Blogs

I've seen that look before and it worries me. At Loch Frisa today as the hail, sleet and snow storms raced through, I found a stranger lurking in the woods. I've seen her before. She's doing the rounds. Last time I saw her at Loch na Keal eyeing up the territory there. Then she moved north and then back south to Loch Frisa. She was there a month ago but I didn't particularly think anything of it. But today she was back again. Watching, waiting, biding her time.

She is 'Red E'. Red wing tags - letter E. A female sea eagle from the Isle of Skye. She was hatched in 2005 - the same year as Frisa and Skye's famous Springwatch twins, Itchy and Scratchy. So she is now three and a half years old. Next April she will be four. She is getting restless. Maybe a little broody. As a sea eagle 'teenager', her hormones are running riot and she is beginning to be on the lookout for a territory and a mate. Her head and beak were pale, her body lighter brown than a just few months ago and her tail is almost white. That would all be good news - if she wasn't loitering with intent around Loch Frisa.

The last time I saw this happen was a few years ago at a site in central Mull. The pair that nested there had been together for five years. They were mature birds and had raised several chicks. Over the winter I'd started seeing a sub-adult female called 'Yellow blackspot'. She was hatched in 2000 from a site in Wester Ross. Sometimes she was hanging around on the skerries in Loch na Keal. At other times she was at the head of the loch in the heart of the territory. Several times I watched her seeing off other younger sea eagles. She looked like she was staking a claim - but as yet it wasn't hers. But that day was coming. 

One fine spring day in April saw her seize the moment. The resident pair had started incubation and all was well. Suddenly, Yellow blackspot appeared out of the sun and perched arrogantly in the tree next to the nest.

The incubating female went beserk. She called loudly to her mate who was quickly on the scene to support her. She got up off her eggs and gave chase, seeing off the intruder. The male joined in. All three birds disappeared in a frantic chase through the trees and hills. The female soon returned to carry on incubating but with no sign of the other two. Then Yellow blackspot turned up again and flew directly at the sitting female. They clashed and fought and again the resident female gave chase. With all this activity there was a real chance the eggs might break.

This time they were gone for a long time. It was the last time we ever saw the resident female. Next back at the nest was the male but he was clearly agitated. Something had changed forever in his world. He didn't incubate - maybe the eggs had been damaged? Despite his calls, his mate never returned - but guess who did? Yellow blackspot. The prize was hers.

All those months of waiting and plotting had finally paid off. They were cautious at first. They had occasional scuffles but slowly, day by day, he grew to accept her presence. With no sign of his mate, the outcome was inevitable. Yellowblack spot is now the resident female in this territory paired harmoniously with the original male and they've raised several chicks (including sadly, the ill-fated chick White G who was poisoned on a sporting estate in Angus this year).

But what of the original female? I don't believe an established female on a territory like this, already sitting on eggs, would give up her range without one hell of a fight and I fear that fight took place out of sight up a side glen and a fatal injury was sustained. Yellow blackspot was a young, fit bird and may just have had the edge. All we know is she returned and the original female didn't. It can be a harsh life in the world of the eagle. Survival of the fittest. No room for error.

And so when I saw Red E sitting calmly in the conifers at the north end of Loch Frisa, within sight of the nest sites of Frisa and Skye, I remembered that look from Yellow blackspot. Frisa and Skye were perched together on a hill on the opposite side of the glen and couldn't see her. If they had I'm sure she'd have been seen off. But I have a sneaking suspicion that one day soon she'd have been back. It won't be the last we see of Red E.

Dave Sexton RSPB Scotland Mull Officer

Sat tag update: The latest data shows that the voltage on the batteries for both Mara and Breagha's satellite tags is too low for an accurate GPS fix. It needs a good spell of bright weather to charge them up.

Just a little more detail on the latest data from Mara and Breagha. On the 16th November, Breagha was on the south side of Loch Buie in the south of Mull at 1005. Her brother Mara was just north of Salen on Mull's east coast two days later on the 18th at 0648 so he had probably roosted nearby - and not a million miles from his old nest site at Loch Frisa.

The sat tags are now on their winter timings which means, I'm afraid, that the data will be even more sporadic. The aim of this is to conserve the battery life of the packs during the long darker winter months. But conversely it should mean that when we do get readings it will be better quality and more precise. For the scientific study which is underway using this data to plot juvenile sea eagle dispersal from their nest area it will be frequent enough to get a general picture of their movements. For me and many of you, it won't be anything like enough as I just want to know where they are all the time! This won't be possible so we'll just have to wait patiently for every download - just like the Loch Garten osprey data which is now much less frequent than during Deshar and Nethy's long migration flights. The up-side is that the batteries should last even longer - maybe 3-4 years if we're lucky. That's assuming Mara and Breagha survive their first difficult winter alone and then don't encounter anyone or anything that would harm them. Work to ensure White G's death was not in vain continues apace. Meanwhile, in between data downloads, I'll keep you posted on any other sea eagle news which arises on Mull and elsewhere.

Tomorrow, I'm on the move again - this time for a meeting in Edinburgh with the Sea Eagle Project Team which oversees and assists with all the reintroduction projects in the UK and Ireland. This year there is a lot to report on - much of it good and exciting: 28 wild sea eagle chicks fledged on the west coast of Scotland, 15 Norway-bred birds were released on the east coast, a further 20 were released in Ireland and now we hear of some exciting plans from Natural England, RSPB and Anglian Water to further boost the UK project on the east coast of England. Twenty five years ago, someone born on Mull will have grown up with these birds as a normal, natural part of their everyday lives. Now they may have children of their own. The sea eagles will seem like they've always been here. It's quite a thought that 25 years from now, if sea eagles are to become a 'routine' part of everyday life in England, our descendants will still marvel at them as we do now and as our ancestors did many Centuries ago. And they'll hopefully wonder what all the fuss and scaremongering headlines were all about in 2008! Time will tell. If you support this project or have questions about it, see the lead story on the RSPB Home Page to see what you can do to help.

More news if I can get to a computer during my travels...

