Our juvenile white-tailed eagle from the Mull Eagle Watch nest at Glen Seilisdeir has recently been named by children from Tobermory School. They chose Orion from a short-list of names, because in Greek mythology Orion was a hunter who has a constellation named after him, and our young eagle flies high in the sky, almost reaching the stars. What a great choice!
Today, despite the gusty wind and intermittent heavy showers, the visitors on the Mull Eagle Watch trip were treated to spectacular views of the adults, Iona and Fingal, and Orion. Iona, the majestic female bird, sat imperiously on a ragged branch of a Sitka spruce in the conifer woodland of the Forestry Commission where they nest. She knew we were watching, but was quite content to allow everyone in the group to look at her through our wonderful Swarowski telescope. The sun glinted off her pale head plumage as she stared out over the local sea loch, looking for potential prey. After several minutes she spotted something in the distance and headed off, circling several times overhead before disappearing behind the trees.
Imagine our surprise when we headed back to the nest viewing area to see Fingal, the male, sat in the top of the nest tree. And then, thinking it wouldn't get any better than that, Iona suddenly flew directly overhead, through the gap between the trees, landing on the branch right next to her partner.
The walks at Mull Eagle Watch are due to continue until mid-October, so if you live on Mull or are going to be visiting in the next couple of weeks, do come along. Booking is essential though so ring 01680 812556 to reserve a place.
Lovely to get a name for our female chick. Like the name even if it is more a male name. Thanks for your hard work John, it was good to meet you at the Salen show. I watched Iona in this tree in the photo during the drizzle in early August-just fantastic.