Well today was all about Sea Eagles in more ways than one!

Well today was all about Sea Eagles in more ways than one!

I took the day off in order to go on an RSPB event regarding Sea Eagle monitoring on Skye. The morning consisted of a boat trip to study territory elements, nest sites and habitat. Sadly it was a wet misty morning and the two Sea Eagles we saw spent most of their time huddled under shelter. Two other Eagles vanished in the gloom before they could be identified properly. The afternoon was at the Aros Centre with talks on Conservation, Persecution, Population Status, etc.

A great day. But on the way home . . . . . . !!!!

A few hundred metres from my house I saw a young Sea Eagle crossing the glen. I tracked it in the binoculars until it landed, where much to my surprise I saw there were two other Sea Eagles on the ground. Rushing home and grabbing the scope (which of course I'd not taken out) I set it up on my drive and sought out the birds. Well  . . . there were eleven Sea Eagles all sat round some carrion, at least two adult birds, the rest being youngsters.

Eleven Sea Eagles is the most I've ever seen together at one time. Add in the two earlier and thirteen is also the highest number for a single day.

If you want to see Sea Eagles then I think you know where to come! 

11th June 2013

A busy 7 days that started with a bit of a disappointing day that I had a number of titles for: "Going Cuckoo", "Rabbit out the hat", or "A bad day at the office". 

I should point out that the disappointing day included 1 Golden Eagle, 2 Sea Eagles, a school of Harbour Porpoise, Minke Whale, Eider with chicks, and countless Cuckoos seen flying and perched.  . . . and the "rabbit out the hat" - a pod of Common Dolphin, very active in the loch. But our main aim of Golden Eagle that day was a distant speck, hence the slight disappointment to our safari.

The subsequent Tours last week amassed a total of 7 more Golden Eagle sightings that were much much better, culminating today with fantastic views of a bird for nearly half an hour as it cruised the ridge, obligingly stopping to perch and pose for the telescope 5 times.

My personal highlight of the week was also today - a Hooded Crow killing and decapitating a rabbit before flying off with the rabbit's head in it's beak, no doubt to feed some hungry youngsters. . . . I appreciate not everyones idea of a great wildlife sighting, but fascinating . . . 

. . . . OK maybe it's just me !!

3rd June 2013

Well it's been a busy week with some great highlights. The Golden Eagles have been putting on a good show all week, with birds posing for the telescope, and others low overhead where binoculars could be put aside in favour of good-old eyesight alone.

The wildlife here on Skye is amazing and sometimes it's been a case of choosing what "not" to see as much as what to look for. 

Today I shelved the idea of watching the Minke Whales simply as it was grey and misty on the coast . . . great conditions to see the whales, but less so for standing watching them in! 

Instead our trip South and East rewarded us with a female otter hunting along the shore. Obligingly she came up on the rocks with a fish and we could put her in the scope. And the decision to head East meant the sun was even shining for our picnic lunch . . . what could be better?

Maybe the Minke will get their turn tomorrow?