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Dave thanks for the news of  Oran and Venus  and what wonderful names for them.  Long may they grade the skies and hopefully will do as well and Mara and Breagha.  Your very descriptive posts are just wonderful, how I wish I did not live so far away.  Good luck  Oran and Venus and keep safe.

Wow, what wonderful and exciting news, and such descriptive prose about the origins of their names.  You just made a sunny day even sunnier.  Wild horses will not stop me from staying tuned in for news of all your birds Dave and that reminds me,  (please excuse my sense of humour)

Happy Birthday Debby !!

Thanks Dave, I look forward to tracking the exploits of 'our' new youngsters

Lovely to hear about the new eagel chicks to follow as there are plenty of ospreys around the world but not as many eagels to follow, await more news.

JILLIAN

wow, what a great update Dave. Thank you so much.

Welcome to Oran and Venus. What perfect names. Two more wonderful birds to fret over! May they live long, happy and successful lives:)

How exciting Dave! What lovely names too.You are going to be kept busy now trying to keep up with all your birds. We will be able to imagine you and Debby racing round the Island- binoculars trained skyward and a few more sleepless nights no doubt.

Hi Dave great to have news of the tagged chicks, two wonderful names as well I think we will all be interested to follow their progress.Hope for long lives for Skye and Frisa as so many people get to admire them and might be more difficult to observe a new pair.  

It's good to hear that there will be two new "satellites" in the sky over Scotland. Analysing differences in behaviour between siblings and singletons could be fascinating.

I was recently staying on the coast near Charleston, South Carolina, and was able to sit and watch brown pelicans diving for fish, accompanied occasionally by a single osprey. The brown pelican is now off the endangered species list, hopefully our eagles will one day achieve that status. I was struck by how comfortable the pelicans seem to be sharing their fishing grounds with humans. On one occasion we saw a bird trying to take a newly caught fish from the fisherman's hand - shouting and waving of hands and rod did nothing to deter him. The pelicans would fly in quite large numbers up and down the beach - we got used to watching out for the Pelican Patrol - and dive in close proximity to swimmers.

I wonder whether the eagles will ever develop this affinity with humans - I know that some of the Skye birds will follow fishing boats for scraps - or whether they will always prefer to soar over the remote and uninhabited lochs and mountains of the North.

Hopefully you will be able to follow our two new stars, Oran and Venus shortly - just sorting out the technicalities - I notice that Mara came back to Mull briefly and flew very close to the house!

STOP PRESS:  Oran and Venus now added to our Google tracking page

www.rspb.org.uk/.../mulleagles

Great news - more eagles to track, and such lovely names too.

I had a shock yesterday - a picture of a White tailed sea eagle on the front of our local paper (the East Anglian Daily Times!!) just not what one expects to see here in East Anglia!  I'm sure some of you will know that there is a possibility of sea eagles being re-introduced to the east coast of England.  I felt really excited when I read it - imagine seeing one of those gorgeous birds here in sleepy Suffolk! Do you really think it is possible?  Having seen Skye soaring over the forests and mountains on Mull, I think Suffolk would seem very tame and boring, and perhaps just not big enough. (much as I would just love to see an eagle here). I hope someone can reassure me that sea eagles could be quite happy in Suffolk/Norfolk?

Sylviamac - for Suffolk, see also www.rspb.org.uk/.../details.asp

How wonderful news and Oran and Venus are so powerful names! Looking forward to follow them in GE.

I told about the "inland Seaeaglenest" here in Finland before, well the chicks fledged succesfully, but the nest fell down (probably `cause of the jumping up and down). That part of the forest is now protected by law (because of the eagles), and there is ongoing negotiations between the land owner, eagle experts and authorities whether to fix that nest or make an artificial one or to wait and see what the eagles do themselves.

Well Sylviamac I am sure Sea Eagles would be happy in East Anglia if not persecuted,I will explain my worries,all the experts seem to suggest small number of serious opposition as 1% as insignificant but i think that is approx 54000 in opposition and they could do serious damage to small population of Eagles.I like I am sure lots of others feel really sad to see these wonderful birds killed and I am sure Mull with its compensation scheme is a unique place.People must not get sidetracked about tourism because people might go to East Anglia instead of Mull.The losses of these birds even with the fantastic Mull Eagle Watch and probably on other Islands must be really high I think because after about 25 years of hard graft I think about 200 adult Eagles.Please don't think I blindly oppose this as I go to Mull and enjoy as much as almost anyone seeing them but I don't think the opposition has been considered enough.

