NATURE
The night the ea
A
RGYLL has had its fair share of seismic
movements over the centuries. The
first one I can find information on was on
Some-
August 4 1797 when an earthquake with a
where
magnitude of 3.8 hit Argyll.
deep underground, the earth
On April 23 1817, a quake measuring an impres-
was restless. The vast plates of the
sive 4.5 rocked the west coast.
Great Glen Fault were straining to shift
Other quakes in Argyll have been recorded in
and the pressure was building.
Rothesay, Dunoon, Mull and on November 28
The signs were ominous. Back
1880, the largest recorded earthquake in Scotland
in the wood, the eagles stirred.
shook Oban measuring 5.2 on the Richter Scale.
Some unknown sense had
What follows is an account taken from an RSPB
alerted them to an approaching
Scotland blog of the most recent one, which may
storm. But the skies were still
have measured only 2.3, but it certainly made the
cloudless and the stars flickered and
earth move for me and I suspect for some of our
shone brightly in the inky blackness.
feathered friends:
There was no moon.
The sturdy oaks will have offered their usual sanc-
For a few moments it seemed the darkest it
tuary for an eagle looking for a safe roost site. The
had ever been and the eagles were all tense.
west coast skies were clear and the temperature
The youngsters sitting apart from each other felt
had plummeted below freezing.
especially vulnerable. It was a sensation none of
By late afternoon, as the light was fading, three
them had known before and they had no way of
young sea eagles had dropped out of the dark sky,
knowing how to react.
circled and chased each other once or twice before
The adults had comfort with each other, their soft
vanishing out of sight into the wood. Their haunting
plumage almost intertwined. Together but still un-
calls echoed round the glen for a few minutes and
nerved.
then there was silence. In the adjoining wood sat
It started at 5.39am. It began shaking its way up
the resident territorial adults, side by side, offering
through the deep spreading roots of the old oaks
warmth to each other for the long winter’s night
and it grew in intensity. The eagles were all startled
ahead.
at once. Gulls on the sea loch were calling out,
So, at least five eagles in close proximity, maybe
strange, previously unheard alarms. There was
there were more. But all were together in a
no wind but proper waves were lapping suddenly
traditional eagle haven. Safe for the night. Or were
and roughly onto the pebble shore of the loch,
they?
which had been flat calm just seconds before. In
32
review 32-33.indd 1 22/12/2009 16:46:10
Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43