New beginnings

Blimey, it’s March already and I’d promised you another blog in January, where did that time go? Well, I’m now in the office full time in preparation for Mull Eagle Watch 2015 – very exciting. Many of you will follow us through regular social media like Twitter and Facebook; if you did you’ll already know about our brand new location for the coming season. If not, we have some news!

Tiroran Forest & Glen Seilisdeir

Glen Seilisdeir has been home to Mull Eagle Watch for three years now and we had a great time there with our eagles, Iona and Fingal. All of the rangers during that time had some amazing experiences and the pair did very well in producing chicks. One youngster successfully fledged in 2014, which Ulva Primary School named Thistle. I’m sure for 2015 these birds will continue to breed in the same area and fingers crossed they manage to produce many more chicks in the future.

Last year the future of Tiroran forest was uncertain, as it was put up for sale. But thankfully the local island community the South West Mull and Iona Development (SWMID) group launched a plan to raise funds and purchase the site. Recently, we heard in the news that the Scottish Land Fund has awarded SWMID £750,000. Hopefully, Tiroran forest will transfer into community ownership and open opportunities for sustainable income, training and development of wildlife habitats. We have our fingers crossed things go to plan, and wish the development group lots of luck in their venture. I’m sure they’ll enjoy having Iona and Fingal for company!

New beginnings… almost!

So, new beginnings for Mull Eagle Watch this year for the location and our eagle stars. But, some of you might already know that John Clare and I are both returning for another season of wildlife and ranger duties, we’re both looking forward to it. So where is the viewing hide going to be?

Sula & Cuin

Loch Torr and Quinish forest in the north of the island will be playing host to our eagle viewing hide this season. If you caught any of BBC Springwatch last year, or watched the webcam we had live on a nest, you’ll remember the eagle pair; Sula and Cuin. You might even remember all the drama when the chick, now named Sona, was unceremoniously shoved from the nest by another eagle, later to be installed back to safety by Forestry Commission Scotland tree climbers. Well, you’ll get to know this pair of eagles much better this season as they’ll be our Mull Eagle Watch family.

East coast of Scotland eagle

This is a really interesting pair of eagles. Cuin was born and bred on the island and is now almost 8 years old. Sula is a bigger bird because she’s the female, and we’ll know it’s her because she is wing tagged. They’re white with the black number 5 showing. This is the interesting part; she travelled over to Mull from the Scottish east coast where she was re-introduced as a chick. So in reality, she is actually a Norwegian bird. This just demonstrates how successful the whole re-introduction of white-tailed eagles has been, with the final east coast phase ending in 2012. You can find out more on the East Coast RSPB eagle blog .

Sona – 6 months on

The webcam chick that successfully fledged even after the traumatic fall was named Sona. Thanks to the leg rings fitted to her in the nest we’ve been able to follow her progress and are happy to say she is doing well! She’s made her way down to Dumfries and Galloway, where she is enjoying the plentiful wintering geese. Lots of wildlife watchers have caught her in photographs and regularly report her movements.

Thanks for reading, check back soon for more and I’ll get some photographs of the new location too! In the next few weeks our webcam should go live again, but in the meantime here’s another camera to keep you entertained.
Rachel 🙂