Thank you all for your patience and interest in the progress - or otherwise - of Frisa and Skye and all their fellow white-tailed eagles on Mull.
As you can imagine it's been a hectic period throughout incubation and now into the early chick stage. Everyone here does their best to keep them safe and to try and ensure they're all successful but there's always the hand of fate which intervenes to make some pairs succeed and others to fail. This year for reasons we're still not clear on, Frisa and Skye will not be raising any chicks although they are still present at Loch Frisa and still usually showing well. Their incubation period went smoothly but their hatch day came and went - just like last year. It hit everyone here involved with this special pair very hard. We just were not expecting it. They seem to be over their disappointment already so we now must follow their lead.
Thankfully this year we have been able to retrieve one intact but addled egg for analysis which may provide us with some answers - or not. We just don't know at the moment but will keep you posted on any significant developments.
We haven't been completely silent by any means since the last blog and have been trialling Twitter@SkyeandFrisa as a quicker, more instant way to keep you all up to date. It would be interesting to know what you think of this, whether you still like Blogs as well or if Twitter does the job? With only the two of us here there may be periods of apparent inactivity on the social networking scene but rest assurred we'll keep the updates going whenever we can!
So trips to the Eagle Hide continue to be very busy and they now offer a unique 'Forest Drive-thru' experience which has never been done here before. Working with our friends at Forestry Commission Scotland, visitors meet the Rangers at the north end of the Loch Frisa track on the Tobermory to Dervaig road and then head into the forest along a good track, stopping at various intervals to look for eagles, harriers, divers, ravens, deer and a whole host of smaller forest birds. Skye and Frisa are usually to be found on a favourite hill or tree and you conclude the visit at the amazing Eagle Hide where you can learn about their whole story and the saga of Mull Eagle Watch. Well worth the £5 adult/£2 children cost which goes to the Mull & Iona Community Trust to support local projects here. For more information check out the Date with Nature pages on the RSPB main website, Mull Eagle Watch or the Forestry Commission Scotland website under Mull sea eagles. To book a trip call 01680 812 556.
Meanwhile, other eagles on Mull - golden and white-tailed - hatched their eggs during a beautiful spell of calm, dry, warm weather. They couldn't have had a better start in life. They need to be brooded by an adult for a good ten days to two weeks before they can control their own body temperature so they are very vulnerable at this stage. As a result Mull Eagle Watch does not end when the eggs hatch! In fact there's now the long 12 weeks to go before they fledge. But that's a while away for now. We've been seeing several white-tailed eagle nests with two white downy heads of the chicks just beginning to appear above the rim of the nest. It's always a fabulous heartwarming moment and you realise that at least they're through the hazardous hatch stage which is probably the most dangerous time of their little lives.
Some of the chick 'twins' have been having wee battles in the nest to work out who is in charge and who will get the first feed when an adult returns with prey. With golden eagles this can sometimes end in the death of the smaller or weaker chick. White-tails seem generally more amiable and less aggressive in the nest although they do sometimes have a bit of a tussle. At this early stage there is always an adult brooding or nearby so perhaps the chicks have less opportunity to get bored and start a fight. To see the mighty form of an adult with that yellow cleaver like beak tenderly offering morsels of food to tiny chicks is a sight you never tire of witnessing.
So what will the coming weeks bring? The weather has certainly gone down hill since hatching so they're not out of danger yet. We may well lose other chicks but we're ever hopeful that most will now go from strength to strength. For us? Well, we've dusted ourselves down, taken a deep breath and just keep on going because there's still so much to do. It means a great deal to us to know we have such a dedicated troop of RSPB supporters and followers out there who care about the eagles as much as we do. It really is much appreciated.
Once more unto the breach dear friends!
Dave Sexton RSPB Mull Officer
David thanks for your blog, how terribly sad that Skye and Frisa have failed again to produce chicks. Was so looking forward to reading that eggs had hatched, hopefully you will be able to find something out from the egg you have managed to retrieve.
Good to hear that other eagles are appearing and I so hope the weather is not going to cause any problems for them.
Sorry for you all but as you say we have to move on as Skye and Frisa have done.
Sorry to hear about Skye and Frisa this year Dave but fingers crossed for another healthy season across Mull and the West Coast. Keep up the good work!
Very sad,we live in a harsh world and nature can be brilliant but can also be cruel, you can do everything in your power to help and protect the eagles but no one can control nature. Very sad particularly after last year.
Can't wait to come to Mull in 2 wks :)
On the twitter/blog question I follow on twitter but I still think blogs are important and I think slot of people look forward to them and we all really appreciate yours and Debbys time and efforts and for sharing the life of the eagles with us.
Best wishes Heatherp
Yes, please keep blogging!
