It's been a very turbulent month up here on Loch Frisa, it started off in the best way possible with our Sand Martin chicks fledging and playing around with each other hunting for insects and often trying to get back into the nest-hole, but more often than not careering straight into the bank instead! It then got even better when we noticed the Swallows eggs were no more, but had turned into little pink chicks on our tv screen and for a couple of weeks we were treated to really close quarter views of the adults, who by that time were used to us being outside the door and let us watch them as close as 3 ft away, feeding their offspring constantly much to the delight of all of or visitors.
We were only a week away from our Swallows getting their chicks to fledge when we had two days of really heavy rain and disaster struck..... overnight the chicks had got terribly wet and in the morning when we turned on the tv to see how they were doing we couldn't see any movement...... we waited with baited breath hoping that one of the adults would nip in with some food and see the chicks spring to life but nothing....... our chicks had succumbed to the weather and our hearts sank. It had all looked so good...... how cruel nature can be sometimes.
By this point, our eaglets were getting very close to the stage where they would be thinking about making their first leap from the nest and so we decided to go up the nest site to ring the chicks and to put small satellite tags on to them so that we can find out where they go in the next couple of years. This went fantastically well, and we managed to find out who the chicks were..... a male and female, both really healthy and looking like proper eagles now! Knowing this, we asked local primary schools to come up with some names for the chicks and the pick of the bunch came from Salen Primary Schools Gaelic Unit. The male has now been called Mara (meaning 'sea' in Gaelic) and the female Breagha (meaning 'beauty' in Gaelic), and I think that they are just perfect for our Frisa eaglets!
After the ringing, the chicks got straight back to flapping furiously in preparation for their first flight, when it would be we couldn't tell, until suddenly on the 12th we saw a big chocolatey brown bird flying over the tree-tops. I looked at Julie our Forestry Commission Ranger and we both shouted at the same time....... "CHICK!!!!!!!!" It was a fairly wobbly flight, but all of us watching were so thrilled to see one of our chicks on it's maiden voyage! We found out later that it was Mara who made the first move, and we hoped that Breagha would follow suit and appear very soon.
Eagle chicks tend to fledge within 24hrs of each other, so the next day we all waited peering at the nest waiting for Breagha to spread her wings and take the plunge, but for all of the encouragement we or Skye and Frisa could give her, she wouldn't budge and sat on the nest continuing to flap furiously.
A week went by and still Breagha had not made it out of the nest....... had something gone wrong? Was she ill or worse... injured??? It set our minds racing and now I know how a father feels when their child is poorly, I had hardly any sleep for the whole week..... we watched as the adults often disappeared behind the trees to drop some food off for Mara (who by now was just getting his confidence back to try to fly again after his first attempt), and still Breagha was on the nest...... 8 days....... 9 days....... something had to be wrong...... day 10 arrived but we could see nothing on the nest...... Had she finally made it? A quick phonecall later and it was confirmed...... she'd finally fledged, the satellite tag reading showed she was sat behind the trees near to where Mara had been. He had now started to get the hang of this flying business, and was beginning to look very comfortable in the air, but still we waited for the first glimpse of his sister in the air with him.
Finally on tuesday we saw them both sat in the field next to the lochside, standing proud and back together again. We all breathed a massive sigh of relief..... it was ok, they'd both made it. Skye and Frisa must be beaming seeing their yougsters looking so fit and healthy, especially after their devastating loss last year, and you know what....... so are we!!!!!
If you'd like to follow the progress of Breagha and Mara from the comfort of your own homes the link for the tracking page is www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/tracking/mulleagles/