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
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.