Ian
Hi Debby and Dave, Iv'e been checking this blog 3 times a day for the last 2 weeks thinking it was strange that we hadn't heard any news and asumed that things had gone wrong for Skye and Frisa again. After a bad year for adult bald eagles in USA that I follow I was looking forward some positive news hearing about our chicks this summer. I am glad that you were able to get an egg for analysis
1.Does this mean that there was only one egg?
2.From this will they be able to tell us whether it was a fully formed chick or that it hadn't fertilized?
3.Did they use the same nest as last year or build a new one?
How unfortunate for all the people that worked so hard to protect these eggs and nest again. I am glad that Skye and Frisa are moving on and wish all the other chicks well as they grow. I have a copy of one of the blog pictures which Debby put on the blog last year of our pair framed on my wall and look at them regularly.
Will the trip to the hide last longer now or will it just mean that we travel from the north to the original hide instead of through the shorter forested southern route?
We will be up in the first week of August to support you and look forward to seeing a different view of Loch Frisa which I have studied many times on google earth.
Sorry about all the questions but I have become very interested different breeds of eagles.
Pleeeeeeeeeeeeese keep blogging as I don't understand twittering and you both write so well.
Kind regards to all the team.
Jillian
Thanks Dave for the informative blog. We are so sorry for Skye and Frisa, and feel for you all in your disappointment. We have just visited the Eagle Hide, a fantastic experience, thank you Debby for your time and patience, you show such enthusiasm for your work, even in sometimes difficult and sad circumstances. I can certainly recommend a visit to anyone able to get to Mull. The drive down the forest track alongside Loch Frisa was beautiful, we had sunshine (and just one shower), saw one of the eagles, and other wildlife. It was great to actually be there. We saw other Sea Eagles at various places around the island, and also Golden Eagles, other birds of prey, sea otters, - I could go on, - sorry to bore everyone. It was just brilliant! You will love it Heatherp, but I guess you already know that!
I'm not into twitter yet Dave (will have to get our son to help us out there), so enjoy following the blog.
Best wishes to all.
Hi Dave and Debby, Very sad news that there are no chicks at Loch Frisa this year, it must be such an anti-climax for you after all the weeks of watching and waiting. We came to the hide for the first time last September, really enjoyed our visit, and will return again later this year.
Please continue with the blogs when you have the time, it does keep all of us technophobes who do not understand "twitter" in touch with what is happening on Mull. I hope in all the hectic time you have had that you have seen Kellan still looking well.
i am signed up to twitter and loved getting the updates, however still missed the more detailed reports in the blog.
Thank you Dave for yet another informative, interesting and beautifully written blog. So sorry to hear of Skye & Frisa's second successive year of failure to fledge young but good to hear that new life has appeared in other nests around the island.
Please keep the updates, blogs or whatever you call them coming on here, I would hate to lose them if they went elsewhere, you & Debby write them so well. My Grandchildren tell me that twitter is simple but I think that I must be even more simple as it has taken ages for even this to become relatively easy for me.
I agree with most of the other posts, it would be a shame to lose these blogs; I receive the twitter posts & it's a great tool for getting speedy info, however the detail that we get in these blogs is far greater than we could receive from twitter and very interesting. Many thanks
Sorry to hear that Frisa and Skye failed again this year, hopefully the egg will produce some answers to the many questions you must have. Please keep up the blog, I do not follow twitter and much prefer your well written and entertaining blogs.
Hi Dave been away a few days so a bit late,some sad news but hope that most of breeding Eagles on Mull doing well and Kellan also,cannot think twitter could replace the blog so hope you and Debby manage to keep us all upto date as much as possible as we all appreciate the time and effort you both put in.
I am so sorry, Dave, Debby and all of you working at the Mull centre; it is such a disappointment all around but especially for our precious eagles, Skye and Frisa.
Please do keep the blogs coming. I don't use Twitter !!!! Just one more modern convenience I just can't bear.
Thanks for this informative blog Dave. I shall never forget my two visits to Mull and look forward to visit three when finances prosper.
Sorry but apart from our cockatiel, all the generations of our whole family are Twitter-free and plan to stay that way.
Hello Dave and Debby.
We've been following the fortunes of Skye and Frisa since visiting Mull and the Hide for the first time in September 2009.
So sorry to hear that they haven't been successful again this year with the egg. We do hope you'll be able to get some useful information as to why they're having problems. At least the weather has been kind to the other eagles so far so fingers crossed for a good breeding season this year.
Dave, please don't stop the blogging. They're so well written, moving and exciting particularly the story of the youngster you rescued had us on the edge of our seats! Like many people we just don't "do" Twitter so we'd really miss the blogs if they disappeared.
Keep up the good work!