Blogs

Friday 22 August 1200 Noon

(Wasn't that an old ELO line?)

On arrival at the hide today, the assembled crowd were all gazing skywards. A quick scramble with bins and 'scope and there high up in the clouds above us were our two wonderful chicks, soaring together again. They were at the highest altitude we've recorded them since fledging a month ago. They looked like proper eagles! A few dives on each other showed that they're getting more expert at this flight thing by the day. The size difference today was very marked - we have got the sexing right! Mara was dwarfed by his big sis. They would drift apart, then drift back together again. What a view they must have had - south and west to Loch na Keal, Ben More and the Treshnish Isles, east to the mainland and north to Rum and Skye. I wonder if they could see other young eagles doing the same thing? But deep down, in amongst the pride we all feel at having helped (a bit) to get them this far, as they soared even higher, I felt a pang of sadness too. One day, in the not too distant future, one of them would go up this high and start to drift away - and the biggest journey of their lives would really begin.

Dave Sexton RSPB Mull Officer

Thursday 21 August 12 Noon

Finally, the sighting which has eluded me for far too long. Mara and Brèagha up together and flying strongly. Chasing each other, attempting to talon grapple and generally just doing what sea eagles do best. A wonderful sight to behold!

Frisa and Skye, as ever, watching their offspring carefully from afar. Perhaps as relieved as I am to see that the chicks have finally rediscovered their family ties and are spending quality time together, revelling in the warm sun and gentle uplifting breeze. Summer's here and the livin' is easy.

Dave Sexton RSPB Mull Officer

The two Mull Eagle Watch sea eagle chicks at Loch Frisa this year have been named by children from the Salen Primary School Gaelic Unit. The male 'Mara' means 'sea' and the female 'Brèagha' means 'beauty' - very appropriate too.

Wednesday 20 August 1000

Today, I found one of the chicks back at the edge of the loch, still waddling about in the shallows. It didn't go far or do much but was clearly ok. Soon the mist descended, the heavens opened and everything vanished without trace. No sign of chick no.2. Hope it's ok.

Earlier we made a visit to the nest tree to see if there were any old prey remains still to be collected. A well-known supermarket carrier bag of goodies was collected - fulmar skull and feathers, gull remains, rabbit and hare and a few things yet to be ID'd by our forensic team. Not a vast haul but hey...every little helps.

Some big chunks of the nest have also now fallen out and lie scattered around the base of the tree. It all looked so empty and deserted. The forest was silent. What was once a hive of activity was collapsed, broken and decaying. But it has served its purpose well with two bouncing eaglets now joining the scottish sea eagle population. Where will life take them? For the first time, with the sat tags, we may begin to get some answers. And as I walked away from the fallen nest for the last time this year, one thought occurred to me. Where will Frisa and Skye start building their nest for next year? By October, they may have already decided...

Dave Sexton RSPB Mull Officer

Tuesday 19 August 3pm

The family seem to have settled into a bit of a routine. Heading over towards Glen Aros in the mornings, picking over any unfortunate casualties from the night before and then just loafing about in the sun all day. Occasionally one of the adults heads off for something fresh but always seems to leave one adult on child-care duty.

In the afternoon, one of the chicks decided to take a paddle and waded about upto the top of its legs in the loch. Time and again it ducked its head under the water and had a bit of a splash about; this was maybe its first attempt at a bath. We've often seen Frisa and Skye bathing in the shallows. Then it would jump and pounce and grab a stone, 'kill' it and then jump on another one. Very amusing to watch and the nearest thing I've seen to sea eagle 'play'. Eventually, it got bored with that game and went back to perch on the fence post, drying its wings in the afternoon sun. I'm wondering if one chick is already more independent than the other. One always seems happy to feed itself and generally fend for itself while the other is still food begging and following the adults about. I'm just not sure who is who, as the size difference between the bigger female Breagha and her smaller brother Mara doesn't seem very pronounced at the moment. I hope we've got the sexing right... They also seem to spend less time together than previous twins of Frisa & Skye. Itchy & Scatchy in 2005, both males, were inseperable for months as were Haggis & Oatie in 2006 (also both males). Maybe brother and sister just don't get on so well? The day ended with Frisa & Skye perched together, preening in their favourite larches and enjoying the late afternoon sun. A perfect scene of parental contentment.

