Tales from the bush
Is it possible to be blown away by a close encounter with wildlife without seeing anything? After what happened to me earlier this year, I think it is. was filming a golden eagle nest for Springwatch and my hide was at the foot of a cliff, tucked among some mossy boulders topped by rowan and birch trees. Up on a ledge, about 40 metres away, was the eyrie, and for the first few weeks I was treated to incredible views of the lone, fluffy white chick being gently preened by her mother.
The male came in once or twice a day with a grouse, a fox cub or some other delicacy. He’d present the food to the mother who’d then tear off tiny morsels and carefully place them in the chick’s bill.
In those early weeks the chick needed a lot of care from its mother; its head flopped about from side to side and it even toppled over when trying to move. It was hard to believe that in less than 10 weeks, it would be soaring over the glen below me.
As the chick grew and became more robust, the parents spent less time with her, and the mother busied herself with collecting fresh foliage to line the nest. It’s thought that the leaves, particularly of rowan, have an antiseptic quality that keep the nest – within which accumulates the increasingly fetid corpses of small birds and mammals – free from pathogens.
It was on one of these foliage-finding excursions that the mother caught me by surprise. Normally she’d head out up the glen and away from me, but this time she flew from the nest in my direction. Stuck in my hide I had a very restricted view and lost sight of her. Moments later a dark shadow briefly dimmed the sun, followed by a rush of wind and a gentle thud as the female eagle landed next to the hide, just a few metres away.
The hide had a tiny window covered by a flap of material. I was desperate to pull it to one side so I could watch what she was doing, but I knew that the slightest movement could spook her. If that made her fly off without returning to the nest, it would be bad for me – no prospects of good footage – but would be even worse for the chick. Because if the mother stayed away for any length of time, the chick could get hypothermic and die.
So, although my heart was thumping, I just sat there trying to keep perfectly still as I listened to the sound of her tearing vegetation up from the ground. I’ve touched wild eagle chicks while helping to ring them, but it can’t beat being that close to a wild adult eagle that’s unaware of your presence, even if you can’t actually see it.
This went on for a few short minutes, but eventually she took off with the vegetation she’d foraged, and I was able to relax. I still wonder what I’d have seen if I’d looked through the flap. But I’m glad I didn’t – seeing isn’t always believing.
A DARK SHADOW BRIEFLY DIMMED THE SUN, FOLLOWED BY A RUSH OF WIND AND A GENTLE THUD AS THE EAGLE LANDED NEXT TO THE HIDE