The day started with seeing Iona back on the nest and I had not seen her for 10 days, so it was so good to see her again.
The juvenile bird has been seen many times this week flying about the side of the hill and mountain .
Today we saw the juvenile flying about, and it came out and roosted on a tree that was dead.
The bird was there until a buzzard flew over with its young juvenile bird. The buzzard has also been out practising this week flying and hunting over the local fields.
Today I was joined by the two Doreen's as my assistant rangers in my van, we followed the large group around just behind them.
The walk is along the track past the nest and out the other side over looking the Loch where the male bird Fingal hunts.
The two Doreen's were very lucky as they saw the birds in good views followed up by the golden eagle with its juvenile.
The larger group also saw eagles flying in the distance.
As we were standing on the track, we noticed what look like a small vole but as I got up close you could see it was a shrew. I called John Clare the RSPB Ranger over and he told us it was a pigmy shrew - quite unusual, another golden moment for the groups.
I took the two Doreen's back to the reception hide, where I finished off the talk and tour with them.
When I got back I was greeted by Mark and his wife who had visited the hide earlier in the year. He is a very keen photographer and is a judge on the Country File Calendar Competition, he’s a very generous man and always willing to share his pictures and photography knowledge. I stopped to have a chat with him about the eagles and wildlife on the island. I took them both back up the path near to the waterfall in case the birds were about, but sadly they had gone ...
If you are considering coming on the trips, remember you need to be able to walk about a mile out and a mile back to the reception hide over a two hour period. You also need to wear sturdy shoes and have a coat incase we get a shower or two.
Trips leave at 10am or 1pm each day, but we are not there on Thursday 8th August as we are both at the Salen show on Mull.
Written by the Mull Ranger
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