Dave Sexton RSPB Scotland Mull Officer

I didn't just retrace my steps in the mud. I pretty much jogged as fast as my exhausted legs and aching body could manage. Admittedly that probably wasn't very fast but it felt like a Herculean effort to me at nearly 6 o'clock in the evening.

I arrived back at where I'd started; checked the phone message and grid reference again, set up the 'scope and aimed it at the point my informant had told me he'd seen an adult sea eagle perching for the last few hours. It had flown off once or twice that afternoon but had returned to the same general area. This had to be a promising sign.

I focused the eyepiece and there it was. Still there. Preening and settled. Half an hour later it flew out to sea and I lost sight of it behind a small island. It didn't return. I knew now that with the late July evening light still quite good it was worth a short trip up into the forestry. I found a steep, winding timber extraction track and followed it higher and higher up the hillside.

I finally reached the area where the bird had been perching. Nothing. Silence. I was now very hungry. The sweat from earlier had cooled and I felt a chill creeping up my spine. I probably had done all I could. The Territory 40 birds had beaten us again. I'd missed the last ferry back home to Mull. I needed to eat, find a B&B and warm up. There was no way I was sleeping in the landrover that night.

As I stood up from my seat on a damp tree stump, I heard a flock of common gulls flying over. I watched them go past. Suddenly they veered off to the back of the forest and started to give their familiar alarm calls. Familiar beacuse I hear them on Mull whenever a sea eagle is anywhere nearby. They are a great early warning system. At that moment, the 'hassled' call of a sea eagle rang out around the trees. The gulls must be mobbing a bird perched somewhere out of sight. It all went quiet again.

Summoning the last vestiges of energy from my tired limbs, I crept up the side of a burn in the general direction of the calls. All of a sudden I had that sixth sense that I was on the right track, indeed maybe on the final leg of my quest.

Nothing could stop me now - exhaustion, hunger - I was like a bloodhound on the scent! The adrenalin was pumping.

As I neared the top of the wood, a shape to my right made me look across the burn and there was my dream find of the year - if not my career! A whopping great sea eagle's nest in an old spreading Scots pine; it was covered in flecks of down, bits of old prey - there must be young but the nest looked empty!

And with that, my eyes alighted upon the young eagle, watching my every step long before I'd seen it. It had already 'branched' and was sitting to one side of the nest on a limb of the pine. I stopped breathing. I waited a second to drink in the scene but instantly worried the young eagle might jump. I slithered back down the peat bank and out of sight.

But as I stopped I actually wondered if I'd just imagined the whole event. I was so pumped up to find this nest and had imagined this moment a thousand times in my head. Maybe I'd slipped into a dream-like state and it was all make-believe? I had to take a second look. So I inched back and saw it all again.

The young eagle was still watching me, wondering what on earth this mad man was up to. This time I watched for a full minute before retreating, this time convinced but still pinching myself. At no time had the adult perched nearby flown out or called. No-one knew I'd been there except me and the chick. It was just the best feeling.

I called a few people and sent a few texts when I got out of the forest and back at the landrover. I didn't want to gloat - but I couldn't help it  - just a wee bit! My first call was to home when my daughter answered. She was ready for bed. "Daddy, did you find the eagles?" I could barely get my answer out and I felt like shouting but I half whispered: "I found them!"

That evening, now gone 9pm, I found the last room in a wonderful inn and after a long shower, settled down for a celebratory bar supper of local fish and chips and a long, cold pint (or two). It was truly a night to remember. The chick was too big and advanced to ring or anything. But all that mattered was that we'd found him. I'd been in the right place at the right time. All the other leg work by others before me had cancelled out some areas and narrowed the search but I was still going to enjoy this moment.

That night I slept long and deep. Now that's what I call job satisfaction.

Dave Sexton RSPB Scotland Mull Officer

Tonight the messages of support for our campaign to stop the poisoning of our wildlife like Mull sea eagle youngster White G continue to come in and we're truly grateful. Just before writing this blog tonight, BBC Countryfile presenter John Craven emailed with his personal condemnation of this crime. Others like Simon King, Chris Packham and Mike Dilger have joined the chorus. Read their views in tomorrow's Scotsman newspaper. Maybe the tide is turning against those few irresponsible sporting estates which kill our protected species without a second thought for their actions. As John Craven said: "Watching the sea eagles in flight on Mull was one of my greatest experiences during many years of reporting on UK wildlife. There can be no excuse for this senseless killing".

Please help keep the pressure on.

I'm on the move away from Mull for the next few nights but will let you know of any new satellite data if we get it.

There are some days which put you on top of the world and for me, one day earlier this year was one of them. There is a pair of sea eagles on the Scottish mainland which is just so elusive you wouldn't think they had eight or nine foot wingspans! I mean how could anyone miss them? And yet, year after year, they have proved very difficult to track down.

They have now had three or more different nest sites, all many miles apart. They range across vast sea lochs and mountain ranges; one day they are at the south end of their territory, the next at the northern extreme. The quest each winter is to monitor the rare sightings we receive of them and to try and piece together where they might be prospecting for a new nest. But last winter the sightings were even fewer and farther between - almost non-existant. Just where did they go? 

For the UK's biggest bird of prey and as one of the world's largest eagles, they kept a very, very low profile. So by the time they should have been laying eggs in March we had absolutely no idea where they were. And once incubation commences, they are even harder to find.

For a start, there is only ever one bird out and about while the other is sitting on the eggs and for obvious reasons they seem to work even harder at not giving themselves away. But surely by the time they hatch in April or fledge in July, they would have given away a few clues? All those feeding flights, back and forth. Someone must have seen something for goodness sake!

Well, it would seem not. For the pair in Territory 40, life proceded as normal - I have a sneaking admiration for them evading the eyes and ears of experienced fieldworkers from the RSPB, the local intelligence network of the police, the on-the ground knowledge of the Forestry Commission rangers and well, pretty much everyone. And so by the time it got to mid July we had a few vague reports of adult sea eagles matching their description - the female has yellow wing tags and the male is unmarked. Someone saw an adult with food flying south along the coast. They must have young! Why else would it be carrying food?

