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| The Hand of Man, Invermark - charcoal on paper 121 x 177 cm |
Today, during an interminable maelstrom of rain, sleet and snow, my boots are off and stand to empty attention before the wood stove and the misery of a full blown cold brought on by last week's venture in Lethnot confines me indoors to retrospectively scribe this. There is a well known Scots utterance when someone ventures outside in cold, wet weather, ' You'll catch yer deith o' cald'. Well, I 'm no quite 'deid' yet, but sit here in stuffy sufferance.
Sometimes during my wanderings in the highlands of Scotland I will come across something very special that will not appear on this web page for conservation reasons. In a previous article called 'Eagle Stalk' published on the 4th of November 2012, I describe the search for a Golden Eagle on Invermark estate but did not reveal that a pair of adult White-tailed Eagles were inadvertently discovered as well.
The media have ploughed all over the destruction of what would have been one of the first nesting attempts by White-tailed Eagles on the east coast of Scotland, so I feel justified now in being able to describe my encounter with these birds at their inaugural nest site shortly before their tree was felled. The article about that is called, 'The Lost White-tailed Eagle Nest' published on 15th June 2012.
Darkness was falling as I scrambled down the steep forest margin where a mix of stones, grit, pine-cones and slippery roots made the going fairly treacherous. I was forcibly aware that nature was knocking on the door to draw me in, to begin a twilight journey through the pines that seemed to grow arms and legs from nowhere to swipe your balance into an ankle twisting slide. A branch snaps and rattles through the canopy to be consumed by the stench of the lichenous blackness that pervades the forest depths. As if by invisible magic, nothing is there but the supernatural tension between man and forest that creeps over my skin. A lurking, enquiring pause ensues to listen for the threat of more movement from the windless tree tops but again nothing stirs and my primeval instincts subside into looking well to each step. Reason dictates to me that the noise might have come from the Golden Eagle settling to roost so I peer upwards beyond the green lattice of needles, into a dizzying nothing for it had long since gone.
White-tailed Eagle at nest tree (centre) 4/11/2012
The tall conifers thin out as the slope becomes more amenable to the auld knees and ankles, allowing me to relax after the awkward descent. The snap of a brittle tree branch echoes once more around the rough, scaly trunks and I look towards the darkening sky for the cause. Heart rate peaks out in a panic inspired scramble to get the camera out. One eagle's bulky mass is on the very top of what would have been the nest tree, then flies off on giant wings with lolloping, scooped primaries. Then my squinting vision concludes that two White-tailed Eagles are circling over the forest slope with big rounded wings working hard in the still evening air to keep them aloft. They both perform a fly-past, with heads twisting in curiosity to see down through the tree foliage to figure out the threat. They are not too scared, being more impatient with my presence, yet the closeness of darkness holds them to the place. I cannot believe my good fortune, but unfortunately the enveloping dimness does not allow my conclusions to venture any further towards the possibilities of the pair nesting here and to my improving knowledge the pair only roost around this place occasionally. A retrospective consideration would deduce that the noise of snapping branches that I heard would indicate that these birds were actually in the process of building the nest.
White-tailed Eagle pair over the nest site 4/11/2012
I am sweirt to leave them but manage to squeeze the last moments from the fading light as the pair settle in the tree tops to anxiously stare. Ominously, an unexpected 4 x 4 approaches along the track and I assume silent run mode as camera and binoculars are stashed inside my anorak. Stalking visitors methinks as they exercise their black lab in the forest clearing below the waiting eagles. I decide to move on in an effort not to give the game away but later the 4 x 4, with its personal number plate, stops and offers me a lift down the track. 'Och no, I'm enjoying this lovely night' was my declining line and the rosy faced driver bade his farewell.
