Sunshine in the rain

A warm welcome to any new visitors to this Blog who have just dipped their toe in after watching 'Autumnwatch' this week. Tonight's your first night without Bill, Kate, Simon and Gordon! How will you cope? Well hopefully you'll enjoy catching up with our wonderful white-tailed sea eagles here on the Isle of Mull and perhaps have a glance back through some of the archive Blogs from the last few months to get an idea of what goes on here.

But first things first - an update on last night's report on the possible accident involving a sea eagle on the main road into Tobermory (see 'A worrying time' from yesterday). Whilst I can't yet give any absolute definitive news as no new satellite data has been received, I do feel more confident that what happened yesterday was a 'near miss' with an adult sea eagle and not with one of our two chicks from Loch Frisa, Mara and Breagha. The police have spoken to both drivers who reported the bird near the road and they are sure it had a white tail and a yellow beak. In other words, a full adult. That then would match the description of the sea eagles I saw shortly afterwards perched on the shoreline nearby. When one of them, a female, flew towards me yesterday I could see grey wing tags on both wings. The male had no visble tags. That description exactly matches the identity of the Territory 20 pair which have a glen in the centre of Mull as their core home range. Whilst the area I found them in yesterday seems to be way outside their normal territory, I can only assume that it is all part of their 'out of season' range where they wander at will. One of them maybe spotted the dead deer remains, the ravens and buzzards and came in for a closer look. It had a very near miss with a lorry and will hopefully never do it again. It's a bizarre, almost freak episode and one I never want to repeat. Today I spoke to Roy Dennis of the 'Highland Foundation for Wildlife' who helped us fit the satellite tags and he promises to send through the latest data for Mara and Breagha as soon as he receives it. And I'll pass it on to you. But tonight, I am more hopeful that they are both well and tonight have hopefully found a good, safe roost somewhere out there in these increasingly windy conditions on the west coast.

Later, as the low November sun appeared briefly through the rain showers and rainbows, I also confirmed that Frisa and Skye are fine. They were perched side by side, almost touching, in the larch trees - both wet through. Every few minutes, Skye threw his head back and called, immediately followed by Frisa's deeper answer. Just like the other pair who lost their chick this summer, Frisa and Skye are also already starting some early autumnnal courtship and reaffirming their special bond. Who knows, fairly soon, I may even see the first signs of their nest site selection - exciting times ahead!

If you want to watch any of the three 'Autumnwatch' Mull Eagle video diaries, you can at www.bbc.co.uk/autumnwatch/meettheanimals and click on 'Sea eagle'. If you want to see more of them in the future, why not make a comment on the 'Autumnwatch' Messageboard? Meanwhile as the crew leave Brownsea Island and Gordon's team head home from the Farnes, we're still here! Come rain or shine, 24/7, throughout the winter, I'm watching out for the sea eagles and keeping you posted on their adventures, past and present. I hope you'll join me here. Have a good weekend and I'll update you with any satellite news if we get it.

Dave Sexton RSPB Scotland Mull Officer