Comment: The detailed and extensive consultation phase is still on going and no decisions have been taken so anyone and everyone can have their say - for or against. Of  course I hope readers of this blog - especially those in England - will be for! Sea eagles belong to the lowland fens, woodlands and marshes of  England as much as they do to the sea cliffs and mountains of Scotland. There will always be some that wish to undermine these projects or even take direct action against the birds. But if the final decision is to reintroduce sea eagles to England then we will have to expect some ups and downs - just as we do here. But the secret is to maintain a steady course and slowly, year by year, the population will grow and sea eagles will be back where they should be. The SNH Mull Eagle Scheme (like similar ones) works well and is a positive management scheme, not compensation. And Mull is not afraid of a little tourism competition! People will still always want to come and see the original and best, just as they do to the Loch Garten ospreys even though there are now ospreys all over the UK. That is the vision for sea eagles too and as a species, after what mankind did to them, we owe it to them to bring them back. But that's only my opinion -  each to his/her own! Dave

thanks for the great updates, been on mull 3 times this year so far, and hoping to spend a bit time up there through the autumn. keep up the good work.

Mex - thank you for that.  It really does sound as though the sea eagles could be happy here in Suffolk. It would be so exciting! I hope I get to complete one of those surveys!  Now I will just have to wait and see what happens.

Lovely to see where the two new chicks are from on mull and that like others who have visited have been in those areas whilst there on holiday.

I was very interested in Orans position as when we visited Iona and when we started dribing along that loch I spotted an eagel flying high above the hill behind Oran's position and on the way back we drove around the loch before heading north on the main road and spotted a wildlife tour minibus parked by the edge of the loch with it's occupants watching with binoculars. I though I saw an eagel flying just above the water but because the minibus and one car had taken up the very small parking space we could not stop safely and had to keep going. The next time we visit we will do our utmost to park for a while. That was the only criticism about mull and the single track roads, it was very difficult to find safe parking away from Tobormoray which was ashame as it was so beautiful.

JILLIAN

There is a webcam (stillcam not video) in osprey nest, and now that the ospreys are on their way, the sea eagles use the nest. I hope it is ok to put the link here, if not SORRY and could someone please delete it

natureit.net/.../saaksikamera.php

Definitely not against Sea Eagles in East Anglia,you know how much we like seeing them.My big worry is we also owe them a life and not a lot of dreadful deaths,I think one person in Ireland has been responsible for 4 deaths of Eagles.Smaller Islands have many advantages in protecting Eagles but serious opposition is building in Wester Ross,Skye and East Anglia where it seems even some prominent conservationists oppose it.One thing I find most confusing is that RSPB was against the introduction in Suffolk but now for it in Norfolk,just down the road for a Eagle.The RSPB knows England is in the early stages of increasing numbers of Bittern,Avocet  probably Spoonbill and others,while healthy populations of these in Holland may stand some losses to Eagles England's population couldn't yet.Sorry to think differently to you Dave but I simply think a lot more research needs to be done as perhaps unfortunately East Anglia is a much different place today to what it was when Sea Eagles were last there if they ever were.Sooty and Sweep would much rather make the long journey to Mull to see them rather than a lot get killed and ruin the project.

What great names!! Not as good as Heather though ;-)

Is Heather still about? i mean do you still see her from the hide? or has she gone further away now.

We are coming up to Mull at in 4 weeks so i can't wait!! I hope the Eagles come out to play that week...

To get to the hide is it still by car, following? Not walking, its just unfortunatley i can't walk too far, luckily last time we went we all went in cars.

Are the eagles ever seen over Tobermory end of Mull? I know once about 4 years ago, we saw one over our cottage pretty low which was just upper Tobermory, just wondering do they often fly over?

Still no news on the Blue Peter programme?