Then a breakthrough - and of course it came from the people who live and work on the ground and on the sea. Staff at a local marina saw an adult flying twice in the same direction. It wasn't much but we had a lead. With no one else available I took a day trip from Mull and ventured onto the mainland to follow up the reports.Time was running out.

My first stop was the marina and as I was talking to the owner, my eye glimpsed a familiar silhouette in the far distance. It was a sea eagle, an adult and it was heading our way. My heart was already racing. Was this to be our really big break? It flew right over us and headed inland, right over the near ridge and kept going. Follow that bird! I leapt into the landrover and set off in the general direction of the eagle - or at least as best I could given the Highland roads and forestry tracks which never quite take you in the direction you really want to go.

I started that search at 1000 in the morning; by 4 o'clock in the afternoon, having had no lunch and having abandoned the vehicle and sweated my way deep into several likely looking glens, I had drawn a complete blank. This day was going to end like all the others in the search for the Territory 40 birds.

As I got about as far away from the landrover as I could get and was frankly, cold, wet and a bit lost in a forestry plantation - a spark of a mobile signal made it through the gloom. It was the messaging service. I had one message. It had been left five hours previously! The news made me both exasperated and elated all at the same time. And I've never retraced my steps in the mud quite so rapidly before.

To be continued...

The death of our 2007 Mull sea eagle chick 'White G' continues to make the news with major coverage in the weekend's Sunday Mail  with the headline 'The Eagle Killers'. Read the article online. The Sunday Mail has the biggest circulation and readership of any national newspaper in Scotland so White G's story and the issue of illegal poisons killing our wildlife in the countryside will have reached another new audience.

Thank you again to everyone who has written a comment under the 'White G: RIP' blog and for the letters you have written to the press and your political representitives. It really will make a difference. Please, if you haven't written yet, consider doing so this week. Please see the 'White G: RIP' blog in the Archives for what action you personally can take to ensure White G did not die in vain.

Meanwhile, I've received a possible sighting of Breagha on Morvern in the middle of last week. It came from Mike Wagemakers who runs 'Isle of Mull Experience Tours'. On holiday for a week on nearby Morvern, Mike saw a young sea eagle with a satellite tag on Friday. Of course I guess it could have been Mara but we know from his last sat tag reading that he was way to the north and east on Ardnamurchan just a day or so before. Yes he could have swung back to be on the Morvern coast but I like to think it may have been her. She/he was chasing a raven and nearly caught it! Soon, that expensive bit of technology she has will tell us one way or the other!

Dave Sexton RSPB Scotland Mull Officer

For a brief update on recent developments please see the Comments under this blog. For now, for various reasons it's important that this story stays here as the main posting. A new blog will be coming in the next few days but meanwhile any news will be under Comments. 

After the unfolding events of this week, there could only really be one subject for the blog at the moment For details of the case of White G, please see links on the Monday 10 November blog in The Guardian and see BBC News Online.

Warning: for those seeking a happy ending, look away now.

He had an uncertain start in life. Whilst still in the egg, his parents were spooked by something and left the nest unattended for two hours. We wondered if the egg would hatch. Luck must have been shining down on the nest and him that day. The air was mild. It was dry. The early spring sunshine was warm. He carried on living inside his protective shell. He was a survivor.

The male returned and carried on incubating, soon to be relieved by the female. Everything returned to normal and on the appointed day, 38 days from laying, he fought and he struggled to break out of the egg. He was small enough to sit in the palm of your hand. Not that I tried it out. From day 1, his parents tenderly fed him on tiny strips of fish and meat. Day by day his wobbly, downy head and neck grew stronger. Soon we could hear him calling whenever he spotted one of the adults returning with food.

By four weeks old, his first feathers were coming through, he was sitting up on his own and just a week later he was beginning to try to feed himself.

Face to face with an eagle!

Another two weeks on and we came face to face for the first time. It was ringing and wing tagging time. He was lowered gently to the ground and I lifted him carefully out of the bag. I remember him as one of the feisty ones - so does our tree climber Justin who had the scars to prove it. He put up quite an impressive display for an eight week old bird!

Soon enough, the measurements, ringing and tagging were complete: white wing tags were the colour for 2007 and his letter was 'G'. White G was official! And so safely back into his nest, a gift of mackerel left for him and away we went through the wood to leave them in peace once more.

For the next month, he grew into a fine, strong young sea eagle. Rich dark chocolate feathers, bright yellow feet, dark beak and eyes. If a young sea eagle can be handsome - he certainly was. By three months old, he was ready to take his maiden flight. Before long he was joining his parents on trips to the nearby shoreline and delighting many visitors staying at the local campsite with his antics. I watched him one day 'grappling' for an hour or more with a piece of drift wood - half play, half serious training for catching his own prey in the months ahead.

Going solo

By October, he was on his own for most of the time. We had regular reports of him from Ulva, Killiechronan and one day I even saw him soaring over Salen Bay from my garden. He was well on his way. Over the winter, he spent alot of time around Loch Scridain in the south of Mull and was even photographed looking a bit wet and bedraggled in a spruce tree in Glen Seilisdeir - the glen of the irises.

At the end of March this year, he was filmed by John and Janis Allen from Mull. He was trying to pinch a fish from an otter in Loch Don. It's something sea eagles are well known for - let the otter do all the hard work and then swoop in and grab the prize. It doesn't always work and it didn't on this occasion but the fact that White G had already learned to do this proved that his prospects for survival were good. He had got through the first really tough test of his life - he'd survived his first winter away from his parents. His future should have been very bright.

Luck ran out

But that was the last time anyone saw him alive. What happened next we can never know for sure. Like all young sea eagles, he had the wander lust and began a long journey to the mainland and cross country eventually finding good, suitable habitat in the Angus Glens. It was there that his luck ran out.

One Sunday night in early May, the 'phone rang. White G had been found dead in woodland. A few days later a police and RSPB search of the area found over 30 poisoned baits littering the ground with others positioned on the tops of fence posts. A mountain hare had been cut open and it too laced with a deadly cocktail of illegal posions. Maybe this is what White G had fed on? The lethal ingredients in his contorted body in the brambles and bracken matched those on the baits.

