Golden Eagle Breeding Survey Skye 2011

12th August 2011

In 2011, after another cold winter similar to 2010, we again had a slight increase in nesting attempts. However, this year there was a slight fall in the number of hatched chicks. The very wet, cold and windy weather in May and early June seems to have been the cause of an unprecedented number of failures, leaving us with 10 fledged chicks only, from 10 nests, well below the long-term average for Skye. Of the five pairs which failed on chicks, these could all have been early season or just after hatching when the weather was very poor.

Ken Crane and Kate Nellist

THE BOOK

"A glorious little gem"

AMAZON

"A book such as this has to look backwards and the author does so succinctly, looking at the work of several of the pioneering naturalists before picking out the publications of JA Harvie-Brown and the Rev. Hugh Macpherson. I know this book fills a real gap in the information available for the Isle of Skye and it will surely sell well at local bookshops."

Andrew Currie Miscellany West Highland Free Press

"A total of 238 species have been recorded, with 14 of those 'red listed' as of high conservation concern ... another innovation has been the inclusion of Gaelic names for some birds. While this is not uncommon in a few other books, the addition of some regional Gaelic names is very unusual and very welcome."

Ray Collier Country Diary 'Up in the Skye' The Guardian

"Illustrated with beautiful photographs of current birdlife on the island, the publication also features sketches by Jean Thomas of The Little Gallery, Portnalong, stimulating the reader's interest further and allowing them to identify species they encounter on Skye."

The Hebridean