Golden Eagle Breeding Survey Skye and Raasay 2012

01st August 2012

2012 continued the downward trend of recent years with the poorest breeding season for Skye's Golden Eagles since 1984. Only 7 young have fledged from 6 successful nests. Whilst the number of range holding pairs remains fairly constant, the numbers of pairs attempting to breed has fallen markedly. The long very wet winter was probably a major factor in birds starting the season in poor condition. However, the weather having been dry throughout the breeding season, could not account for the high number of failed breeding attempts. Live prey could have been part of the problem as at several notable locations, rabbits were at very low numbers.

The competition with White-tailed Eagles for nest sites and prey has to be considered a significant factor. At the start of the White-tailed eagle reintroduction programme it was genuinely accepted that it would lead to a decline in Golden Eagle numbers in the west. No figures were put on this at the time. It would therefore be informative to see a chart similar to the one below for White-tailed Eagles on Skye. It would also be interesting to see similar charts for Mull where good data is collected for both species, and where White-tailed Eagle productivity now significantly outstrips Golden Eagle.

Ken Crane &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