He must have thought he'd struck gold. Hare and roe deer venison - what a discovery for a hungry, young sea eagle, far from home! On Mull he'd only ever been used to people in awe of his flight. The worst he'd ever known was a distant memory of being lowered from his nest for checking and wing tagging. Why shouldn't he trust this food bonanza? Who, on earth, could possibly wish to harm him?

Shocked and horrified

Anything or anyone could have touched those baits tossed at random about the land. Pet dogs, children - the end result could have been the same. And so the police investigation got underway and continues today. Many here on the island, across Scotland and the UK are shocked and horrified that we are still killing our birds of prey in 2008. Responsible landowners and gamekeepers of which there are many will feel as sickened as we all do.

The fact that a sea eagle from Mull was one of the victims has helped to make it 'a story' but a common buzzard too was found dead nearby, also poisoned. It didn't make it very far from the bait on which it had fed. White G struggled down the hill, seeking sanctuary in the cover of woodland as the toxins took hold of his nervous system. I pray his end was swift but experience tells us that this is not always the case with the pesticides involved here. We're grateful to the landowner who found and reported him - as shocked as anyone at the turn of events.

'A national disgrace'

Over ten years ago as Devolution was getting underway, Donald Dewar called the poisoning of raptors in Scotland "a National disgrace". It still is. So what can we do about it? Sometimes we feel helpless in these circumstances but there are practical, useful and meaningful actions you can take. You can help the RSPB fight this menace in the countryside.

What you can do

A. sign the 'Help Birds of Prey' pledge on this website;

B. join the RSPB to support our work;

C. let your views be known to your MSP, MP and relevant Ministers at Holyrood and Westminster.

White G was a healthy, strong one year old sea eagle with his whole life ahead of him - maybe 30 years if he was lucky.

He may have drifted back to the west coast or somewhere else and in a few years time paired up and started to breed. He may have built a nest that was easily viewable and brought pleasure to thousands of visitors every year, just like his parents did on Mull this year at Loch na Keal. He and a mate could have helped boost a local economy, he could have inspired many - young and old, he could have just been an eagle living and surviving in his native land. Not too much to ask really in 21st Century Scotland?

Dave Sexton, RSPB Scotland Mull Officer

NEWS ALERT 

In The Guardian newspaper today, Monday 10 November, there is an article relating to an ongoing police enquiry after a young sea eagle hatched on Mull in 2007 was found dead on an estate in Angus.

The eagle (a male, wing tagged 'White G' from Scottish Territory no. 29) had died from eating an illegal poisoned bait.

Whilst this is not one of Frisa and Skye's chicks or one of the two satellite tagged eagles being followed on this RSPB web page, it is still extremely disturbing and upsetting for everyone who does so much to look after these birds on Mull and for the many thousands of people who visit here each year to watch them. A very sad end for this majestic young eagle. More news later. 

If this report about the sea eagle concerns you, please see the 'Help birds of prey' panel on the sea eagle tracking page of the RSPB website and click on 'Sign the Pledge'. Thank you for your support.

People remember in different ways. Some wear poppies, some march passed the Cenotaph, others watch it all on TV. All with their own reasons and memories. At 1100, many fall silent and reflect. This morning, more by accident than design, I found myself, surprise surprise, at Loch Frisa. I'd taken my daughter Bethan to Tobermory to take part in the local Gaelic Feis music festival.

On the way home, as I was passing the entrance to the loch, I thought I'd just take a quick trip up the track to see what was going on. I arrived at one of the viewpoints and had a scan about. Nothing there. Nothing on the larches. Anything on the mound? No. Pan right to the standing stones. There they are!

Frisa and Skye, dark and wet, were on the ground near the mighty stones. Skye was feeding on a rabbit. Frisa was nearby watching him. Five hooded crows were surrounding them, waiting and hoping for any scraps the eagles might leave behind when they'd had their fill. Every now and then, one bold crow would sneak in close and tweak the tail of Skye as he fed, causing him to jump up in surprise, turn round and glower at the crow and then resume feeding.

It soon became evident that Frisa was getting impatient and hungry. She strided towards her mate and was ready to barge him aside when he thought better of it and graciously stepped back to allow her to feed. The weather was atrocious. At times they vanished from view in really heavy hail showers which raced down from Ben More and engulfed us. Then after a few minutes, the squall cleared away, it was brighter for a few seconds and I could see the meal was almost complete.

It was a minute or so to 1100. Both eagles had now feasted and they both jumped away a few metres onto the ridge and allowed the crows in. I imagine there was quite alot of noise going on over there as I could see beaks opening and closing: the crows were clearly having a go, a couple of ravens too and the eagles also looked like they were calling occasionally but I could hear nothing apart from the howling wind and the hail on the roof of the landrover. A very noisy silence.

At 1100, as the radio fell silent, an all too brief shaft of sunlight hit the standing stones and the two eagles alongside. At the same time, a long, clattering rumble of thunder echoed round the hills. The cold, the wet and the mud all around made me remember my grandfather fighting in the First World War in a way I never have before.

All too quickly, the two minutes silence ended with the canons in London on the radio and another great clap of thunder at Loch Frisa, this time much closer. I looked back to the standing stones as the latest shower cleared but the eagles had both gone, as had all the crows. Either the thunder had spooked them all or there just wasn't anything left to eat. It was a Sunday and gone coffee time at home. Frisa and Skye had returned to their domain. It was high time I returned to mine.

 Dave Sexton RSPB Scotland Mull Officer

You can read how birds played a part in other people's memories of this time.

Still no new satellite tag data today. Hopeful for tomorrow. Any recent or new burning questions you may have will be answered Monday under 'Comments'.

A warm welcome to any new visitors to this Blog who have just dipped their toe in after watching 'Autumnwatch' this week. Tonight's your first night without Bill, Kate, Simon and Gordon! How will you cope? Well hopefully you'll enjoy catching up with our wonderful white-tailed sea eagles here on the Isle of Mull and perhaps have a glance back through some of the archive Blogs from the last few months to get an idea of what goes on here.

