Mull Eagle Watch

Perched on the Precipice

Perched on the Precipice – Wednesday 12th July

Branching Out

Our two eaglets at West Ardhu (North West Mull Community Woodland) are around 11 weeks old tomorrow, and are already beginning to explore the outskirts of their nest. White-tailed eagles usually fledge around 12 weeks of age, but they can take the jump earlier, or later! We can now see a size difference in two youngsters, they’re both fully grown and it looks like we’ve a male and a female (the females can be larger by 25%).

What looks to be the female eaglet has started branching out. On Sunday 9th she teetered right onto the furthest point of the large branch supporting the nest. We watched with baited breath wondering if this would be the moment, as she was flapping a lot, and looked fairly precarious! But, thankfully, the adult male eagle returned back with a small snack in his beak – the youngster scrambled back to the nest quite quickly after that…

West Ardhu 2017 Brancing Out — Look closely among the foliage to the right to spot the other eaglet

Imminent Fledging

So, we’re expecting our two chicks to leave the nest at West Ardhu fairly soon. We’ll be keeping you all updated via social media and this blog. Meanwhile, trips are continuing as usual and we’re getting brilliant views through the scopes of the chicks exercising and gaining confidence. We’re still seeing Hope and Star too, often they’re perched close by and on Monday 10th the male, Star didn’t move an inch all day! Toward the fledging period it’s thought by some that the adults will bring less prey into the nest to encourage the eaglets to take the leap, so maybe they’ve been lazy for a good reason.

Even after fledging the eagle family will still be visible to us, and so we’ll still be running trips. So come along to learn about the species and watch out for one of the largest eagles in in the world.

Incredible Growth Rate

It doesn’t seem like long ago I was posting out first image of the chicks in the nest, days after hatching. At that stage, they would have fit in the palm of my hand. Ringing came around quickly, when the chicks were about 6 weeks old. We recently received some images taken by the ringers Rachel and Lewis Pate from in the nest itself. You can see how fast they’ve grown in just 6 weeks, and are starting to resemble real eagles here.

They are now full size, with that impressive 2.5m wingspan and they’ll stand almost 1m tall too! I think they look even larger than the adults because of their dark brown plumage.

Few days old..

6 weeks old (Image: Lewis Pate)

Other sightings

We had one stunning afternoon recently where we didn’t know where to look. Starting off with the introduction to Mull Eagle Watch at our base we spotted Buzzards and then a Golden Eagle on the ridge top being mobbed by a male Hen Harrier. Soon after, our female White-tailed eagle gave us brilliant view whilst she soared in the blue sky above. When we arrived at the viewing hide the whole eagle family were visible through out scopes – what more could we ask for?!

Most days we’re spotting Buzzards and a local Sparrowhawk is often seen carrying prey over the forest. When the sun shines we’ve enjoyed Red Admiral and Meadow Brown butterflies, Golden-ringed dragonflies and more.

Back soon

Hopefully I’ll be back soon with some exciting news, In the meantime, why don’t you catch up with Iona and Fingal’s season in Tiroran Community Forest. They have one healthy chick, which is a few weeks younger than the West Ardhu pair, so not quite ready to fledge yet. Pop over to read Meryl’s blog.

Want to visit us? Book with Craignure Visitor Information Centre by popping in or calling on 01680 812556.

Ringed & Ready

Thursday June 29th – Ringed & Ready to explore the wider world!

How time flies! The two eaglets/chicks at our West Ardhu viewing hide are now 9 weeks old – they’re managing to feed themselves with prey in the nest, they’re standing up and exercising their enormous wing span (over 8ft) and they are almost fully grown!

Raptor Ringing

On 7th June the team of tree climbing bird ringers ascended the nest tree within the North West Community Woodland to ring the youngsters. At the time they were just coming up to the 6 week stage. We walked toward the nest tree and got great views of Hope (Yellow C) as she was perching on the edge of the nest, she waited till the last moment before taking to the air – you can see how easy it would have been to target White-tailed eagles and shoot adults eagles, no wonder we wiped them out!

