So we are 10 weeks into the season and we have had many incredible sights of the pair of resident eagles Scalla and Anna (or Scallana) here at Craignure golf club soaring through the sky perched together proudly on the old Scots Pine. We have noticed an exponential growth with the adorable young eaglet. The past few weeks have given us great views of the young one being incredibly hyperactive inside the nest! At this stage the chick is coming up to 4 weeks old…. and FINALLY after weeks of brooding and ensuring the chick has been kept nice and warm and sheltered the pair can now finally take longer more extensive breaks from sheltering the chick. Up to an hour is absolutely fine it appears! As we can see the pair of adult eagles jetting off on hunting adventures… whilst back at the nest the chick attempts to rip apart the prey that the parent has left behind.
Such a wonderful time to be working here on the beautiful and very historical Craignure Golf Club.
Both pictures courtesy of Will Plane 🙂
Visitors have been wowed on one particular day recently with gale force winds – zero expectation of a flying eagle and yet, low and behold out comes Anna to have a wild play in the wind! Performing an aerial display above our heads ! It was one of the most majestic and exciting spectacles to witness. Lizzy and Caoimhe, your eagle Rangers have met some incredible people on these tours. Individuals who are so unbelievably interested and passionate about conservation and the protection of these native birds of prey. Every day has been an absolute pleasure and wild adventure.
We have seen sightings of otters.. camouflaged incredibly within the seaweed. As we delicately stroll along the coast, minding our steps as there are many nesting birds along the coast. Daily visits from multiple families of greylag geese and their abundance of goslings, trailing along behind… ridiculously adorable! Not to mention the regular oystercatcher, ringed plover, redshank, turnstone, goosander, red- breasted merganser and many common gull… you name it, we have it here on the shore.
We even spotted a pair of red throated divers hunting for fish! We have seen the incredibly delicate common and arctic tern daily as they are currently nesting on the shore, rather unbelievably close by! We have been hearing the electric call of local starlings and witnessing common and grey seal swimming alongside us as we walk along the coast… coming unbelievably close to us into the shore, obviously very curious as to who these interesting humans are! We have also been incredibly lucky to witness an actual cuckoo with our naked eye perched on a nearby tree… the sound of the island!
The golf course and coastal route we venture on every day is alive with the sound of nature… as the mist cascades down the nearby hills, the bluebells are finally starting to disappear, goodbye to that otherworldly blanket of purple laying across the hills. Mar sin leat (Gaelic for goodbye) to the very last sheets of snow melting off the distant mountain tops.
Mar sin leibh an drĂ sda
(Goodbye for now)
Your Eagle Rangers,
Lizzy and Caoimhe
Mull Eagle Watch 