But first things first - an update on last night's report on the possible accident involving a sea eagle on the main road into Tobermory (see 'A worrying time' from yesterday). Whilst I can't yet give any absolute definitive news as no new satellite data has been received, I do feel more confident that what happened yesterday was a 'near miss' with an adult sea eagle and not with one of our two chicks from Loch Frisa, Mara and Breagha. The police have spoken to both drivers who reported the bird near the road and they are sure it had a white tail and a yellow beak. In other words, a full adult. That then would match the description of the sea eagles I saw shortly afterwards perched on the shoreline nearby. When one of them, a female, flew towards me yesterday I could see grey wing tags on both wings. The male had no visble tags. That description exactly matches the identity of the Territory 20 pair which have a glen in the centre of Mull as their core home range. Whilst the area I found them in yesterday seems to be way outside their normal territory, I can only assume that it is all part of their 'out of season' range where they wander at will. One of them maybe spotted the dead deer remains, the ravens and buzzards and came in for a closer look. It had a very near miss with a lorry and will hopefully never do it again. It's a bizarre, almost freak episode and one I never want to repeat. Today I spoke to Roy Dennis of the 'Highland Foundation for Wildlife' who helped us fit the satellite tags and he promises to send through the latest data for Mara and Breagha as soon as he receives it. And I'll pass it on to you. But tonight, I am more hopeful that they are both well and tonight have hopefully found a good, safe roost somewhere out there in these increasingly windy conditions on the west coast.

Later, as the low November sun appeared briefly through the rain showers and rainbows, I also confirmed that Frisa and Skye are fine. They were perched side by side, almost touching, in the larch trees - both wet through. Every few minutes, Skye threw his head back and called, immediately followed by Frisa's deeper answer. Just like the other pair who lost their chick this summer, Frisa and Skye are also already starting some early autumnnal courtship and reaffirming their special bond. Who knows, fairly soon, I may even see the first signs of their nest site selection - exciting times ahead!

If you want to watch any of the three 'Autumnwatch' Mull Eagle video diaries, you can at www.bbc.co.uk/autumnwatch/meettheanimals and click on 'Sea eagle'. If you want to see more of them in the future, why not make a comment on the 'Autumnwatch' Messageboard? Meanwhile as the crew leave Brownsea Island and Gordon's team head home from the Farnes, we're still here! Come rain or shine, 24/7, throughout the winter, I'm watching out for the sea eagles and keeping you posted on their adventures, past and present. I hope you'll join me here. Have a good weekend and I'll update you with any satellite news if we get it.

Dave Sexton RSPB Scotland Mull Officer

I got the call from Strathclyde Police this morning at 1100. A local lady driving near Tobermory was sure she had just seen a sea eagle by the side of the road - the main road into the town. She thought it was struggling to take off. I wasn't too far away so quickly made my way to the scene. When I had passed this spot an hour or so earlier I was surprised to see several ravens hanging around by the road. I assumed some animal had been hit during the night and they were clearing it up. As I got to the area described by the police, there were still ravens about and a few buzzards too. They were indeed feeding on the remains of a red deer in a roadside ditch. It must have been struck while crossing the road last night - sadly an all too common event on the islands. I could see no eagles so I left the birds to their feast. I'd only travelled half a mile when the phone rang again. I pulled off, stopped the engine and rang the number back. It was our local police officer PC Finlay Christine. He'd just taken another call. This time from a lorry driver. He too had been travelling along this road just half an hour beforehand when a sea eagle had tried to take off from the side of the road, he'd tried to avoid it but thinks he gave it a glancing blow with his wing mirror. He had done his best and it shows the depth of concern people here have for their eagles that he and the lady before him had taken the trouble to report it to the police. But my heart sunk. There was no doubt in my mind now. Clearly a passing sea eagle had seen the ravens and buzzards and realised there must be food nearby. They get their clues like this all the time - it's just not normally near a busy A-road. We needed to do a search of the area, just in case the eagle was lying injured nearby. Before long I was joined by other colleagues form the Forestry Commission Scotland and the police - all concerned about what might have happened. The first job was to remove the deer remains from near the road so no other accidents happened. Then we spread out to search. What would an injured or shocked eagle do? Land and rest in a tree, on the ground, by the nearby shore? The lorry driver thought he saw it wheel around and fly off - maybe it wasn't seriously injured? My mind was racing. It was perhaps more likely to have been an adventurous immature sea eagle than an experienced adult to have come down so close to a road. I knew Mara and Breagha were last recorded not too far away. Mara had been on that deer carcase on Ardnamurchan just across the Sound of Mull and Loch Sunart from where I was now searching. I didn't want any sea eagle harmed least of all our two chicks. It was just too awful to contemplate.

I reached a ridge in the forestry and looked down to the shore. There on a rock sat a sea eagle. It was too far away to tell if it was an adult or an immature. Do I go all the way back to the landrover for the telescope and risk losing sight of it or do I try to get closer and use the binoculars. I decided it was better to keep it in view and crept closer. It was so close to the scene of the deer by the road that I felt sure this was likely to be the eagle and that it had landed here by the shore to recover. Just as I got close enough to work out roughly how old it was through the bins, an adult sea eagle flew passed it and then it also took off - both were full adults. They flew towards me and then south down the Sound of Mull. They flew well and strong. Part of me could relax. Surely it was one of them attracted into the carcase? Tonight I continue to have everything crossed for luck - please join in! But until we get that next set of satellite tag data to prove that Mara and Breagha are still active and a long way from that area, I can't really rest easy.

Dave Sexton RSPB Scotland Mull Officer

Farewell 'Autumnwatch' for another year! If you missed the Mull Eagle Diaries, watch them at www.bbc.co.uk/autumnwatch/meettheanimals.

Update on the sea eagle pair that lost their chick this year (see diary 3): both adults have already been seen back on an old nest and are beginning to repair it. Their breeding cycle has already begun.