Looking back on this, I do wish that things could have been different. I presume that the estate workers knew that the eagles were at the forest and I presume that the bird conservation organisations knew that a nest was being built, but presumptions are all we have because people will not talk during a police investigation. There is so little information about, who knew what, in this sad incident and many have their own theories about why the nesting tree was cut down and then the trunk was chopped into pieces later, leading to suspicions of a cover-up. One newspaper mentioned a 'whistle-blower' who had revealed the whole incident but that individual still remains unnamed. Blaming the estate for being solely involved in the nest destruction is the easy option and is in my opinion the wrong one that has been handily misconstrued into a very unwilling scapegoat. In previous articles I have hinted at another factor involved in this particular area, not directly under the control of the estate, and I am not certain as to whether the police investigation has fully covered it.
The pair of W.T.Eagles on 14/1/2012
I first saw these adult birds flying as a pair in January 2012 as they settled to roost on a nearby mountain side and that was magnificent to witness. One flew down over the glen as I sat and sketched on top of a cliff, in fact it was so unusual that when I saw the white tail I immediately put it down as an immature Goldie, not knowing that adult White-tailed Eagles were actually in the glen.
My colleague told me to look out for the possibilities of White-tailed Eagles nesting in the area after we observed the adult pair in October 2012 near the forest but I never put two and two together on this occasion. I interpreted the eagle's behaviour as a roosting pattern only and feel that if I had returned swiftly to investigate, the nesting situation would have been discovered under differing circumstances. To learn that these eagles will start building a nest during late autumn surprised me and then to have what must be months of hard work for them destroyed in thirty seconds by a chain-saw is devastating We can only imagine the scene as the tree was felled with the concerned eagles circling overhead - undiluted cruelty. The last time that I caught sight of one of these eagles was on the 18th November 2012 heading down the glen over my head to roost in the trees, again it was too dark to investigate any further. I have never seen them again at the forest and somehow doubt if they will come back to nest.
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One of the adult White-tailed Eagles, Oct 2012 - photo M G
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Initially, information gathered from my reported sightings of the eagles, that presumably attempted to nest here, suggests that the one in the photo is a naturalised west coast male without a radio transmitter or wing tag identification that wandered eastwards and the other a female that was part of the east coast re-introduction scheme with only a radio transmitter fitted for identification.
As described, I came across these eagles roosting at the forest in November 2012 and there is no evidence available from any sources, including bird conservation organisations, that a nest was actually being built at that time, only presumptions. Three months later in January 2013 the nest was destroyed after it was discovered.
Over the past year I have tried to figure out a jig-saw puzzle, with half the pieces missing, regarding this nest destruction. Last summer I discovered the scraps of a second nest in a neighbouring tree at the forest, and surprisingly found another piece of the jig-saw and that is the possibility that this pair of eagles had actually built a nest and attempted to breed in spring 2012, now what follows is a thin thread but a very important one that gives us more information about their history. A group of hill-walkers were passing the area in late February 2012 and witnessed what they described as the courting of a pair of Sea Eagles, took a photo of one of the birds and posted their walk on a photo-blog. The timing is right and the photo looks as if the bird is taking off, so maybe they saw the actual mating taking place at the nest site rather than aerial courtship. I wonder if their first nest building attempt is still 'archived' in the large bundle of sticks resting in a conifer. Another walker records the pair soaring over the glen in summer 2012 and even the local bed and breakfast lady had the White-tailed Eagles in the glen billed as an exciting new visitor attraction on her webpage.
In summary, my theory is that these birds started building a nest in late autumn 2011 and mated in February 2012 but failed to breed, then in November 2012 started building another nest which was consequently destroyed by the hand of man. It is known that young adult eagles will attempt to create a nest but sometimes abandon it through inexperience. I am sure that these birds have surprised everyone by their precocious behaviour and, to the best of my knowledge, succeeded in building two 'nests' without anyone really knowing!
Indirectly, I do feel some sort of concerned bother over this incident because I took my encounters with these birds for granted and by ditching my conservation responsibility elsewhere, misjudged the situation and probably I was not the only one to do this. Someone with more expertise could have realised the importance of this event and maybe a protective procedure could have been initiated by having the nest monitored by volunteers, in a similar way the local islanders on Mull have done over the years to protect their nesting eagles but, to be fair, the chance to put this sort of surveillance into action did not prevail because of the circumstances.
