The eagle hasn’t landed (yet…)!

Dave Sexton is the Mull officer for RSPB Scotland

There were many times during this Autumnwatch film shoot when we seriously wondered if it was ever going to happen. Everything was in place, all the essential ingredients in position. Just one teeny, tiny problem. No eagles.

I mean, if you want to do a film about scavengers – carrion feeders - at a deer carcass and you want the full cast of characters to put in an appearance right on cue (hooded crow, raven, buzzard, white-tailed eagle, golden eagle), where else would you go? It’s got to be the Isle of Mull – it is ‘Eagle Island’ after all! Guaranteed I said. No problemo. Can’t fail. Wrong!

This is the wild. This is nature, red in tooth and claw and nothing, absolutely nothing is guaranteed. Cameraman Jim Manthorpe and I worked hard on this. Very hard. We couldn’t have done any more. A superb, near invisible hide built by Jim and complete with dummy lens, had been in position for many weeks. We knew from past experience that when a carcass appears – or just some gralloch on the hill – the scavengers are not far behind. A feeding frenzy often ensues and everything is cleaned up PDQ. They provide an essential ecological service.

In the absence of the top mammalian predators in the UK, which will have once done the job very efficiently, the red deer population is managed across Scotland allowing vegetation and threatened habitats to recover and thrive and providing a valuable local food resource for people and eagles alike. The stalkers know their quarry well. Some animals which wouldn’t survive the winter or are in poor condition are culled and a balance is struck between their overall numbers and the landscape they inhabit. Healthy carcasses go to the game dealer and provide an important income for upland estates and local economies. Occasionally though if an eagle has got to a carcass before the stalker can recover it, the deer may be rejected. Sometimes, sadly, deer are hit on the road. There can occasionally be a glut of carrion in the hills and the eagles are always watching at this time of year, always alert to a free meal. Some even follow the stalkers knowing that a nutritious offering of gralloch – or offal – may appear at any time. Some stalkers feel that having a raven as company on the stalk is a good luck omen. For an eagle sitting on a high peak, it’s often the sight and sound of distant ravens flocking at a carcass which signals food and requires further investigation. At least that is what we all hoped for…

With the kind help of the local Forestry Commission Scotland team, everything was in place and we were ready to roll. With no foxes on Mull, the eagles and other scavengers would have the meal to themselves. For young eagles in particular, gralloch on many Highland and Island estates at this time of year, is critical to their survival. Many are newly independent of their parents and trying to find their way in the world. Many young golden and white-tailed eagles don’t survive their first winter. For juvenile white-tailed eagles, 20% will not survive their first year and 50% will have died before they reach maturity at five years old. So a helping hand and a free, easy meal from a generous estate deer stalker can make all the difference between life and death.

It was all kicking off at our location…well, kind of. Jim was in the hide for 13 hours a day. I’d walk him in before dawn and help him uncurl from the hide after dark. These Autumnwatch cameramen certainly put in the hours! The ravens were in first…lots of them. A few hoodies loitered with intent and the buzzards soon cottoned on but where were the eagles? Our very own Springwatch sea eagles, Skye and Frisa, had a free meal literally on their doorstep, but apart from a few promising fly-overs, they never came close. Young sea eagles drifted past, looked down and kept going. An adult golden eagle scattered the panicking ravens in all directions as it came over the ridge…and kept going. Anxious calls from nervous producers at Autumnwatch HQ making enquiries about our progress became more urgent in tone. The few short filming days for Jim were ticking by; scripts would have to be re-written. Why don’t we just put a line through ‘Eagle Feast’ on the Autumnwatch story board in Bristol and let’s call it ‘Raven Feast’?

During a lull, Jim set off to film other things, scenery, sunrises, rain, time-lapses of clouds…anything! As I checked the carcass through my telescope from afar, my heart missed a beat. There on the carcass was an adult golden eagle – the Holy Grail. It was there for just a few moments and then flew but surely the automatic trail-cam positioned nearby would have been triggered and we’d have our eagle shot in the can! Er, sorry, no. The trail-cam had clip after clip of ravens but had failed at the critical moment. Ravens: zillions. Eagles: zilch.

But we’re not that easily defeated on Autumnwatch, oh no. With renewed enthusiasm, enough food to keep him alive for a month and endless patience, cameraman Jim carefully re-entered his hide; he was in there for the long haul. He unwrapped a Mars bar, steadied the tripod, focussed his lens and we waited…and waited…