Well look at you!

Sorry couldnt come up with a song title about how much our buzzard chick has grown.

Our buzzard was 4 weeks old yesterday and just look at the size of it!

Mum has been brilliant bringing in voles, frogs, slow worms and even moles.  The rate of growth is phenominal.  Each day there are huge differences.  The feathers are really coming through now and our chick (still has no name!) is grabbing food and feeding itself.  Probably another couple of weeks before fledging but it has been a real honour to have a window on the world of our buzzard family.  The female did virtually all the incubating and we wondered how much work the male would do once the chick had hatched, but he has surpassed himself - bringing in lots of food and even with some to spare on the nest in case the weather is bad or they have trouble finding anything.

On Friday we had the first glimpse of our merganser chicks - they made a quick dash across the loch from one side to the other - this morning they mad a dash to the small island in front of the hide and then disappeared in the long grass.  The sand martins have suddenly increased in numbers - several families have fledged and now spend time flying across the loch looking for small insects and then line up on the fence near the lochside.  Our powerful camera is able to get a real close up view of these lovely little birds.  Our female Great Spotted Woodpecker continues to visit the peanut feeder to the delight of our visitors - hopefully we will get a chance to see a youngster join her too.  We were delighted to get a real close up view of our red throated divers - a truly stunning diver - still waiting to see if they produce any chicks.  Our orchids are coming through now and there are butterflies everywhere.

Skye and Frisa I hear you shout - Oh yes - of course - well they have been on great form recently - very much back together - spending time in the larches and near the loch side.   Frisa is going through a moult at present so not looking her best but still a beauty to behold!

I hope some of you managed to catch "Wild Night In" last night with the Springwatch team raising money for the BBC Wildlife Fund to help save threatened wildlife and places.  So far over £1million has been raised which is incredible.  But its not too late to help - you can bid on a trip to see the famous Springwatch eagles, Skye and Frisa, led by none other than our own Dave Sexton.  Mull Eagle Watch has been fortunate to receive funds from the BBC Wildlife Fund - and now you can have a chance to help too.  You can take part in the Springwatch auction here - what a great prize!   Here is a link to the BBC Wild website http://www.bbc.co.uk/wild/

And finally, I am sure many of you are aware of the news from Loch of the Lowes - Lady, one of the oldest breeding ospreys was not expected to survive the weekend.  However, as I am typing this blog, I have the webcam on and she is feeding her two chicks.  What an incredible legacy she will leave behind her - 46 chicks successfully fledged - what a great contribution to the osprey population.   I hope she manages to survive long enough for the chicks to fledge successfully - there are a lot of eyes on her just now!  Good Luck Lady.

Debby Thorne

White Tailed Eagle Information Officer

Isle of Mull