Both Star (male) and Hope (female) took to the skies above the eyrie to keep an eye on us, they soared above us with a pair of local buzzards to keep them company or to irritate them… The adults remained in the air and called throughout but they’re very unlikely to ever cause harm to the ringers by attacking. Whilst they rode the thermals the ringing team got started climbing the large Sitka spruce conifer to reach the two chicks, whom at the this point were both playing dead.

From our view point looking into the nest we couldn’t make out if their were still two chicks; I was starting to panic something had gone wrong. But thankfully the slightly smaller youngster was almost completely hidden under the wing of it’s sibling – phew! The ringers reached the eaglets and got to work, firstly securing the chicks to make sure they wouldn’t fall or dive off the nest.

The chicks are measured and weighed which gives us a good indication of their body condition and they each get two rings (one on each leg). A larger coloured ring gives us the chance of receiving records back from live birds – the colour combination tells us the year the bird hatched and if you can get a good image of the ring we can trace the individuals back to location and family history too. The smaller silver ring is the British Trust for Ornithology ring, which is standard across ringing programmes, although the size varies.

The eagles had two fulmars on the nest as prey, ready to become a quick meal for the chicks. Fulmars are basically a mini albatross – a member of the tuberose seabird family and are superb aerial masters so we’re reminded how excellent a hunter the White-tailed eagle really is. We also left a roadkill rabbit behind for the family, just incase we interfered with their hunting time or energy levels. We then left them in peace and they were back to normal the following day.

Growing up fast

The two eaglets are now so big many of our visitors are mistaking them for the adults in the scopes, especially when the visibility isn’t great in the poor weather. White-tailed eagle chicks are usually fully grown when the reach 10 weeks old, so these two are almost there. They are now standing up in the nest and flapping a lot to build up their flight muscles, so we’re getting great views of them from our hide.

It won’t be long before they begin to ‘branch out’ and explore beyond the nest on the surrounding branches. This part is very nerve-wracking for us as the wind can easily catch them unawares, or they can misjudge a movement and leave the nest before they intended. We’ll keep our fingers and toes crossed that all goes well and they’ll hopefully fledge when they’re around 12-13 weeks old. They’re almost ready to explore the wider world and realise there’s more to life than their nest.

Once fledged, the youngsters will remain in the area for a few months to learn from their parents. The nest site will often be used as a familiar roosting location and so we should still get really good sightings of the family into August.

Saga of Sea Eagles – the man behind the re-introduction

On 14th June, a cruise ship changed plans last minute thanks to the volatile Hebridean weather so we hosted a trip for 22 of their guests at West Ardhu. We were thrilled to realise John A Love was among their number – he was instrumental to the re-introduction of the White-tailed eagle on the Isle of Rum and is considered to be an expert on the species. His book ‘Saga of Sea Eagles’ is a great read and I’ve a very well thumbed copy! He was a pleasure to meet, and I’m sure we’re all very thankful for his work in bringing back the ‘flying barn door’.

19146031_1322858961095151_418990473899956319_n — John Love and myself at West Ardhu

Other sightings

Of course, during our trips we watch out for all wildlife including birds, wild flowers and insects, so we’ve always got something to enjoy if the eagles are laying low. We spot our local buzzards on most trips, another great raptor species and success story following their large population increase. Recently we’ve been seeing the more secretive corvid species in the woodland; the jay. Siskins, grey wagtail and wren are regulars for us too.

We’ve also marvelled at an incredible parasitic wasp species, commonly known as the ‘sabre wasp’. The female of the species is the largest British wasp species, with her huge ovipositor. They look rather intimidating, but are harmless to humans. They search for the larvae of their host species deep within dead wood, and drill down to lay their eggs – this can take over 30 minutes!

Thanks for reading, back again sooner this time! Meanwhile, head over to read Meryl’s RSPB blog about Iona and Fingal, who are raising one chick in Tiroran Community Forest.

If you’re visiting the island and would like to join a Mull Eagle Watch tour, you can call 01680 812556 or call into Craignure Visit Scotland to book.