Dave Sexton RSPB Mull Officer

Monday 18 August Loch Frisa 1000-1600

An astonishing 84 people attended the hide today during the 'drop-in' session from 10am to 1pm. Just about everyone saw Frisa perched and flying. But she seemed to keep disappearing back over the ridge and down into Glen Aros, frustratingly just out of sight. So after the session had finished, I drove round and sure enough there were Frisa and Mara feeding on a carcase not too far from the road. Breagha was a little way off perched on her own - hopefully already having had her fill. Skye was then seen back in his favourite larches near the hide. Mara was feeding himself well from the carcase and had about 30 ravens over for dinner too. Quite a feeding frenzy. Sometimes Frisa would move in for a feed but always gave way for Mara. Eventually he flew off and perched for a while before Frisa brought him a 'carry-out' and they both sat a few yards apart, Frisa preening and Mara feeding and making his incessant food begging call which is audible a long way off. We left them to it, happy in the knowledge that they were all well today.

 Dave Sexton RSPB Mull Officer

A quick stop at the hide, a scan and a listen... I could immediately hear a chick not too far away. There was Frisa perched in her favourite larches and the calls seemed to be coming from nearby.

I drove closer and stared hard into the dense conifers. Frisa ignored me as usual and continued preening only 75m or so away. Then, a movement in the branches and there was Mara, well hidden. His calls became more and more desperate and frequent as he tried to to make Frisa feel guilty and force her into going hunting for him. But she didn't need to. Why?

Suddenly Mara's calls reached the frantic stage and off he flew, strongly across the loch. I followed him through the lens of the BBC's 'Autumnwatch' camera and there he was now chasing Skye who had arrived on the scene with fresh prey. Next minute, there was Breagha also joining in the chase until Skye eventually felt he'd teased them enough and he landed, only to be piled into by both hungry offspring. I couldn't make out who it was who won the prize but I think it was Breagha. Skye then flew a short distance away to recover and watch the chicks feeding.

Soon after Frisa took off from next to me and flew fast towards them. She suddenly banked sharply and I realised she was attacking some ravens who were getting just a bit too close for comfort to her chicks and she was having none of it. Wonderful to see her being so protective and watching everything that was going on even from a mile or more away.

Both adults then drifted away towards Dervaig while the chicks spent the rest of the afternoon together entertaining themselves. Flying short distances, perching on fence posts (yes, eagles and not only buzzards do that sometimes), chasing each other, jumping on each other and invisible, pretend prey and generally just lazing about on a sunny August afternoon in the heather. Not a bad life.

Why not come and see them for yourselves? The hide is open Friday to Tuesday 10am-1pm. See our 'Aren't Birds Brilliant!' page for details.

After returning from holiday to Mull last night, I headed up to Loch Frisa this afternoon to try and see the chicks with my own eyes after too many weeks of hearing about them and reading about them on the Internet! From the hide I had a brief glimpse of one chick flying well but disappearing over the ridge into Glen Aros.

So I dashed round into the glen and waited and scanned. Finally there was one of them - Mara probably - feeding on a carcase, tugging away at something that was far from fresh and far from appetising but he seemed to be enjoying it.

Suddenly, in flew Breagha and displaced him from his late lunch. They both looked great. I could just make out the tiny sat tags through the telescope so I knew it was them. Breagha then flew back into the trees and out of sight. Half an hour later Skye flew in with new prey and both chicks again appeared hoping for something a little fresher.

At last, confirmation for me with my own eyes that both chicks were fine and behaving normally. What a relief!

Our chicks at Loch Frisa have most certainly been getting more and more used to the fact that they are designed for the air....... Both Mara and Breagha have been up and about this week, playing around in the thermals, looking at the world from on high...... and it looks like they're actually beginning to enjoy it!!!

Yesterday, Mara decided that the world of Loch Frisa obviously wasn't big enough for him and followed Skye off into the distance for a bit of a day trip! Circling away, he looked fantastic, full of confidence in the air, soaring away on those big broad wings of his. It won't be too long it seems before both of our chicks decide to leave home and try and make their own way in the Mull wilderness. With the mastery of flight that both are now showing I have a little inkling that they'll do just fine!!

Apart from our eagles doing well, this week has been a revelation with the appearance of a family of Red-throated Divers who have bred on the loch. Mum, Dad and their (not so wee) chick have been delighting us all with their presence and haunting us with their fantastic calls, making the family bond that little bit stronger. We've also discovered that our Sand Martin pair have successfully hatched their second brood of chicks too!! The adults are busy ziping in carrying insects to the young and zooming back out carrying little white pouches..... (Always good to keep the nest tidy!!). We'll be expecting the next batch to be on the wing in the next week, so do keep watching this space for news of when it happens!  