My original attitude was one that might not be right and that was to assign responsibility for the nesting protection of introduced eagles to the scheme's originator but tracking these birds in a highland landscape is not easy and would rely more on actual sighting reports by estate workers or hill-walkers. I have mentioned how the felled tree was cut up and pondered on the reasons behind some actions but in consideration these actions might have been carried out to mask the location therefore enabling the birds, if they re-nested, some secrecy. Hopefully, as a result of the public interest and awareness stimulated by this nesting attempt, any future activity by these eagles in the Angus glens will be closely observed and that might act as a deterrent to further crimes being perpetrated against these birds.
Subsequently in 2013 a successful nesting attempt in Fife, involving eagles that had been released under the scheme in 2009, reared one fledgling and received wide-spread acclaim as being a positive result for the re-introduction scheme that is reported to have cost nearly half a million pounds. Personally, I wonder if naturalised west coast White-tailed Eagles might have eventually colonized the east coast given time. A similar scheme in England was scrapped in 2010 mainly because of budget financial cuts but also drew much criticism from local game shooting lobbyists.
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| Bundle of sticks - aborted nest |
Indirectly, I do feel some sort of concerned bother over this incident because I took my encounters with these birds for granted and by ditching my conservation responsibility elsewhere, misjudged the situation and probably I was not the only one to do this. Someone with more expertise could have realised the importance of this event and maybe a protective procedure could have been initiated by having the nest monitored by volunteers, in a similar way the local islanders on Mull have done over the years to protect their nesting eagles but, to be fair, the chance to put this sort of surveillance into action did not prevail because of the circumstances.
My original attitude was one that might not be right and that was to assign responsibility for the nesting protection of introduced eagles to the scheme's originator but tracking these birds in a highland landscape is not easy and would rely more on actual sighting reports by estate workers or hill-walkers. I have mentioned how the felled tree was cut up and pondered on the reasons behind some actions but in consideration these actions might have been carried out to mask the location therefore enabling the birds, if they re-nested, some secrecy. Hopefully, as a result of the public interest and awareness stimulated by this nesting attempt, any future activity by these eagles in the Angus glens will be closely observed and that might act as a deterrent to further crimes being perpetrated against these birds.
Subsequently in 2013 a successful nesting attempt in Fife, involving eagles that had been released under the scheme in 2009, reared one fledgling and received wide-spread acclaim as being a positive result for the re-introduction scheme that is reported to have cost nearly half a million pounds. Personally, I wonder if naturalised west coast White-tailed Eagles might have eventually colonized the east coast given time. A similar scheme in England was scrapped in 2010 mainly because of budget financial cuts but also drew much criticism from local game shooting lobbyists.
Notes;
Videos taken on 4th November 2012.
Sketches and photos are copyright.
Please be aware that it is illegal to disturb nesting eagles or other raptors and you may do so inadvertently in your journeys into the highlands. I do not recommend searching for any of the species mentioned in this blog because this may cause undue disturbance to them. With my knowledge of the areas described in this blog I can locate and observe protected species at a respectful distance usually from about 1000 metres for short periods of time only.
'The Hand of Man, Invermark' is a large scale charcoal drawing and part of the artist's project called 'Postcard from Brechin'.
Sketches and photos are copyright.
Please be aware that it is illegal to disturb nesting eagles or other raptors and you may do so inadvertently in your journeys into the highlands. I do not recommend searching for any of the species mentioned in this blog because this may cause undue disturbance to them. With my knowledge of the areas described in this blog I can locate and observe protected species at a respectful distance usually from about 1000 metres for short periods of time only.
'The Hand of Man, Invermark' is a large scale charcoal drawing and part of the artist's project called 'Postcard from Brechin'.