Growing season…

Sunday 28th May 2017

Eagle parents working hard at West Ardhu (North West Mull Community Woodland)
I’m so impressed with our West Ardhu eagles and their parenting skills! Our two chicks/eaglets are now about 31 days old – just over four weeks into their lives already and the adults, Hope and Star have been doing wonderfully. Throughout the incubation the female, Hope (Yellow C) spent the majority of the 38 days on the nest, with respite offered only occasionally by the male, Star. With white-tailed eagles the female tends to do around 70% or more of the incubation which makes sense as she is the bigger and more defensive adult. We were then thrilled to announce the successful hatch and have been enthralled with their progress since. Their success featured online and in the Press & Journal with a phone scope image I managed to take of the tiny chicks in the nest (under SNH license).

image2(1) — Chicks being fed – only a few days old here!

Growth spurt
The youngsters are growing incredibly fast and we’re now getting great views of them through our brilliant Viking Optics telescopes. One chick is definitely larger and more developed; it will have hatched ahead of the smaller one, giving it an advantage if things become tough, but at the moment both are looking strong and healthy.

Hopefully in another few weeks the eaglets will be ringed in the nest by the ringing team. We use large coloured rings along with the standard British Trust for Ornithology ring- these will remain on the eagles for life – the hope with the coloured rings is that we’ll get some records of movements around the country but monitoring each individual eagle isn’t as critical now the West Coast with a more established population. Eagles from the Irish and the Scottish East Coast are usually still being wing tagged – the re-introductions are more recent and are still gaining a foothold in these areas and illegal raptor persecution is still a substantial threat.

image1(1) — Chicks beginning to grow – 14th May 2017

Hope (adult female) & her two chicks 28th May 2017

Youngest chick having a stretch! 28th May 2017

Food, glorious food!

Prey is being brought into the nest/eyrie regularly by both the male and female, although you need keen eyes to spot them as they drop into the nest with incredible speed – probably hoping the local hooded crows, buzzards and ravens don’t catch onto the potential of a free meal. From our vantage point it’s quite difficult to identify which prey items they’re bringing in but we’re sure rabbits have featured. The pair’s territory covers Loch Cuin and the coastal stretch toward Langamull and Croig so it would be safe to assume that seabirds and fish will be on the menu too. White-tailed eagles are opportunistic and have an extensive list of possible prey items – all of which is caught in their large feet and talons.

Darting Dragonflies

We’re enjoying increased activity at our viewing hide with the adults working hard to feed their eaglets, but at the same time we often enjoy a variety of other species nature offers. We see buzzards on numerous occasions throughout each day – often in flight alongside the eagles which gives us a great size comparison. We’ve been hailed by the call of the cuckoo recently too and have marveled at their incredible complexity and evolution in action. Other bird species have included grey wagtail, wren, tree pipit, willow warbler, sparrowhawk and the occasional juvenile golden eagle passing through.

In the last few days our local insect life has taken to the wing and dragonflies are hawking about in the sunny woodland. The two species I’ve spotted so far are four-spotted chaser and golden-ringed. The female golden-ringed dragonfly is longest British insect! Large red damselflies are also gracing our skies, and are a beautifully delicate. We’ve also recorded orange tip and green-veined white butterflies, particularly enjoying the cuckoo flowers along the forest track. We’re on the look out for the stunning common blue butterflies which will be on the wing now.

Thanks for reading, I’ll be back soon but in the meantime watch out for news from Tiroran Community Forest, our eagles Iona and Fingal and our RSPB Ranger Meryl on her blog.

Rachel : )

Terrific Twosome!

Sunday 30th April 2017

Our West Ardhu eagle pair, Hope and Star are proud parents to two chicks this season at Mull Eagle Watch.

We had a good idea that the pair were due to hatch around this time after settling down to incubate mid March. White-tailed eagles have a 38 day incubation period. Throughout the incubation period we were unsure how many eggs had been laid, generally one or two eggs (occasionally three) are laid in Scotland and most pairs raise one or two chicks. We’re always hopeful that pairs hatch two eaglets – the eggs hatch a few days apart, meaning one youngster is bigger and stronger; more likely to survive the hardships of weather or lack of prey.