It's been a very turbulent month up here on Loch Frisa, it started off in the best way possible with our Sand Martin chicks fledging and playing around with each other hunting for insects and often trying to get back into the nest-hole, but more often than not careering straight into the bank instead! It then got even better when we noticed the Swallows eggs were no more, but had turned into little pink chicks on our tv screen and for a couple of weeks we were treated to really close quarter views of the adults, who by that time were used to us being outside the door and let us watch them as close as 3 ft away, feeding their offspring constantly much to the delight of all of or visitors.

We were only a week away from our Swallows getting their chicks to fledge when we had two days of really heavy rain and disaster struck..... overnight the chicks had got terribly wet and in the morning when we turned on the tv to see how they were doing we couldn't see any movement...... we waited with baited breath hoping that one of the adults would nip in with some food and see the chicks spring to life but nothing....... our chicks had succumbed to the weather and our hearts sank. It had all looked so good...... how cruel nature can be sometimes.

 By this point, our eaglets were getting very close to the stage where they would be thinking about making their first leap from the nest and so we decided to go up the nest site to ring the chicks and to put small satellite tags on to them so that we can find out where they go in the next couple of years. This went fantastically well, and we managed to find out who the chicks were..... a male and female, both really healthy and looking like proper eagles now! Knowing this, we asked local primary schools to come up with some names for the chicks and the pick of the bunch came from Salen Primary Schools Gaelic Unit. The male has now been called Mara (meaning 'sea' in Gaelic) and the female Breagha (meaning 'beauty' in Gaelic), and I think that they are just perfect for our Frisa eaglets!

After the ringing, the chicks got straight back to flapping furiously in preparation for their first flight, when it would be we couldn't tell, until suddenly on the 12th we saw a big chocolatey brown bird flying over the tree-tops. I looked at Julie our Forestry Commission Ranger and we both shouted at the same time....... "CHICK!!!!!!!!" It was a fairly wobbly flight, but all of us watching were so thrilled to see one of our chicks on it's maiden voyage! We found out later that it was Mara who made the first move, and we hoped that Breagha would follow suit and appear very soon.

Eagle chicks tend to fledge within 24hrs of each other, so the next day we all waited peering at the nest waiting for Breagha to spread her wings and take the plunge, but for all of the encouragement we or Skye and Frisa could give her, she wouldn't budge and sat on the nest continuing to flap furiously. 

A week went by and still Breagha had not made it out of the nest....... had something gone wrong? Was she ill or worse... injured??? It set our minds racing and now I know how a father feels when their child is poorly, I had hardly any sleep for the whole week..... we watched as the adults often disappeared behind the trees to drop some food off for Mara (who by now was just getting his confidence back to try to fly again after his first attempt), and still Breagha was on the nest...... 8 days....... 9 days....... something had to be wrong...... day 10 arrived but we could see nothing on the nest...... Had she finally made it? A quick phonecall later and it was confirmed...... she'd finally fledged, the satellite tag reading showed she was sat behind the trees near to where Mara had been. He had now started to get the hang of this flying business, and was beginning to look very comfortable in the air, but still we waited for the first glimpse of his sister in the air with him.

Finally on tuesday we saw them both sat in the field next to the lochside, standing proud and back together again. We all breathed a massive sigh of relief..... it was ok, they'd both made it. Skye and Frisa must be beaming seeing their yougsters looking so fit and healthy, especially after their devastating loss last year, and you know what....... so are we!!!!!

If you'd like to follow the progress of Breagha and Mara from the comfort of your own homes the link for the tracking page is www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/tracking/mulleagles/

As many of you know (and some not....), we up at Loch Frisa have been hoping to get a webcam up to our sea-eagles nest, but due to many unforseen problems it has been a long time in coming. Eventually 2 weeks ago we managed to put it in place to beam live pictures to the hide and the worldwide web, but our eagles unfortunately didn't take to it too well. Why that was we may never know, but we felt it was necessary to take the camera back out and leave our eagles be for this year, which is of course very much a shame, but it's more important that they successfully raise their chicks, who by the way, at just over 9 weeks old are now the size of turkeys!!!! Both really healthy and very, very hungry!! Skye and Frisa have been working their tails off to satisfy their voracious appitites, bringing in fulmars, rabbits.... you name it.... they're catching it, but still our not so little eaglets demand more and more!!!

Although it is a real pity that we haven't got a camera on our eagles nest this year, we have been able to put one overlooking a pair of swallows. They've only just started to build their nest in the last couple of weeks and in quite an unusual place too........ right on top of the security light above the hide door!!!! With our solar and wind power we knew the hide was environmentally friendly....... and it looks like our swallows quite obviously agree!!

