Sea Eagles v crofters' lambs....

[solus]

As Rossy points out, this all started some time back - have a look at the "See Also" links to the right of the latest news report. I also agree that the occasional live lamb may possibly be taken by a Sea Eagle but I emphasise, occasional.

What I do dispute, however and what the results of the tagging study seem to support, is the sheer numbers claimed by Mr Fraser - from a BBC News report of December last year:
BBC NEWS | UK | Scotland | Highlands and Islands | Study to examine sea eagle claims
Willie Fraser, of the crofting foundation, said: "Four holdings on the Gairloch Peninsula have lost more than 200 lambs between May and September and they are adamant that the majority are victims of the sea eagle.

This when (from an earlier BBC News report, December 2008) "there are only three breeding pairs of sea eagle in the Gairloch area, and it would be highly unlikely the birds were responsible for the loss of all of the lambs."

And [September 2008] (An RSPB) "...spokesman said: "These surprising claims must be compared with a recent study conducted on the island of Mull - the most densely populated area of Scotland for breeding sea eagles with eight pairs - which concluded that between only 33 and 37 lambs were killed by the birds on the whole island each year.

"In the whole of Wester Ross, there are just three breeding pairs of sea eagles. Gairloch occupies less than a quarter of Mull's land area.

"We are therefore extremely surprised at the claims of the number of lambs alleged to have been killed by sea eagles.

"There was also evidence that many of those killed on Mull were what is termed 'non viable', meaning they would not have survived into adulthood anyway due to disease and illness."

I know how hard the crofting way of life is and I sympathise with the crofters' difficulties BUT I do not believe Mr Fraser is doing their cause anything but harm by sticking to his clearly biased guns on this matter, even in the face of the results of the studies carried out this year. When he has successfully eradicated all the Sea Eagles, what/who will he then turn to for blame?

[Madelinew]

Originally Posted by jeffh

well said madelinew - if all crofters were so dishonest as some seem to think and were inclined to fiddle their claims in the way that richnfamous suggests, surely they'd all have become mps :d

jeff

:d:d:d

[Madelinew]

Not sure what went wrong with my emoticons there but they're laughing if you're wondering!!

[simon taylor]

Originally Posted by JeffH

Well said Madelinew - if all crofters were so dishonest as some seem to think and were inclined to fiddle their claims in the way that richnfamous suggests, surely they'd all have become MPs

[/url]

Perhaps we could train Sea Eagles to take MP's

[Jason Green]

Originally Posted by solus

The chairman of the Gairloch branch of the Scottish Crofting Foundation, said lambs that had not been tagged had been found dead in a sea eagle's nest in Melvaig.

I wonder what on Earth the Crofters were doing in the nest of a WTSE?

[simon taylor]

Originally Posted by Jason Green

I wonder what on Earth the Crofters were doing in the nest of a WTSE?

Can you really beleive any of their claims when they make statements like that?

[epops]

Originally Posted by Jason Green

I wonder what on Earth the Crofters were doing in the nest of a WTSE?

obviousley looking to see if lambs that had not been tagged were dead in the eagles nests lol

[JeffH]

Originally Posted by Jason Green

I wonder what on Earth the Crofters were doing in the nest of a WTSE?

Let's put this into context - firstly neither the crofters' spokesman nor the article actually says that it was the Crofters who were at the nest, merely that non-tagged lambs (or more likely their remains) had been found in a nest.

Secondly, I understand it's standard practice for the RSPB to inspect a number of Sea Eagle's nests after the young have fledged to try to identify their main prey from bones and any other remains. For instance, on inspecting a nest on Skye a couple of years ago the remains of more than 100 Fulmars were found.

It's also worth pointing out that as a result of the study undertaken on Mull a few years ago an RSPB spokesman said: ".... a recent study conducted on the island of Mull - the most densely populated area of Scotland for breeding sea eagles with eight pairs - concluded that between only 33 and 37 lambs were killed by the birds on the whole island each year". So it definitely does happen to some extent.

Please let's try to avoid inflaming an already difficult situation

Jeff
(Schedule 1 Licence holder for Kingfishers, Avocets and Barn Owls)
Jeff Harrison - Wildlife, Nature and Landscape Photography

[simon taylor]

Originally Posted by JeffH

It's also worth pointing out that as a result of the study undertaken on Mull a few years ago an RSPB spokesman said: ".... a recent study conducted on the island of Mull - the most densely populated area of Scotland for breeding sea eagles with eight pairs - concluded that between only 33 and 37 lambs were killed by the birds on the whole island each year". So it definitely does happen to some extent.

Please let's try to avoid inflaming an already difficult situation

[/url]

Were Killed??

I'm assume "the kill" was actually witnessed by the RSPB and not presumed??

[JeffH]

Originally Posted by simon taylor

Were Killed??

I'm assume "the kill" was actually witnessed by the RSPB and not presumed??

It was a conclusion based on a scientific study, science (and not rumour or speculation) being the foundation of all good conservation work. If you want more detailed information I suggest you look up the report rather than simply assuming anything

PS. For anyone interested the full 48 page report can be found here - http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/...60/0014566.pdf
with the evidence of 'killing' being contained in sections 3.4 and 3.5 on pages 11-14.

Jeff