Our first indication of something exciting occurring in North West Mull Community Woodland was last Tuesday. From our viewing hide we watched as the adult female (Hope or Yellow C) began to move around much more in the nest – throughout the incubation period she had spent the majority of the time sitting steadily, with little activity. But, she began to spend more time stood up, looking down into the nest cup and we could only imagine what was happening at her reptilian feet. Was the first chick hatching? Could she hear the chick from inside the egg? Eagles chicks are audible from inside the egg up to 15 hours before the hatching process begins. The hatching process itself is arduous and can take over 30 hours in some cases.

This increased behaviour on the nest has continued since. Th eagle pair have been busy on the eyrie and the male has been spending more time visible, often perching nearby or on the nest tree itself.

Screen Shot 2017-04-30 at 18.41.43 — Star perched near the nest (Image: Meryl Varty)

We had confirmation from Dave Sexton, our RSPB Officer for the island on Friday 28th April that the nest held two very young chicks or eaglets – at only a couple of days old! We’re now keeping our fingers and toes crossed that this pair of youngsters will both make it. The weather has been fairly unkind so far, with strong, cold Northerly winds. It seems we’re coming into warmer weather in the next few days which will help. Star and Hope fledged two eaglets in 2015, and one last year so we know they’re good parents – lets wish them all the support for 2017!

More than eagles…

As well as our adult pair of eagles, we’re spotting juvenile white-tailed eagles often. Plus, we’ve recently had brilliant views of a female hen harrier working the rough area in front of the eagle nest tree! We’ve also enjoyed buzzards, sparrowhawk, drinker moth caterpillars, violet oil beetles, willow warblers and our first grasshopper warbler of the season today!

18010587_1264229133624801_6141557648438807991_n — Phone photo of a juvenile white-tailed eagle!

Join us on a tour:

You can join us on tours to see Star and Hope at West Ardhu or head to see Iona and Fingal in Tiroran Community Forest. Iona and Fingal are still incubating and are due to hatch soon! You can keep up with Meryl, our RSPB Ranger based at Tiroran, along with the pair, Iona and Fingal by reading the RSPB Blog.

Booking is through the Craignure Visitor Information Centre – you can call them on 01680 812556.

Tours run everyday and last around two hours each.

Springtime Raptors & Reptiles

Springtime Raptors & Reptiles – 4th April 2017

Mull Eagle Watch reopens for trips on 11th April 2017 (bookings now being taken on 01680 812556)
Fresh faces
After a year and a half working locally at Ulva Primary School, I’ve returned to the Seasonal Eagle Ranger Post, which I filled during 2014 and 2015. I’ll be working for the Mull and Iona Ranger Service and the Mull and Iona Community Trust. Meryl Varty has taken on the RSPB Community and Information Officer post. Between the two of us we’ll be providing daily guided trips to view White-tailed eagles at two different community owned sites. You can join us at West Ardhu (North West Community Woodland) or Glen Seilisdeir (Tiroran Community Forest) to learn more about the local community forest practices, the eagles and other local wildlife species whilst hopefully viewing the eagles in the area.
Eagle Viewing Hides – ‘incubation initiated’
I’ll mostly be based at the West Ardhu viewing hide near Dervaig in the North West of the island. This area is now my home patch, having moved away from the ‘big city lights’ of Tobermory last year. This area of the island is home to brilliant wildlife, beautiful beaches and the community managed woodland in which Star and Hope have been nesting since 2014.
Hope, the female White-tailed eagle is now incubating on her nest in the West Ardhu. Along with her mate, Star they’ll share the incubation duties (although the female often does more) and we’ll expect the hatching to take place toward the end of April.
Meryl will be based at Tiroran Community Forest, where eagles Iona and Fingal are also currently incubating and hatching should take place at the beginning of May. Mull Eagle Watch has viewed this pair since 2011 and they’ve been really successful since then, raising a chick each year.

17499497_1236742496373465_6296216445832474789_n — West Ardhu Viewing Hide (North West Mull Community Woodland)

Spring Sights
Spring is a great time to explore the island, whether you’re a visitor or a local. The wildlife bursts back into being busy, making the most of the longer days and abundant food. Both White-tailed eagles and Golden eagles will be active, and often you’ll spot adult territorial eagles defending their patch from younger individuals.