At the moment our swallow has four browny-speckled white eggs in her nest which she's been sat on for almost a week now and as I'm writing I can see her sat perfectly comfortably in there, keeping them nice and warm on the T.V screen in the hide! Hopefully in a week to 10 days we'll have some more wee chicks at Loch Frisa!

It looks like our Sand Martins eggs have hatched now as well, the parents constantly nipping in with food and popping back out carrying a little white parcel in their beaks....... always good to keep the burrow tidy!!

But it's not just been the birds around us keeping us all entertained...... we've had some fantastic butterflies and dragonflies darting about too! Dark-green and Small Pearl-boardered Fritilleries, Common Blues, Broad-bodied Chasers and Golden-ringed Dragonflies are just some of the non-feathered flying highlights, but today we've had the best of the bunch. Unfortunately though, it was after everyone went home after this afternoons trip. A I walked out to fill up our feeders at the feeding station in front of the hide, a little mottled butterfly whizzed past me...... quickly getting my bins on it I followed it until it came to rest on the head of a nearby thistle. I crept closer to get a better look, and there basking in the sunshine was a Chequered Skipper, but before I could grab my camera out of my pocket, off it went again zipping down the track..... what a fantastic little gem, a very rare butterfly indeed, and not often seen on Mull..... a truly lucky find!!!!

So summers in full swing, there are more and more hungry mouths to feed appearing every day and our eagles and eaglets are still putting on a fantastic show for everyone who comes to visit us at Loch Frisa. It won't be long before the chicks get to their time to fly the nest....... the past few weeks and months have flown by, it seems only yesterday that Skye and Frisa were sat on the nest protecting their precious eggs from the elements and now they've hatched and their almost fully grown eagles!!! Kids eh...... they grow up so fast don't they!!!

At the time of writing, poor old Frisa and Skye are sat on their perching tree, soaking up the sun and trying to catch their breath after tireless trips too and from the nest bringing more and more food for our ravenous chicks! It's just non stop for them at the minute, as the chicks - (who are looking more and more like eagles every day now, and have turned from little white bundles of fluff to big brown bundles of fluff as their feathers come through!!!) - just want to eat, eat more, have a snack then have dinner, tea and supper all in the space of an hour!!! As is true of most youngsters, they certainly have hollow wings!!!! And the amount that they have grown in the last couple of weeks has been astonishing!!

Sea eagles are fantastic parents, and do as much as they possibly can to keep their young fit, healthy and content in the nest, and Sye and Frisa really are running themselves ragged to cope with their babies demands! Fulmars, rabbits and other bits and peices have been brought in, and our visitors are amazed at the sheer range of food our eagles eat..... fish, seabirds, ducks, geese, you name it, our eagles will eat it!! (in the past there have been records of sea eagles who have brought in the odd feral cat to the nest!!! You can just imagine Tiddles looking at the eagle thinking "Yummy! That looks tasty!!!"....... and the eagle staring straight back and thinking exactly the same!!!)

So all is still well up on Loch Frisa, and with more birds being seen up at the hide, our species list has now grown to a fantastic 69, with Osprey, Whinchat and Whitethroat the latest summery additions, the Sand Martins still excavating, Siskins on the feeders, and of course the stars of our show the eagles on top form, it looks and feels like it's going to be a great summer!!

First off, apologies to all of you fantastic eagle lovers waiting for all of the news from our eagles at Loch Frisa, it's been a very busy few weeks, and with waiting for press releases, and the following flood of visitors to come and see our new local celebrities I'm afraid my blog is now a bit behind the times....... So let's get you all right back up to date with all the latest happenings on the wonderfully sunny Isle of Mull!!!

As you now know, our chicks have successfully hatched, but it wasn't until just last Monday that we actually saw the first glimpse of one of our little bundles of white fluff!! What a thrill it was, watching Frisa bend down into the nest, and carefully place a wee morsal of food next to our ravenous chick, and seeing chick #1 reach up to fill his/her little tummy with a bit of fulmar freshly brought back to the nest by Skye!

The visitors watching with me must have thought I was crazy as I danced about the field, proud as punch, smiling from ear to ear after seeing our chick for the first time..... I know it's an eagle chick, but I almost feel responsible for them, and to finally catch a glimpse of my little hatchling was absolutely amazing!!!!