Earlier on 'Autumnwatch', we saw Mara make his maiden flight and Breagha wasn't too far behind, both unaffected by their satellite tags. Both are now doing well as you can see from the current map. But that time of joy at seeing the two chicks in the air was short-lived. As you can now see on the full unedited version of Wednesday's Mull Eagle Diary on the BBC 'Autumnwatch' website (click on 'Meet the Animals'), it was a very dangerous time for a young sea eagle elsewhere on Mull.

Below is another chance to read a Blog from earlier in the summer which takes up the story and explains the background to what you'll see on Thursday's final 'Autumnwatch' for 2008. And afterwards on this Blog, I'll be bringing you up to date on what's happening in that particular territory now.

Meanwhile, back in August...In addition to our Loch Frisa twins, we have another six sea eagle chicks this year on Mull to keep tabs on. They don't have the benefit of sat tags and are in remoter parts of the island so to check on their progress means some good old fashioned fieldwork.

Of course we can't keep an eye on them all the time; they've all now fledged and are wild birds to go where they please but just for our peace of mind, I like to at least know they've made it through their first few weeks out of the nest.

Generally when they get to the fledging stage, they are fine and do well. At one site, after a fruitless search and listening hard for loud food begging calls, there was nothing. So I switched my attention to the mainland opposite and there were the two adults sitting by the shoreline, occasionally shooting off to grab fish from the surface of the Sound of Mull.

Then, much to my surprise after slightly fearing the worst at seeing them together so far from their nest area, in flew their single chick to harass the adult for a piece of  fresh mackerel. That chick was clearly doing very well and had already flown across the sea and away from Mull. Success! And one less chick to worry about.

Onto the next site which had also had a single chick. This chick had been on a nest visible from a public road and had been watched and guarded carefully by local people and many passing tourists. As far as we all knew it had fledged normally. One morning it was standing on the edge of the nest, flapping like mad and exercising those huge wings and flight muscles. On the next check just 45 minutes later, it had gone - right on cue! Another success!

Chicks often sit around alot, usually on the ground after their first flight and need time to recover from the shock at being out of the safety and comfort of the nest - the only place they've known for the last 3 months since hatching. And they're often in thick forestry areas so we have to depend on watching the behaviour of the adults and calls from the chick. But something wasn't right. A few days later there had been no calls heard. The chicks can be very loud when calling for food.

I decided to go into the Forestry Commission Scotland plantation for a closer look and walked down through the rows of trees. I don't usually like doing this as if the chick was sitting nearby, it could have spooked into flying off. The female was sitting on the nest tree watching me approach. That looked like a good sign but still no calling. I sat and waited, hoping to hear a call. Nothing. It was time to go right in.

The female flew away. She didn't make any alarm calls as she would have done had the chick been close by. Maybe it had just flown further than we'd all thought - like at the first site I'd checked? I was now within a few metres of the vast towering nest tree. I didn't want to but knew I had to check around the base of the tree - just in case. There was a feather fluttering in the breeze; then another and another.

By now, I just knew what I was going to find but the shock of it was no less intense. Lying on her back at the base of the tree, spread over the giant roots, was our chick. Her giant yellow talons curled tightly shut, her head turned to one side. She hadn't fledged, she had fallen or been blown off the nest in a sudden gust just before she was quite ready to go. Perhaps a part of the nest had given way beneath her as she jumped up and down flapping hard and she found herself falling out of control through the unforgiving branches from some 90 feet up.

The only consolation was that it looked like she'd died instantly as she hit the hard roots and hadn't sat there injured and suffering for several days. All that effort by her; all that effort by the parents; all that effort by the people watching over her. She'd given hundreds, maybe thousands of people an unforgettable experience of watching a wild sea eagle chick in the nest. But there's a very thin line between life and death for these eagles in this environment and for this young eagle there was to be no soaring over nearby sea cliffs or chasing after other young eagles in Mull's autumn skies.

As I sat on a tree trunk next to her I was suddenly jolted back to considering if I had enough plastic bags with me for her remains and thinking I'd better gather her up to send to the museum. But then I wondered about the female who had been sitting on the nest tree above this sad bundle of feathers. Was she still looking for the chick? It's perfectly possible. But soon enough, her and her mate will start selecting a site for next year and start nest building all over again. With that positive thought, I gathered things together and trudged back through the forest.

www.bbc.co.uk/autumnwatch/meettheanimals

Dave Sexton RSPB Scotland Mull Officer

'Autumnwatch' is coming to an end! Catch the final show Thursday night BBC Two 8pm. Watch the drama described above and find out the latest from this pair of sea eagles and discover how Mara and Breagha are faring in the big, wide world.

For tonight's Blog, please visit:

http://blogs.rspb.org.uk/mulleagles/archive/2008/08/28/Highs-and-lows.aspx

When the dawns are as bright and autumnal as we've been having this week, there's really no argument about the plan for the day. A quick breakfast, make a packed lunch, a flask of coffee, into the landrover and away into the glens. At this time of year, just when some people think life is slowing up on the islands, we're actually full on trying to establish which pairs of sea eagles are where, what has happened to this year's chicks and are there any new pairs prospecting for next year? With this lot in mind I decided to head for a remote, central part of Mull where we sometimes have a roost of young eagles gathering at this time of year.