12SP — 2-3 year old White-tailed eagle (Image: Ewan Miles)

Other raptor species including Hen Harrier and Buzzard will be preparing for the breeding season ahead – watch out for the famous sky-dancing male harrier. Ravens, the honorary raptor species should be breeding in full swing – they can be very early to nest.

Reptiles are a wonderful group to focus on in April, with male Adders emerging earlier than the females. We spotted two male individuals basking in the warmth of the sun at the end of March, along with a few speedy Common Lizards. Adders are highly unlikely to cause you any harm, unless trodden on and it’s a thrill to see one. Slow-worms are our third and final reptile species here on Mull and they’re harmless too – a legless lizard rather than a snake or worm!

Loch Torr roadside - same place as previous years. March 26thMale? — Male Adder

Thanks for reading! We’ll be back soon with more on our eagles – trips start from 11th April (book now on 01680 812556). See below for upcoming Ranger Service event details.

Egg-ceptional Events
The Mull and Iona Ranger Service are running a couple of events for the Easter school holiday. Our Easter Egg Hunt is in conjunction with the Glengorm Wildlife Project – come along and have some fun!
Bunessan Birdsong – Wednesday 12 April
A gentle walk around the village, listening and learning to identify the distinctive spring songs of our local birds. You don’t have to be up at dawn to appreciate beautiful birdsong!
9.30-11am
Meeting in main car park, Bunessan
£5 adults £3 children

Glengorm Easter Egg Hunt – Wednesday 12th April
Starting at the Glengorm Wildlife Lab, next to the Coffee Shop. Come in your home-made Easter bonnet to win prizes!

Activities include:
Egg-citing Scavenger Trail
Make you own basket
Egg-cellent Easter Crafts

11am-3pm
£3

An Eagle Called “Hope”

On Monday, a remarkable thing happened.

Our family friends, Hunter and “Boo” Steele, are avid collectors of second hand books.

Each time they visit my in-laws on Mull they sweetly bring a selection of volumes for Alexander and me.

These books arrive in a large cardboard box, wrapped in bright paper and signed off with kind wishes. When you open up the package, that special old book smell wafts out like nostalgia.

My contents of my box always have a distinctly avian theme – eagles on this occasion (Hunter and Boo are excellent at keeping up with our latest interests and career developments).

Mixed in with the others was one titled “The Manual of British Birds”. It was a handsome pale green, with pages that looked slightly out of kilter in a very satisfying vintage fashion.

The book held great promise, being written originally by Howard Saunders and enlarged for this edition by William Eagle Clarke (a middle name to cherish, if ever there was one…)

It wasn’t exactly a pocket guide; in the wrong hands, it could have knuckle-dusted its way through the liveliest Glaswegian bar brawl on a Saturday night.

I turned to the front of the book to see when it was published – third edition, late 1920’s.

It was only then that I noticed the name and address, neatly written on the inside front cover.

It read:

George Waterston

27 Inverleith Terrace, Edinburgh

18/10/35

I blinked a couple of times, and read the name again.

I suppose that many of you reading this are staring blankly at your computer screens and thinking “…who?”

But if I told you that here, in my lap, was a book that belonged to one of the greatest ornithologists and conservationists that Britain has ever seen, you might begin to understand my delight.

When Mr Waterston acquired this book – taking the trouble to add his name and address in carful fountain pen ink, he was just twenty-four years old.

I have seen photographs of George at this time. He looked like the sort of man that smiled a lot, with a generous pair of eyebrows and very twinkly eyes.

My father in-law actually knew George – who was a friend of his own father, and visited their house in Edinburgh. He describes him as an energetic and vital man.

George Waterston, Fieldy (George Stout) and Archie Bryson, 1935. © George Waterston/FIBO archives

When this picture was taken, Waterston couldn’t have known that ahead of him was involvement in the Second World War and subsequent capture by German forces as a POW.

He couldn’t have guessed that he would be instrumental in the protection of Britain’s first returning ospreys, following their extinction from our isles as a breeding species in 1916.

