Sea Eagle Shelly spotted in Sutherland
A MULL sea eagle that was fitted with a satellite as a chick has been spotted after a four-year hiatus - and she is raising a family in the Scottish Highlands.
People around the world followed ‘Shelly’s’ movements in 2010, as she explored the Isle of Mull and the west coast of Scotland in her first year.
As she got older she began wandering further afield to Skye, the central Highlands, before exploring the Outer Hebrides, and spending a lot of time on Lewis.
In 2013, while on Lewis, the tag ‘came off as planned’ and RSPB Scotland and Mull Eagle Watch believed that with satellite to follow, the chance of seeing Shelly again were slim.
And this was the case until Iain Paterson photographed a sea eagle as it fished in a remote sea loch in Sutherland.
Iain reported the bird’s blue and silver colour leg ring which read: ‘C9 39’. Dave Sexton, RSPB Scotland’s Mull Officer, quickly realised the significance of the discovery – it was Shelly.
Dave said: ‘I knew the blue and silver combo meant 2010 and my heart was racing as I looked back at the ringing and tagging records for that year.
‘I’d always wondered how Shelly was and where she might be. And there it was on the breeding summary:
‘We’d found her. She’s aged seven now, so fully mature and transformed from the rather scruffy brown chick we’d encountered in the nest.’
Iain also reported that she was paired up with a male and that this year they were raising two chicks. The male bird’s ring numbers revealed he hatched in 2010 on the Isle of Lewis. It seems likely that Shelly met her future mate while she was there in 2013 and they then explored the Highlands and islands together before settling down to breed in Sutherland.
Iain, a keen birder, said: ‘One thing I can say about Shelly is her elegance for such a big bird.
‘When she picks up a fish there’s hardly a splash yet her mate, either his aim is slightly off target or he doesn’t bother because he causes a much bigger splash – all amazing to watch though.’