Thank you both for your lovely updates!! Heather

Comment:

Mex, thanks for your comment received but not published.  I understand your views on the Countryfile programme and some of the interviewees comments but until the final results of the study are published, we don't want to prejudge the conclusions or make any comments that might offend. There were enough extreme headlines this time last year to last a lifetime! Let's just abide by the agreement of the project partners and await the results. I hope you understand but thanks for writing and all you do elsewhere to highlight the threats the eagles and all birds of prey still face. Now it's back to news of tracking Mara, Breagha, Oran and Venus. Hoping for some new data soon - although the continuing low cloud and drizzle won't help the solar batteries. Debby has trips to the hide booked for Tuesday and Wednsday. Stand by for a new blog reporting on what they see. cheers for now. Dave

Thanks Dave!! Hope to bump into you on Mull!! I hoped the last 2 times too, and when i went to the hide last time, Chris(who was taking groups then) said you are nearly as elusive as a Sea Eagle :-)

When we went to the hide last time, Skye and Frisa were sat in a tree miles away for the whole time, very eagle and lazy like! So not really a good view as could only just be made out through the scope!! I hope they can find a nearer favourite perch!

I was looking on BP webpage to see if said anything about up and coming programmes, but no!!!

Thank You Heather

I am on the island at the moment, it has been a rather grotty day but I am just so happy, at about 3.45 this afternoon we had fantastic views of Oran. The adult flew right over us and after about 15mins of flying around in the distance she/he came back with Oran in tow. He came close overhead and you could see his sat tag......Fantastic, I am still buzzing with excitement.

Reply: Wow, Carrie, fantastic. Thanks for this report, live from the field! Welcome back to Mull. Sorry about the weather today. Just horrible but it shows what is possible even when it's so dreich.  Enjoy your stay! Dave

ps my afternoon cuppa in the office is resting on your eagle coaster.

Hi Dave don't know if you want to put this on for Heatherp but I am sure you know that perhaps one of best places to get a good view of Sea Eagles is about 600 yards north of killiechronan camp site.Park in parking place and view in trees due east also Otter sometimes on rocks. How lucky for Carrie,what age would a blue wing tag be and would it be a Mull Eagle.

Reply: But THE best place is the hide of course! The above spot is also good but make sure parking is not in a passing place. It is difficult sometimes to know the difference as not all passing places are marked but assume they are. A blue tag could be 1997 or 2002. Difficult to know any more without the detail of a letter or number. Dave

Thanks to Sooty, Dave and Mex for responses to my posting. whatever happens, we all want what is best for these beautiful birds.  Mull sounds wonderful at the moment, and Carrie, what a fantastic sight for you!  We hope to return to Mull next spring, meantime will continue to follow all the action via the blogs. Thanks again everybody.

Thanks for that Sooty!! Will try it.

Wow Carrie, what a great sighting you had, that is fab.

Look forward to coming very soon :-D

Thanks for the reply Dave, wish we had got a photo of him. I did try to video him but it was all such a panic it happened so quick. We have been on the island getting on for two weeks now (we were at the fledging party) and although the weather has been grim we have seen wildlife just about every day, we are never put off by the weather you just have to get out and about. We are visiting Debbie at the hide tomorrow morning, hope to see Skye & Frisa and maybe even Heather this time!!

Well everything seems really good and interesting at the moment Dave,hope I am not tempting fate but no nail biting drama's which lets your blog fan club relax.Great that you find time to keep us all informed on the Eagles.

Heatherp if you are in Tobermory take the chance to drive out towards Glengorm castle hope you have good luck and get several sightings good idea to speak with like minded Sea Eagle (better not put hunters)mean fanatics.I think the more fanatics we get better chance of getting less persecution of Raptors in general.    

I have just been on tobermory.co.uk and my picture of a dolphin is used on it :-D

www.tobermory.co.uk/.../Bottlenose%20Dolphin.JPG  

Also thought i'd post this pic of my favourite sighting of a sea eagle, Oattie taken in September 06, he may be just a baby but he was massive, i think my best memory!!

i603.photobucket.com/.../4473_100311795801_683325801_2753319.jpg

Why were the chicks not wing tagged this year? well Heather anyway?

Thanks

We were staying at Tobermory in August.  We went for a walk up to the coast on the Glengorm estate and saw a Sea Eagle fly past.  Fantastic!!  Also saw buzzards, misselthrushes, basking shark and other wildlife - all on one evening!!  We're coming back next year.

Just had a look at the photos.  The first pic of Oran is hilarious, if not a little scary.  I hopt that Nick Purdy didn't take it personally :))

Thanks to everyone concerned.

HeatherP I think chicks not tagged on wing this year I think the senior Norwegian man in charge of sending birds to Scotland does not like the practice or at least thinks it unnecessary. I believe he thinks ring on the leg is enough for any identification.