The conditions were ideal and hopes were high. Once again, there wasn't a ripple on the lochs. A few whooper swans feeding at one end of the loch, a small mixed flock of teal, wigeon and mallard at the other. In between at the fishfarm, three ever-hopeful cormorants and two herons bided their time. As I worked my way along the loch I disturbed two dippers. Strange to see them away from their breeding river site and now settled in their winter loch shore home. Onwards up the glen. In the far distance Beinn Talaidh still had a dusting of snow from last week. With the sun shining directly on it, the glare through the telescope forced me to half close my eyes. Until an eagle drifted into view, just gliding over the snow covered boulder field on the summit. It was a young golden eagle, by the looks of the plumage, one of this year's young, probably from Mull. It still had the bright white patches on either wing and the white tail with black band. Suddenly it banked sharply and was joined by a second young goldie of the same age. Together they glided, then dived on each other. At one point they landed in the snow and sent a flurry of white flakes all around them. But not for long. They were off again, chasing and playing above the peak. In from the north came another bigger, darker form - a young sea eagle. It could even have been Mara or Breagha? The three youngsters were just revelling in the bright, clean frosty air. If eagles play, this was it. Up and down, legs down, half swooping, gliding back round, almost touching talons, then away again. Over and over again. Next to join this aerial youth club was a sub adult sea eagle, more white on the tail but still with the care-free approach of youth. How many was that now? Right - four eagles, two goldies, two sea eagles - all still together. Wait, what's that coming in? Two more eagles joining the fray. They look a bit more serious. Two adult golden eagles - presumably the territorial pair from this home range. The playful group briefly dispersed as the two guardians of the glen cruised in but before long they had all merged into six soaring masters of the air. Whilst the adult goldies kept circling, the young eagles continued to spar and jostle each other mid air until the youngest sea eagle split off and flew purposefully to the south. Watching this 'flock' of eagles, I had been unaware of the two adult sea eagles soaring high over me. The youngster was heading straight for them - maybe his parents. He joined them and then all three flew back towards Beinn Talaidh. I was now watching eight eagles soaring over the snow-capped hills. The respective adult pairs at different heights but the youngsters in a free-for-all lower down. Nothing was going to stop them. Confident on the wing. No territory to defend. Carrion aplenty. Life was for living. Eventually, some 45 minutes after it had all started, the adult sea eagles drifted back south. The adult golden eagles glided off in the opposite direction. Then, one by one, as easily as they'd found each other, the young birds slowly drifted apart. All going their own separate ways - into Glen Forsa, down into Glen More and away towards Loch na Keal. As I lost the last dot of an eagle over the distant horizon, I looked back to the snow field. The sky was empty now, still blue and clear, but empty. Not an eagle in sight. The young birds will fly on to who knows where. They may never meet up again. But for that short time, they had come together as one joyous, magnificent band of young eagles. Time to play, time to learn. Time to live.

Dave Sexton RSPB Scotland Mull Officer

On 'Autumnwatch' on Wednesday follow the Mull Eagle Diary as our two sea eagle chicks take to the air for the first time but elsewhere on Mull, disaster strikes...

BBC Two 7pm

As we'll see tonight on 'Autumnwatch', the process of fitting the satellite tags can be a stressful one for all concerned. We were very fortunate this year to have Justin Grant, who is very experienced and careful with handling young sea eagles in the nest whilst on the ground Roy Dennis was waiting to fit the tags. He is one of the few people in the UK able to do this and has decades of experience of handling birds of prey, especially eagles and ospreys (as many of you who read the Loch Garten blogs will know). We couldn't have had a better team assembled. Once the chicks have put up an initial impressive defense, they calm down rapidly and are quiet and relatively easy to handle. Both Mara and Breagha had their satellite tags carefully fitted by Roy. During the process, we fitted them with specially-made falconry hoods to calm them down even more and the whole job was over quickly. It's important that you know how we do it. The lightweight 70 gram packs are attached to a simple harness which fits comfortably around the wings and sits on the eaglet's back. It doesn't inhibit them in any way and they do not seem to spend any time trying to get it off or fiddling with it. It's just there from a relatively early age and is no more cumbersome than you or I wearing a wristwatch. The tape is carefully stitched together to hold it in place. This thread is designed to weather away after 3-4 years so the small pack falls off and can be retrieved from the hill wherever the satellite tells us it's lying. The eagle flies on and we can salvage the high-tech tag (each one costing £3000), carry out any maintenance that's needed and re-use it on another project. And in the meantime we have years of data to show how and where these young eagles go, all of which will help us in further sea eagle reintroduction projects across the UK.

Finally after the tags are safely attached, measurements taken and everyone's happy, we reverse the process and haul the eaglets in their soft canvas bags back into the safety of their nest. By this time, Frisa and Skye have long since given up calling and circling overhead. I can usually find them sitting together on the open hill or on a favourite tree. They may look less bothered but I know it's time we left. We need to leave them in peace now so they can quickly resume their normal feeding pattern. Just in case they take a bit longer to click back into normality, we always leave the chicks with a small offering - maybe a rabbit or two or some fish, just to see them through this brief disruption to their lives and routines. As the chicks are well developed by this stage and the adults are firmly bonded to them, there is no chance they will abandon them. That said, once we're all clear of the site and everyone else has departed, I wait and watch until one of the adults returns to the nest - just to be sure. The feeling of relief when either Frisa or Skye finally swoops down onto the nest and starts feeding a chick is hard to beat. Another year of essential monitoring work is almost complete and I can relax again. Those moments when I see the adults return to normal, feeding their young or preening nearby are some of the best bits of this job. I can pour a coffee from the flask, take a deep breath and start to enjoy life again. And I usually say to myself: "Never again!".

Update on Mara and Breagha: the latest satellite data shows that it was the male chick Mara who had the close encounter with the golden eagle on Ardnamurchan. Good on him! Meanwhile his sister Breagha seems to be conducting a tour of scenic attractions on the west coast of Mull - maybe MacKinnon's Cave, the Wilderness - anyone for Staffa? Both seem to be doing well. The map will be updated midweek. Today in stunning autumnal light, parents Frisa and Skye were together at the loch, perched one above the other in the beautiful yellow larches. On the loch were a small family group of recently arrived whooper swans, a party of wigeon and a few dabchicks. The perfect reflections of the hills in the still waters were the best I've seen them and then a lone red deer stag bellowed out his late rutting roar just below me. This is an amazing time to be on Mull - just don't tell anyone....

