Activity

A few days ago, as part of a railway-based tour of Northern Scotland, we were on a coach trip around the northern part of the Isle of Skye, with a local guide providing a commentary. Every now and then the coach stopped at places of particular beauty or interest for us to get out and take photos. We were lucky to have glorious sunny weather to help us enjoy the breathtaking beauty of the Isles, but that wasn’t the end of the good fortune.

We’d stopped at Kilt Rock, where a waterfall plunges in one long fall down the cliffs into the sea, and were milling about snapping, when all at once Rosie, the guide, called out, ‘Eagle! Over there!’ I was a little way back and there were a few bodies between me and the sea, but I did catch a glimpse of a large dark bird gliding down over the water past us and the waterfall to vanish round a corner of the rocks, presumably coming in to land on the cliffs behind. It was, Rosie told us, a Sea Eagle. ‘My spot,’ she said, looking rather pleased with herself.

The Sea Eagle (or White-tailed Eagle) is slightly larger than the Golden Eagle, which makes it Britain’s largest bird of prey. It is also one of the rarest. After we’d got back on the coach and were continuing on our way Rosie told us how the British population had been persecuted to extinction by the early twentieth century, the last one having been shot in the Shetlands in 1918 by some arsehole who apparently thought that making the long trip especially for that purpose was a worthwhile way of spending his time.

The bird remained extinct in Britain until the mid-seventies when a re-introduction programme was started with specimens from Norway, initially on the Isle of Rum. It took a few years for them to become established and start breeding, but there are now about 150 breeding pairs in Scotland and introductions have begun in England as well. This still means that they are a far from common sight.

I was sitting on the seaward side of the coach, and as Rosie was telling us this I happened to look out of the window, to see a bird up in the sky, soaring past in the opposite direction. It was big and dark, with long, broad wings and a white tail. I don’t think anyone else saw it.

I didn’t want to jump to conclusions and get all excited about nothing, so at our next stop I told Rosie what I’d seen. ‘Are there any other large dark birds around here with a pure white tail?’ I asked.

She didn’t answer me directly, but smiled and said, ‘You’re a lucky man.’