It's been a tough weekend. We've had one scare after another. At Loch Frisa we've had marauding corvids - ravens and hooded crows - causing mayhem at Frisa and Skye's nest. Their alarm calls have had us all on the edge of the famous eagle bench. Then the local golden eagle decided to pay a visit and caused even more heart stopping moments. Both Frisa and Skye were off the nest leaving the eggs dangerously exposed to the elements and the marauding corvids which were still loitering with intent. Finally all invaders got the message and cleared Loch Frisa's international air space. Peace was restored and it should have been time to head home for a late dinner. Then the call came in from the Air Cadets dug into the hillside near another nest. Both adult sea eagles were reportedly up in the air so a mad dash to the south end of the island and a climb up the hill to confirm that actually all was well after all. The police call them FAGI's. False Alarm. Good Intent. The Cadets have done a great job for us this Easter weekend and will hopefully have passed another stage in their bids for the Duke of Edinburgh Gold Awards. Thanks to all involved and Strathclyde Police for their ongoing assistance.
The final bit of news tonight is that our female satellite tagged chick Breagha from Loch Frisa in 2008 has come home (again)! After a week or more exploring the Small Isles of Rum and Canna and then on to Skye, she headed back south via Morvern to central Mull. I'm relieved to have her back. It's a dangerous world out there and maybe she didn't go far but it was still a big step for her as she begins to explore the west coast. Welcome home Breagha. Happy Easter all. Now it's time for that dinner - what's left of it!
Dave Sexton RSPB Scotland Mull Officer
Dave Sexton, RSPB Scotland Mull Officer
Just returned from a wonderful week on Mull, based at Lochbuie. We visited the hide at Loch Frisa and after an hour and a half wait (and it was worth it), the male bird took to the wing - awesome ! The broadness of the wings (flying doors!) and the white tail and lighter coloured head were clearly visible and you could even see it moving it's head scanning the terrain below. Top marks to the 'Mull and Iona Community Trust' and the RSPB (and Forestry Commission?). I thought the kids might get a bit bored, but there was loads for them to do in the hide and my son was so impressed he bought a 50p photo from the hide and he's going to tell his class all about the 'white tailed sea eagle' at his 'show and tell' session on a friday. Thanks also to the two ladies (sorry forgot names) who over-saw our visit. We had an even 'closer encounter' getting towards dusk while crab-fishing from the jetty at Lochbuie. A white-tail flew from across the loch - directly overhead and then dissapeared down the glen. Wow! White-tailed vs lambs ? I spoke to a couple of farmers re the above and received conflicting opinions. At least there's no foxes on mull - and fox kills don't warrent compensation. Aynway, keep up the good work.
Dave, have had reported sightings of red kites at Ardtun. Are you able to cofirm this?
I hate hoodies (the feathered ones!) but Americans have never seen them and think they are 'cute'.
We are visited every day at present by a highly intelligent little gang of rooks (crooks?) and have had to resort to desperate measures to hang on to our fat-balls. Hope I won't upset too many of you by saying that even bonxies can, very occasionally, have redeeming episodes? We were out rowing a boat in a quiet bay in Wester Ross several summers ago and a bonxie flew out to see us, settling on the water a few feet away. We had finished our sandwiches, but our son (who was about eight) had a few crisps left and, well, you can guess what the bonxie enjoyed eating soaked in brine.... The bird stayed floating beside us for a long time afterwards. We were there again the following year, and presumably the same bird was there, as it did the same thing again, though no crisps this time. It seemed contented just to stay near us and our son had a camera ready and was sad when we had to leave the bird later in the day. Looking at the photos, despite all the bad things that we know that they do, sorry but it is now hard to feel hatred for all bonxies all the time.
Hi Dave yes all bloggers who don't know unfortunately carrion crows and so i would assume hooded crows are a big problem for sheep farmers at lambing time as any lamb slow to its feet such as when the ewe having second lamb is likely to get its eyes pecked out.I suspect that some of the raptors that are poisoned could be because of problems crows cause.Our son once saw a family of ducklings taken by crows and i even see one catch a fieldfare and even flew chasing it after frightened off of it by me.Best wishes.
Hi, Yes, Wee Jeanie, that's exactly what the Bonxies do, not sure about the crows but I know that Ravens do...
Anyway they are horrid...
Sorry to all the bird lovers out there that see the behaviour as part of nature but I find the behaviour and nature of 'some' birds awful...
Really cloudy here in the Highlands today, the bird table is quiet. I think all the birds are nesting now so not much flying around going on...