Frisa and Skye continue to delight, with each visitor opening their mouths in awe each time they fly around showing their incredible size and their majestic grace. In week 6 they started to come out and perch on the perching tree together, giving people the chance to compare the differences between them, (Frisa being slightly larger and more silvery on the head and chest), and giving us a great sign that the chicks are strong and healthy enough to be left on their own for a while..... the first week of an eaglets life is a very dangerous one as they can't keep themselves warm, so mum and dad have to brood them constantly, but with both adults out and about, the chicks have got past with crucial stage with flying colours and the lovely sunny weather that we've had has meant that they go from strength to strength!!

It's fascinating seeing our little eaglets, just how small they are.... it's amazing to think that at the moment you could fit them both in the palm of your hand, but in just 10 weeks they'll be pretty much fully grow eagles preparing to take their first flight!!! Talk about having a growth spurt!!!

Now we're back on track, all we can do is hope that the chicks continue to do as well as they have been, and keep watching this space for any more news from the Mull eagle project!!!

It's been a fantastic and really exciting week down at Loch Frisa, the sun has been shining, and everyday we've been treated yet again with spectacular views of not only our eagles Frisa and Skye, but of several juvenile birds with white and yellow tags as well as a few golden eagles scouting by too! At one point on saturday, we were fortunate to see 5 eagles at the same time!! Frisa on her perching tree, 2 wandering adults and a juvenile sea eagle circling above along with a goldie for good measure!!

And as if there wasn't enough excitement for the week with all the views we were getting, the time had come........ everyday we watched and waited for any sign that the chicks had hatched..... and finally on sunday we were rewarded with what we had been waiting for, Frisa perched on the side of the nest, stripping little bits of meat off something she'd brought back and bending her head into the nest to feed her newly hatched chicks.........SUCCESS!!!!!

But the challenge has only just begun for Frisa and Skye, now most of their time will be spent searching for more and more food to bring back for our ravenous little eaglets...... how they put so much away is quite beyond me....... hollow wings no doubt!

The next couple of weeks is crucial for them too, baecause they can't control their body temperature yet, so mum and dad will have to constantly brood them to keep them nice and warm, all we can do is keep watch and hope that the sun keeps shining to give them the best chance possible!!!

Spring has firmly announced its arrival with our first Swallow, Sand Martin and Willow Warbler freshly back from their wintering grounds in Africa. I love seeing the swallows especially, they always seem to arrive on really nice sunny days, and this year has been no exception!

It has been a glorious week of sunshine and our eagles have been making the most of the sun, perching out on their perching tree, preening themselves vigorously getting ready for the hatching of their chicks..... only 1 week away now!!!!

So the eagles are still putting on a great show for everybody, and for a brief 5 minutes in the middle of the week both birds appeared perched up in their tree! At first we all stared, wondering why there wasn't a bird on the nest....had something terrible happened? But Skye set all our minds at rest as he got up and flew straight back to sit on the eggs.......Phew!! He'd been away from the nest for over 3 hours before that, so I think Frisa just came off the nest to give him a good ticking off for being such a long time!!! Poor Skye.....but he'd only himself to blame! Funnily enough, the next few days he was back to the nest within a couple of hours of changing over to Frisa, so it looks like he learnt his lesson!!

With Skye back in his place, and Frisa perching out as I write this, everything is just fine and hopefully, by this time next week, their eggs will have become small bundles of white fluff with ferocious appetites....... Then Skye and Frisas work really begins!!!!!

Not a great start to this week; wind, rain, hail, snow and strong winds...... it's true what they say about the weather on Mull, you really do get all four seasons in one day up here!

But in the midst of the heavy showers and even a hefty blizzard or two our eagles Frisa and Skye continue to delight visitors, (even if not appearing straight away.... good things come to those who wait!), and everybody goes home with a great big smile!

Views this week haven't been the best, mainly because of the weather, but with the intermittent sunny spells the birds have duly appeared almost on cue!

Even though the eagles have been up and about, again cameos of Whooper Swans, (which have reached a maximum of 14 birds during the week), Hen Harriers, Short-eared Owls, Golden Eagles and our ever present Buzzards have all rivalled for the attention of on-lookers.

However, highlight of the week for me has been the brief visit of a superb summer plumaged Black-throated Diver for a day mid-week, almost trying to out-fox us by diving under the water and appearing in a completely different spot! Despite his games, we had some fantastic views of him, and it was wonderful to see him in the telescope, giving us chance to look at his striking plumage in great detail....... What a cracker!!!!

Frisa and Skye are still faithfully carrying out their duty of incubating and the countdown continues....... 2 weeks - not long now and our eagles will be proud parents once again. Lets just hope they have better luck than last year....... I know I'll be keeping fingers, toes and anything else I can crossed!!!