What a difference a week makes! Last week I was wearing short sleeves and this week I have so many layers on I look like I could be auditioning for the Michelin Man (some of you may remember him!). Lovely blue skies and warm sunshine last week, have been replaced by a cold wind coming straight from the North Pole - thankfully it is still dry but it is positively Baltic.
Its been a busy week at Tiroran, Fingal and Iona still taking turns to incubate their eggs - we are now on countdown and will be pacing the floor shortly. In the meantime we have had plenty of visitors and I dont mean 2 legged ones! We have had some great views of young golden eagles and quite often the off duty white tailed eagle will fly up and make sure they dont hang around in their territory. This gives our visitors a great opportunity to compare both eagles. Incredibly, on one occasion, one of the young golden eagles landed on a branch next to the nest - Fingal was on duty at the time and he was not happy! Lots of calling until the goldie got the message he wasnt welcome and took off. We then had a sub adult male white tailed eagle visit - this is an eagle about 4 years of age, who is looking for a mate and a territory. Usually, we would expect our resident eagles to chase a sub adult out - white tailed eagles mate for life so wouldnt want an intruder around to cause any distractions. I think my jaw hit the floor when I saw Iona, the female, fly up with the sub adult and enjoy a fly around with him - she was certainly not chasing him off and seemed to enjoy the attention! Fingal take note! The last we saw was Iona disappearing over the trees with the sub adult in tow. I really wasnt sure what to expect when I went back the next day, but thankfully she was back on the nest with Fingal close by - phew!
We have had a juvenile white tailed eagle hanging around since we opened - from the colouring, very dark chocolate brown, looks like one from last year but we dont know where it originates - but it is often seen sitting in the region of the nest. Most of the time, it is tolerated by both the adults but on one occasion, Fingal took exception. He came off the nest, talons raised up and pushed the youngster off his branch - to show he wasnt put off, the youngster flew and landed immediately above the nest and stayed there. Fingal had to get back on the nest but sat there shouting at the youngster who took absoloutely no notice.
As well as great views of our big birds, we are also treated to great views of our smaller ones too including siskins and many many chaffinches and the local woodpecker! So come along and join us. We have 2 sites this year on Community Forestry - [West Ardhu] and [Tiroran]. to book a trip, call the VisitScotland Office on 01680 812556. Steph and look forward to welcoming you. You can catch up with the events at West Ardu here West Ardhu blog
With thanks to our hosts at South West Mull & Iona Development Trust adn North West Mull Community Woodland
Debby Thorne
RSPB Ranger, Isle of Mull