He probably hadn’t yet thought about buying Fair Isle and setting up its internationally acclaimed Bird Observatory in 1948 – though he had visited the island for the very first time in 1935, the year that he bought the book.

And perhaps, most importantly to me, George hadn’t yet imagined bringing young white-tailed eagles from Norway and releasing them first in Argyll and then on Fair Isle, with the sprouting intention of restoring this majestic species to our skies.

He was so loved by the island people for his interest in both their natural and cultural heritage, that there is now a museum on Fair Isle named after him.

Holding his book and feeling the vertigo of gazing back through an unknown mans life, it struck me what a fabulous coincidence this was.

I first came to know about Mr Waterston when I worked at the Loch Garten Osprey Centre, part of the RSPB’s blue-chip Abernethy National Nature Reserve.

George was one of the founding members of the Scottish Ornithologists Club, and later became Scottish Director for the RSPB.

The swashbuckling story of how the first returning ospreys were protected from the depredations of egg collectors – and eventually, raised to celebrated status when the public were invited to view them at their nest – is one that I told often.

George was pioneering in his desire to welcome the public and share the excitement of such special sites.

He was also quick to understand that doing so effectively increased the level of protection for the birds, and minimised disturbance elsewhere as they slowly regained their ancestral haunts.

During that first summer in 1959, fourteen thousand guests came to view the ospreys.

Since that time over two million others have followed suit – and that’s just at Loch Garten.

How many people, then, have been touched by the manifold splendour of our natural world because of this man and others like him?

Later today, I am meeting a group of guests to show them the family of white-tailed eagles that I watch. Their chick fledged last week and is taking his first faltering flights around their territory.

This eagle family is one of twenty breeding pairs on Mull, and over one hundred others across Scotland and Ireland.

The spectacle of “Hope” (our magnificent resident female) thermalling with all the swagger and innate confidence of a native in her homeland, is a sight that I think would have pleased George.

It certainly pleases me.

“What a joy it would be if we could get the Sea Eagle back to Scotland as a breeding species…”

George Waterston 1911 – 1980

George Waterston © Scottish Ornithologists’ Club archive

Stephanie Cope

Community Ranger for Mull Eagle Watch

With special thanks to John A. Love whose excellent book “A Saga of Sea Eagles” [ISBN: 978-1-84995-080-0] helped to fill in some of the gaps for this blog.

Chicks in the Mist

The glen leading down to West Ardhu is a fickle place.

Though the massive rock terraces are themselves immovable, weather conditions lend them a shadow-life that belies their static nature. It is a place fit for eagles.

There are days when the sun slants over the geological scars in this landscape, calling to mind the great steppe of Ethiopia.

Other times, the light is full and bright and flat; tempting the casual observer to a higher place, where the air drips with the song of skylarks and the sleepy drone of distant cuckoos.

Each step on this terrace is a green and gold. Above, curlews trill a soulful lament. Below, sheep peer out from roofless dwellings on the valley floor.

Lately the glen has been hidden. Familiar lines in the fabric of the landscape are shrouded in low cloud.

Trees steam as the water vapour leaving their needles condenses and feeds into a burgeoning mass of grey above.

At the the nest, the chick’s efforts to exercise have been somewhat dampened. Water droplets dribble from his horny beak, and his feathers must be shaken often to dislodge the moisture collecting there.

With tendrils of mist curling about them, the adult birds sit in strange half-light. No insects fizz in the ditches. No small birds twitter from the birch stands.

The silence is heavy, but the spectacle is magnificent.

At the time of writing the chick is approaching his twelfth week. He has developed a preference for sitting out on a branch at the side of his nest platform, but as yet, he has not taken his maiden flight.

Conditions are set to improve as we move towards the weekend, and I feel sure that this will bring about a change.

It won’t be long before his shadow joins the play of sun and cloud and rain that animates our glen.

I hope you’ll come and see it too.

Remember, booking is essential if you would like to join a trip. The number to contact is: 01680 812 556

Stephanie Cope

Community Ranger for Mull Eagle Watch

To get the latest from our sister site at Tiroran Community Forest, please see:

https://www.rspb.org.uk/community/wildlife/b/mulleagles/default.aspx

Branching Out

It can’t be easy, learning how to eagle.