Reply: HeatherP - west coast chicks haven't been wing tagged for a couple of years now. Last ones were in 2007 when the colour was white. The decision was one taken by the Sea Eagle Project Team in the UK as we all felt the wing tags had told us as much as they were going to about juvenile dispersal as getting data in from sightings depended on too many variables, like being seen in the first place, being accurately read by the observer and then actually receiving the information. So that's why in the west we're now piloting satellite tags. Other sister projects are still in their early phases when wing tags will still provide useful information so the east coast and Irish projects are still wing tagging. In the east the tags this year are turquoise with white letters or numbers. Sooty's latest revelations are news to me but maybe he has a hotline to Norway!  Wing tags were not everyone's cup of tea as a research tool but after 20 years or so of wing tagging here, there is no evidence that they harm or inhibit the birds in any way and many of our breeding birds were (and still are) wing tagged and are thriving. But to see a sea eagle as nature intended without wing tags is of course a thrilling sight - so as soon as we felt the time was right, the programme was ended. Let's hope the sat tags now do the business on juvenile dispersal although I must confess that there have been many times when I miss being able to ID a young bird from its wing tags - and I haven't yet managed to read a coloured leg ring through the 'scope. Time will tell. Dave

Its just a shame that we won't beable to identify an eagle by year or name now, unless it comes and sits on your bonnet long enough to read its ring :-) We were very lucky and clearly seeing the yellow tag and black 'O' on him and that year they (Haggis and Oattie) had been on springwatch , they are like celebraties, it was like seeing David Beckham, but i have met him like a 100x, I wouldn't mind my pic being taken with a Sea Eagle!!! Have we heard of him recently , Oattie!!

But as you say they must be rare those encounters and then reports, We have never seen a tag before or since,  once we saw a yellow tagged Golden Eagle. I just would love to see Heather the Sea Eagle, but i guess any young one could be her on the island or Oran or Venus!! Well any eagle is good enough me, I hope they continue to do as well as they are!

Well i'll let you know if i have any good sightings!

Thanks

Oatie was over in the east last year. Nothing since...deep breath! He'll be fine. He was one of Kate Humble's favourites that year (2006) and was on The One Show. Haggis was also seen on Lewis and then back on Mull once. Keep watching...

Tell me more of the yellow tagged golden eagle?

Dave

Oops i can't believe i spelt Oaties name wrong!! Sorry Fella! Oh yeah the one show, thats where i saw him!!

I don't remember much about the Goldie, I think i maybe reported it at the time, maybe not? it was a few years ago, but i think we marked it on the map, i'll see if can find record and remember.

Didn't know you tagged Golden Eagles too! Or maybe it was from mainland!

Heather stay around till I get there!! Do you still have to book well in advance for trips?

Reply: no that's fine. Maybe a day or two before.

Well HeatherP if it comes and sits on your car bonnet it will be pretty sick.Lots of people me included are not happy that birds that took thousands of years to evolve with hollow bones or at least a very light frame have these plastic weights put on their wing and due to temporary problem(I wonder why)wing tags not on 2008 release.I know lots of clever people disagree with me but it is probably like handicapping you having to carry 3 bags of sugar,you would not be as good as your contemporaries.Suggest these Eagles are so fantastic it doesn't matter much who it is.    

Its to help the Sea Eagles that they are tagged, not to hinder them. All of us here want the best for the birds that is one thing i think we all agree on!

The tags clearly have done no damage to the birds or stopped them do what any Sea Eagle does.

All the team on Mull and people have and are doing a great job protecting and helping this bird so it can roam safely without having to worry.

I think its fantastic having these wonderful birds in our country and without RSPB on Mull this wouldn't have happened..

I only just found out the names of Oran & Venus when they suddenly appeared on my Google Earth.  Another pair to follow on the Google Earth.  I just wish I knew how to delete Nethy and Deshar's routes from it as it slightly upsets me everytime.  I know it's nature but I travelled to see them on a few occasions and followed them on the internet for weeks!!!

Reply - Hi Ed - if you go to Google Earth, on the left hand side of the screen are listed the things you are following ie White Tailed Sea Eagles, Ospreys - you need to untick the boxes which are labelled Nethy and Deshar, then Save, and that should clear them from the map.  I had the same problem for a while!