One day I'll fly away Part 1

This is the story of a young white-tailed eagle on Mull called Kellan. So far it has a beginning, a middle but, as yet, no end. I really hope it stays that way.

Kellan was the only chick to hatch from his egg in a clutch of two last summer. He was special and different right from the start. He grew fast and strong in his sturdy nest, tended, brooded and fed daily by his two white-tailed parents. The male of the pair is 15 years old and the female is 10. She is a well known character in these parts and is identified by her yellow wing tags with a black spot - or 'YBS' as she's known. They are an experienced pair and have raised several chicks since pairing up in 2004. Some of you may remember that one of those chicks was wing tagged White G in 2007 who was found dead, poisoned, near to a baited mountain hare and roe deer venison amidst the intensively managed grouse moors of the Angus Glens. His killer is still at large. But I digress...

Kellan grew from a fluffy ball of white down who could sit easily in the palm of your hand, through his grey down phase until the first brown juvenile feathers started to appear at about three weeks old. His parents had quickly learned to take advantage of a new opportunity in their territory - free fish! Sea eagles throughout their range follow fishing boats to take advantage of fish discards or trailing gulls. It's a small step for them as opportunistic hunters and scavengers to follow wildlife trip boats which essentially do the same thing. If it's done carefully, responsibly and in moderation - as is the case at this territory on Mull - then it's a win-win: a new island wildlife business can offer unrivalled eagle watching and photographic opportunities and the eagles receive a welcome boost to their mixed and hard won diet at a stressful and busy time of the year. They never come to depend on it or even expect it but they'll take advantage of it if it's on offer. It's this smart opportunism which makes the sea/fish eagle Genus so successful the world over.

 Kellan's dad with fish on his way back to the nest after a successful visit to the Lady Jayne - photo Debby Thorne

Kellan will have watched his parents on a regular basis launch off from their watch trees and steam out towards the gaggle of gulls off the back of the 'Lady Jayne' Mull Charters boat. Hopefully he will have learned from them and he will have imprinted on his natal site - the vast sea loch, the backdrop of hills and mountains, the pastures and woods and the daily life of Mull in the summer. Local and visitor traffic on the single-track road, the campsite where telescopes and binoculars seemed to be trained on him from dawn to dusk - and beyond, the farmers feeding and gathering their flocks, herding their cattle and marking their lambs. Across the loch from his nest he'd gaze out and watch daily activity at the fish farm, the flocks of gulls, shags, herons, diving ducks and hoodies. Nearer to home, he'd watch YBS launch into the common gull colony  near the camp site and return to him with a gull chick as a bite-sized snack.

By July, all his down had vanished and he was fully grown. In just 10 short weeks he had transformed from that ball of down to a full sized male sea eagle, his dark brown juvenile plumage making him hard to spot amongst the dark summer shade of the conifers. And then one fine August morning, his flattened, soggy nest was empty. He'd fledged. He'd taken one of the boldest leaps of his life and started on his next big adventure. And what an adventure that would be. Neither he, his parents or all of us who'd been watching his progress so carefully from afar could have predicted the tumultuous turn of events that was about to unfold.

The next remarkable chapter in Kellan's young life will be told soon. It's not the way he - or any of us - would have wished it.

Dave Sexton RSPB Scotland Mull Officer