Phew! What a week that was! Just about recovered from Wild Isles Week but what a fantastic week it was. There were many events around the Island from Corncrake Walks, Evening Birdsong Walks, Looking for Otters and lots of talks on a whole variety of subjects, as well as the Eagle Hide open to trips twice a day. The trips were fully booked all week and our visitors were treated to some great displays by Skye and Frisa as well as sightings of our ever growing chicks.
I am amazed at how quickly the chicks are growing - it doesnt seem five minutes ago when I rang Dave from the forward hide saying "I think we have a hatching", and then the following week ringing him and saying "I'm pretty sure we have two chicks - just keep seeing a little white ball of fluff bobbing up and down". They are now an incredible 5 weeks old - they have lost most of their fluffy white down and are now dark grey in colour. A couple of times, we have managed to spot them trying to feed themselves, trying to take a lump of food and nearly falling over in the process. You can see their little wings moving up and down as they move about the nest. Skye and Frisa are just brilliant parents, bringing in food to the nest, making sure both are fed and sitting near to the nest making sure they dont get into any trouble.
The siskins and great spotted woodpecker continue to provide great entertainment to our visitors in the hide and the young sandmartins have fledged already - the youngsters sit on the fence down at the lochside begging for food from any bird that flies past. The buzzards are rearing young as we have seen food being taken into the nest and our pied wagtails are now feeding young - its a real hive of activity.
I shall leave you with some photos I took during Wild Isles Week. I hope to get some shots of the chicks as they grow but unfortunately the light has been too poor to get a decent photo.
Here is the link to the Estonian Webcam - click on the White Tailed Eagle Camera - direct stream and see how the chicks are doing - they are the same age as Skye and Frisa's and give a great insight to their antics
I am so happy to be able to keep track of Skye and Frisa through the blog. My mum's first experience of the RSPB and birdwatching other than the feeders in her garden was this April at the Loch Frisa hide. She started off complaining it was cold and couldn't wait for us to do 'our thing' so she could go back to the cottage for a warm up and a coffee. And then Skye was spotted on the ridge. Suddenly Mum transformed into a bird nut like the rest of us. If you read Dave's account of that first day at the hide you'll see the full story. We spent the rest of the week looking skywards !!!
She has no internet access except through me so whenever we phone the first question is 'How are our eagles ?' Well done Dave and Debby :}