Wobbling inexpertly on a spruce branch, you can almost see the brow of NWMCWC’s 10-week old chick furrowing as he tries to marshal his gigantic wings and make them flap at the same time.

So far his efforts have yielded mixed results: on Monday, he jumped from a side branch back into the nest – but finished by skidding on his keel and almost bumping into the tree trunk. Tuesday saw two yellow feet and a pair of brown, bird trousers dangling optimistically a foot above the nest platform… before crashing down in a mess of dark feathers and pine needles.

Once his dignity was recovered, beady eyes popped out from behind the foliage. The short feathers on the back of the chick’s head were spiked up in excitement; it was clear that he couldn’t wait to try it all again.

The adults, meanwhile, perch in stately silence above. Their capacity for sitting seems to be almost limitless.

At times it feels like civilizations could rise and fall and Star would still be stapled to the right of the nest, staring into the middle distance and brooding over his eagle thoughts – whatever those might be.

Luckily, these marathon bouts of sitting are interspersed with nuggets of action.

The parent birds still like to give us all the once-over from time to time, circling low and lazy over the hide for their adoring public (Hope’s hand wave needs a bit of work; aside from that, she could give any Royal a run for their monarchy).

The mood at the nest tree is relaxed. The chick is able to tear up prey for itself, so carcasses are pretty much dropped and left for it by the adults.

Though it isn’t always easy to see what is being brought in, Fulmar appears to be a popular menu choice.

It has to be said that Star’s beautiful white tail is looking somewhat grubby these days – being a much besmirched shade of vomit yellow (!) This is likely thanks to fulmar oil.

So, as we approach fledging time, I expect there’ll be some skinned knees, collisions and calamities… but when the stabilizers come off and this youngster takes his first “proper” flight, I guarantee that I will be as pleased and as proud as punch.

Remember, booking is essential if you would like to join a trip. The number to contact is: 01680 812 556

Stephanie Cope

Community Ranger for Mull Eagle Watch

To get the latest from our sister site at Tiroran Community Forest, please see:

https://www.rspb.org.uk/community/wildlife/b/mulleagles/default.aspx

Easy Living

The white-tailed eagle family at NWMCWC’s West Ardhu site is ticking along at a steady pace.

The chick, now nine weeks old, is both well grown and well fed. He only has one more week of growing to get through before attention turns to his first flight.

For the last ten days “Star” has maintained a stoic presence by his nest. “Hope” is often away, and when she returns, she is mostly empty-handed (so to speak).

Though we cannot see what the eagles have in their larder from the hide, I get the impression that the hunting is good and the living is easy.

When watching the adult eagles, it strikes me that they have very different “personalities”. Further, unless they are united by a common cause – such as the need to protect their nest, they seem to work to a rather individual schedule.

White-tailed eagles pair for life. At up to 30-years in the wild, this can represent a very long and productive relationship indeed.

However, unlike many of the other socially monogamous birds that I have observed, I have never seen them preen one another [allopreening] or demonstrate anything that could be interpreted through human eyes as affection, now that the main pairing period is over.

They sometimes perch close – but I have not yet seen them side by side. They occasionally vocalise together or engage in a brief bout of mutual soaring, but that’s about as saucy as it gets at this time of year.

If I’m honest, they treat each other with what appears to be a mixture of tolerance and indifference.

I don’t see the continuous pair-bond reinforcing behaviour that is so obvious in parrots or cranes for example.

I suppose the eagles are just a bit more subtle about it, and don’t engage in Public Displays of Affection?!

Hope seems to have a more confident and curious attitude than her partner. This week, for the first time, we were able to enjoy prolonged views of her on the ground in front of the hide.

The huge talons of a white-tailed eagle give it a somewhat “considered” gait when it wanders through the brash.

Watching the majestic Hope tootle about like an extra-large chicken certainly raised a smile or two from the group. I’m not sure what she was up to – looking for small mammals, possibly.

She had that fluffy, mischievous look about her that birds sometimes get when they’re really interested in something.

Star, meanwhile, has been busy causing traffic pile-ups on the Dervaig hairpin bends.

