Monday 21 May 2012

Four stars for our eagle family

We have just heard that Visit Scotland have awarded us four stars at the new Glen Seilisdeir hide - the same as we were granted at Loch Frisa!

iona and fingal
Iona feeding one of the chicks  Photo: Sue Dewar
Our chicks are growing rapidly - instead of fluffy white heads and bodies they now appear grey where the adult feathers are just beginning to show through under the down.

On one day last week the rain poured down incessantly and the adult birds took turns in brooding the youngsters, only standing up to feed them whilst spreading their wings like umbrellas to shelter them from the wet. I am beginning to think that Sea Eagles have an inbuilt weather forecast as the previous day they brought in loads of food including what looked like a large rabbit, so there was plenty for the whole family to eat, even if the weather was too bad to allow the adults to hunt.

 
iona and fingal
Iona and Fingal above the nest
Photo: Sue Dewar
 On Friday the adults spent the day warding off two cheeky hooded crows who were either trying to steal food (or maybe the chicks) from the nest, or constantly dive bombing the adults. Each time they appeared Iona called loudly and Fingal was heard calling back from a short distance away. He then flew in to the nest with the crows in hot pursuit, even making contact from time to time.

Eventually the crows gave up after several skirmishes, and the adults decided that the chicks could have the nest to themselves for a while, but neither of them were prepared to leave altogether, and spent the rest of the afternoon sitting on branches above the nest keeping watch. The chicks no longer need brooding all the time; they will be three weeks old this week and have been able to regulate their own body temperature for almost a week now. By the time they are four weeks old they will be beginning to look like Sea Eagles and will start playing tug-of-war with their food.

This week we have our first school visit of the season from Lochdon Primary School, and the forecast looks promising so we should have good views of the eagles and plenty of fun outside.


 

4 comments:

  1. Hi

    Excellent news and well done for all your hard work in making the new viewpoint such a success!

    Any chance of an update on Skye and Frisa, and also a general comment on how the season is going as most pairs if successful should have fairly well grown chicks by now.

    Cheers

    Mal

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Mal

      The hide has been full to capacity every day so there has been very little time for updating the blogs; however, I'll make an extra effort to get at least one, possibly two out per week from here on.

      Delete
  2. As someone who tries to follow events at the Mull eagle hide, I am very disappointed that we are not getting regular updates. I realise that it is a very busy time there, but would be very grateful to know what is happening occasionally. I do not tweet or twitter or whatever the term is, but I am very intrested to know what is going on both at the new hide and at Loch Frisa.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi There

      The hide has been full to capacity every day so there has been very little time for updating the blogs; however, I'll make an extra effort to get at least one out each week.

      Regards

      Delete

Please feel free to leave your comments on the blog. We've got a few house rules:
1. We (Forestry Commission Scotland) will review all comments and reserve the right to not publish them at our discretion.
2. There will be a time delay between submission and posting. Comments posted on a Saturday or Sunday won't be moderated until the following Monday.
3. Please make comments appropriate and relevant.
4. If you've a comment or question about Mull Sea Eagles you can e-mail mull.ranger@forestry.gsi.gov.uk as we might not be able to respond here.
5. We won't publish comments that are abusive, indecent, unlawful or defamatory; published comments may be removed at any time; and individuals are personally liable for the comments they submit.
Thanks!