Nestlings to Fledglings...

Today, Klay had a private tour where the guests really wanted to see and try to photograph both types of eagles found on Mull: the golden eagle and the white-tailed eagle. Across Mull, there are more golden eagle pairs than white-tailed eagle pairs, but golden eagles are notoriously harder to see as they tend to avoid humans and stay in mountainous areas.

adult WT Eagle

The tour started off fantastically, with two beautiful white-tailed eagles perched on the tallest pine trees. The guests managed to get some lovely shots of these stunning birds. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the white-tailed eagles' return to the UK on the Isle of Rum, and now they have established themselves on Mull as a stronghold for the biggest eagle in Europe. While watching the white-tailed eagles, a golden eagle flew over. It was pretty spectacular to see both eagles at the same time. There was a stunning curlew calling, which is one of the best bird calls, and some common and grey seals hauled out around the rocks in the loch.

We then moved our attention to the mighty golden eagle and parked by a territory for these regal birds. To keep the tour entertained while waiting for a golden eagle, there was a huge feeding frenzy going on behind us. There were easily more than 50 dolphins and lots of gannets feeding together, coming really close to provide some incredible views of this crazy feeding frenzy. If that was not enough, a golden eagle decided to give a low fly-by below the cliff, and this gave us the opportunity to see the chick as it became visible while looking at its parents. Through the scope, everyone managed to see a white fluff ball of a golden eagle chick, and again the guests managed to capture some great shots of dolphins and the golden eagle.

Then, moving the focus back to white-tailed eagles, the tour parked by a white-tailed eagle territory and was treated to two white-tailed eagles giving constant flight views, making for some great picture shots of the "flying barn door," as they are called. A chick poked its head above the nest, so through the scope again, it was lovely to see both types of eagle chicks now.

It is a magical time right now, seeing the parent eagles hard at work feeding their fast-growing chicks. It's really nice to go through the journey with them, observing what food they are bringing in and what prey the eagles are eating.