Tom (my work experience student) and I were driving back from a Ranger Service drop-in at the Torr hide.

As we hit the highest part of the road, I almost had to swerve to avoid Star – who looked like he was on course to fly through my side window!

There were quite a few cars and campers about, so the scramble was on for everyone to get off the road safely and get their optics out.

I often wonder if the eagles are able to recognise my van, crawling like a wee green snail up to the hide every day.

It was an incredible encounter. Star stayed with us all for quite some time before floating back to his family at West Ardhu.

Here are Star [top] and Hope [bottom] engaging in a spot of mutual soaring!

Remember, booking is essential if you would like to join a trip. The number to contact is: 01680 812 556

Stephanie Cope

Community Ranger for Mull Eagle Watch

To get the latest from our sister site at Tiroran Community Forest, please see:

https://www.rspb.org.uk/community/wildlife/b/mulleagles/default.aspx

Running Rings

My goodness, what a busy – but exciting – few weeks it’s been.

We’ve had primary school visits, beautiful weather, sensational views of the eagles… and of course, the ringing of the chicks!

At West Ardhu, the single chick was fitted with its leg rings on Tuesday June 7th.

As the team arrived, “Hope” [the female eagle] was away hunting and “Star” [the male eagle] was on babysitting duty.

It had been a quiet sort of day, but gloriously sunny and warm. As a result, Star was half asleep when the team approached his stand of conifers – it must have been quite a rude awakening for him?!

Once he realised what was happening, he lurched out of his tree and started to circle, calling, directly in front of the hide.

There are several pockets of plantation conifers left standing at West Ardhu. Each one has its own resident pair of buzzards, and these neighbours were quick to notice that something was amiss with their larger cousin.

The buzzard pair that live opposite the eagle nest were first on the scene, launching a very confident and persistent attack.

On the one hand, Star was trying his best to watch what was going on at his nest – but on the other, he was being mobbed and shunted by the buzzards, who simply wouldn’t leave him alone.

Star kept flashing his talons, but in his distracted state, this threat was having little effect on his antagonists.

I found myself looking around, wondering where his mate was. When push comes to shove, it is usually Hope that escorts any intruders off the premises: she doesn’t mess about when it comes to “chucking-out time”.

I knew that she had returned when I saw a large shadow streak across the escarpment to the left of the hide.

Looking up, Hope had her wings pulled in and was heading directly for her mate. When she arrived, the two of them circled so close together it seemed that they were almost touching.

The buzzards, knowing that discretion is the better part of valour, discreetly piped down and split the scene.

Meanwhile at the nest, ringers Rachel and Lewis were faced with a very indignant seven-week old eaglet.

In most cases, after an initial nod to bravery, eagle chicks resign themselves to their fate and sit quietly during the ringing process.

By all accounts, Star and Hope’s chick was “a feisty one”. This was corroborated by Rachel’s rather sore looking arms (!)

I couldn’t help but smile at this, thinking of his mother and her no-nonsense attitude.

Initial measurements suggest that this chick is a male – but we will need to wait for the DNA sexing results to know for sure.

Star and Hope stayed close to their nest throughout, and returned quickly once the ringers had moved away. By the following morning, normal service had resumed.

Elsewhere in Scotland, Lewis and Rachel have been busy fitting very different rings… They were married on Saturday!

Rachel is, in fact, my former senior keeper from the bird section at Bristol Zoo. It was an interesting combination of strange and lovely to bump into her at an eagle nest on Mull?!

I’m sure you’ll all join me in wishing her and Lewis every happiness together.

If you would like to visit the eagles and learn more about their lives here on Mull, please contact: 01680 812 556

Stephanie Cope

Community Ranger for Mull Eagle Watch.

…

Now, as is often the case in life, we must go from happiness to sadness: there is also ringing news from our sister site at Tiroran Community Forest.

Though Fingal and Iona still have one very healthy chick, unfortunately, the smaller of the two was found dead on the nest.

You can find out more here:

http://www.rspb.org.uk/community/wildlife/b/mulleagles/archive/2016/06/13/all-was-going-so-well-until.aspx