During June I spent nearly a week on Mull carrying out BTO Atlas work and a week
in Pembrokeshire so I thought I would share some of the highlights. Mull is famous
for its Eagles and it did not disappoint, although it was Golden Eagles who stole the
show rather than their larger cousin the recently introduced White-tailed Eagle. A pair
of Golden Eagles had an eyrie near the road and we stopped to watch an adult circling
above us. The silhouette of an eagle is a superb sight and that of the Golden eagle is
the best as it is so well proportioned. The underside was all dark, demonstrating it
was a fully mature adult, and in the sun it was possible to make out its golden head. It
was shortly joined by a second bird which appeared to us so significantly larger and
broader in the wing that we initially thought it was a White-tailed Eagle. On further
observation we realised the proportions were not those of a White-tailed Eagle and
clearly this was a female Golden Eagle. Dimorphism is apparent in lots of birds of
prey, very obviously so in such birds as Sparrowhawks, and although much less so
in Golden Eagles their size does vary in range and the larger size of the female is not
always obvious. In our pair the difference was significant. The eyrie had one white
chick which was pretty vocal with Mum and Dad in sight. It may have had a second
chick as Eagles normally lay two eggs but we could not confirm that from our vantage
point.

Driving to our survey site one morning we saw a bird of prey being mobbed and we
jumped out of the car to see a fine male Hen Harrier making its way up the valley. It
was at about the same altitude as we were and some fifty yards away which enabled
us to see the contrast between its light grey back, white under-wing, and jet black
primaries. So often birds of prey are various shades of brown, but not this superb
male. The sighting did not last long but it will remain in my memory for much longer.
At the other end of the scale, the little Whinchat family I stumbled across gave
me immense pleasure. We see these birds passing through Kent, usually juveniles
in autumn. It is easy to forget what a brilliantly handsome bird the male is with
his black head and striking eye-stripe from beak to the back of the head and his
bright orange breast. It is the one bird that looks very much better in the field than
in the guide book. It was perched upright flicking his tail and making a warning
tek tek call, probably because I was in the vicinity. I enjoyed the moment and
left him in peace to feed his family. Sadly this bird is getting quite scarce now.
The Pembrokeshire coast and its off shore islands is famous for sea birds and it did
not disappoint. An evening cruise around Skomer and Skokholm was quite an eye
opener. The ornithological press has been full of depressing news about sea bird
populations crashing because of the shortage of sandeels. This is certainly not the
case in mid Wales where there are twenty thousand Puffins breeding. The air and sea
were full of birds and it was a miracle that there were no collisions. They popped up
next to the boat with beaks crammed full of fish and took off in a whirr towards their
nest burrow. A few would be chased by sea gulls and rather than risk being caught
they would drop their catch into the sea and allow the gull to steal their meal. The
Guillemots are so successful that new breeding colonies are breaking out all over the
cliffs. Competition is so intense for nesting sights that the males are returning to the
breeding site two or three months earlier than normal to reserve a space. Razorbills
were also doing very well and Kittiwakes were holding their numbers. To sail under
the cliff face with so many breeding birds is a breathtaking experience. Somewhat
surprisingly the numbers of breeding Herring Gulls has crashed on the islands and it
is for this reason that the bird is Red Listed for conservation purposes. If you live on
the Kent coast you might not agree! The highlight for me on this trip was watching
the returning Manx Shearwaters to Skokholm. The birds gather on the sea nearby at
sunset awaiting darkness to return their burrows and feed their chicks and thereby
reduce the risk of being attacked by gulls. The Shearwater will have travelled up to
a hundred miles on one fishing trip and cannot afford to loose its catch. The sight
of thousands of these birds wheeling over the undulating water at close quarters is a
magnificent spectacle. Skokholm is the home to one of the largest colonies in the UK
which in itself holds over 80% of the world population.

Back at home I was asked to view a Spotted Flycatcher nesting in a gutter on our
esteemed editor’s house. There were three chicks being very well looked after by both
parents. Spotted Flycatchers are declining rapidly and I would be delighted to know of any nesting attempts.