Dave Sexton RSPB Scotland Mull Officer

On Tuesday's 'Autumnwatch' come with us on the trip to fit the satellite tags - now you know how to do it! BBC Two 8pm

We had already postponed the fitting of the satellite tags to the two sea eagle chicks at Loch Frisa at least twice. The weather just wasn't good enough. We needed dry, settled conditions. You wouldn't think that was too much to ask in June but the perfect day remained elusive. Not only that, but I was also trying to coordinate the date with our expert tree climber Justin Grant, our world renowned bird of prey specialist who would fit the tags, Roy Dennis - oh yes and the internationally acclaimed (well, quite famous on Mull) cameraman and presenter Gordon Buchanan and crew! Our window of opportunity was small. Justin had many other nests and trees to visit in Scotland, Roy was due to leave for Japan shortly and Gordon was due in Papua New Guinea for his next expedition very soon. And the chicks were getting bigger and less easy to handle by the day. Finally, it all came together: the weather, everyone's availability and the chicks were the right age. Tagging day had arrived. The night before such an event, you just don't sleep very well. By the time the alarm eventually goes off, you've been lying there waiting for it, running over things in your mind, planning every last task and preparing for any eventuality. In short, you feel awful before the day has even begun! I collected Roy from the Lochaline-Fishnish ferry and we all met up at the hide. The crew were ready, Justin was carrying out some last minute checks on his climbing gear and Frisa and Skye were perched, relaxed and preening in their usual conifer. Little did they know what was about to invade their world. Some early drizzle had eased and the sun was appearing. Unfortunately that moisture would make the tree slippery and dangerous for Justin. When you're grappling with two month old, almost fully grown young eagles 40 feet up a tree, you do not need any extra hazards.

I truly hate that moment when Frisa and Skye suddenly realise that you're not just a group of walkers passing through, but that you're heading straight for the nest. They launched off from their tree in panic and began circling low overhead and calling in alarm as we got nearer and nearer. Unlike golden eagles which remain distant or out of sight, sea eagles make themselves very obvious and can sometimes come worryingly close (sadly it's what made them so easy to shoot back in Victorian days when egg collectors or others who would do them harm, approached their nests). No matter how many years I do this job, I dislike that phase of the work more than I can say. And yet, I know that for the good of the project overall, it's a job that must be done. The stress levels are at bursting point. I want it to be over. I want the job done and I want Frisa and Skye and the chicks to relax and get back to normal. I just want to get out of there and if a TV crew dare to say 'can we just do that again?' I think the look on my face probably provides them with the answer. That's why working with Gordon, Richard and the Autumnwatch crew is just perfect. They know what they want, they work around us all doing what we have to do and they never ask 'can we just do that again?' (except when Gordon has to re-do his make-up).

Finally, 40 feet up, Justin reached the nest, he had one chick in a bag ready to be lowered and he was gently calming the other which was trying to take a chunk of flesh out of his hand. Below we waited for that signal that Justin was ready to lower the bag with the precious cargo. The ropes were tightened. Gordon took up the slack. "Ready!" Justin eased the bag over the edge of the nest and into the forest canopy. As I start to pull the bag towards me, I'm praying silently (sometimes not so silently) that the ropes hold, the knots hold, the bag holds and that the chick survives the descent. It's a nightmare moment. Here goes...

Dave Sexton RSPB Scotland Mull Officer

Autumnwatch is back for Week 2. The Mull Eagle Diary films are now scheduled to begin Tuesday 4 November BBC Two 8pm.

Following in the wingbeats of Itchy and Scratchy (the Springwatch stars of 2005) was never going to be easy. The following year, Frisa and Skye produced two more healthy, bouncing twins. They were named by the children of Lochdon Primary School during one of their visits to the eagle hide. The chicks already had their wing tags on: yellow was the colour for 2006 and the letters were H for one male chick and O for his brother. It took the school children all of five minutes to come up with the winning names: Haggis and Oatmeal (or Oatie for short). Brilliant.

The two chicks fledged normally and went through the normal pattern of post fledging behaviour: hanging around mum and dad until the last possible minute, following them to explore their territory and eventually by the autumn of 2006, drifting away from the island, much like we're seeing Mara and Breagha do this year. The two brothers could never quite live up to the celebrity status achieved by Itchy and Scratchy but they gave it a pretty good go. Their best exposure came when Kate Humble visited us for 'The One Show'. Kate was thrilled to see her old friends Frisa and Skye's latest offspring. We tracked them down to a part of the forest near that year's nest and both chicks put on a fine display for the cameras - still flying unsteadily at that point and landing in a bit of a feathery heap but it was great for a new audience to share in their development. When the cameras stopped rolling and everyone had left, it was back to just them and me. Slowly they gained in confidence and spread their wings to pastures new. Oatie was the first to leave and he headed for Morvern, only to return briefly soon after (sound familiar?). After that, sightings of him became more sporadic. He has been seen since at various points on the mainland, back on Mull and on other islands but we've had no definite word of him now since last winter. I hope he's out there somewhere, safe and well. On one extraordinary occasion, over a year after they had gone their separate ways, both Haggis and Oatie were seen back together again down at Loch Scridain on Mull. A lovely coincidence and who knows, perhaps a flicker of recogniton between them? They stayed together for a few days before the brothers parted again, mayber this time for good.

And so what of Haggis ? Well, we know from sightings that he made a long distance journey way out west to the Outer Hebrides. He was seen on the Isle of Lewis, only briefy, and then he vanished. I have to say at that point I was concerned. There are some chicks (and Haggis is one of them) who just seem to get seen regularly and all over the place. But now sightings of him just dried up completely. We feared the worst and time moved on.

This week I got a message from Bryan Raines who runs 'Wild About Mull' tours here. He had spotted a young sea eagle with yellow tags but as so often with wing tags, they never seem to be facing the right way! Eventually, keeping the bird in his sights, he got a better view: Yellow......H! Good old Haggis had come home. He was looking fit and well and is now a strapping young sea eagle 'teenager', over half way towards adulthood. Already his dark beak and eyes are turning a pale yellow, his feathers are paler and mottled and there is just the earliest hint of white about the tail. He's got a long way to go yet before he attains the full, fine plumage of his parents Frisa and Skye and we wish him well over the next few years. Do let me know if you spot him on your travels on the west (or east coast) of Scotland. But with Haggis safely accounted for, my thoughts turn to long lost brother Oatie. Maybe, just maybe, they have a pact to meet up on Mull every year or two? Let's hope he'll show up here soon and we'll see them side by side again, perched by the loch edge: for just a wee while, brothers together once more.

Dave Sexton RSPB Scotland Mull Officer

Autumnwatch and the Mull Eagle Diary begins Monday 3 November BBC Two 8pm.