, our male white-tailed eagle - photo courtesy Bryan Rains - Wild About Mull Wildlife Tours http://www.wildaboutmull.co.uk/

It seemed the perfect Hebridean spring for Fingal and Iona's first nesting attempt. So many first timers never even get to this exciting stage. This perfect pairing of a handsome Norwegian-released male from 1997 and his flighty Scottish-bred partner from the misty Isle of Skye in 1998 had produced something very special at the first attempt. As I crept through the dark forest to the concealed observation point at the end of their first week, my heart was full of expectation and optimism...

Coming soon to the Mull Eagles blog...Fingal and Iona face up to the stark reality of life as a breeding pair of white-tailed eagles and we follow their impressive if challenging fortunes over subsequent nesting seasons.

You may have heard that this year we will be hosting the first-ever Scottish Birdfair on the 19^th and 20^th of May at Hopetoun House near Edinburgh.  This is the first event of its kind in Scotland and will bring together over 5,000 people who love nature and wildlife. A wide range of workshops on topics like seabird tracking, foraging, migratory species, birds of prey and the science of conservation will all be on offer.  And, with all proceeds going to support our conservation work in Scotland, there’s even more reason to join in the fun. Find out more about the Scottish Birdfair on the website: http://www.scottishbirdfair.org.uk/

Dave Sexton RSPB Scotland Mull Officer

Come and visit them yourself at the All-New Mull Eagle Hide 2012. Book a visit on 01680 812 556. Monday to Friday 10am and 1pm