I liked this book so much we had the authors sign a copy for each of our Scottish Radiance family of writers for Christmas. The first time I read it I was flying on an airplane and was disappointed when the trip was over since because I not finished the book.

The third volume in a unique trilogy spanning the complete natural history of the Hebrides, written by world renowned experts on nature and wildlife. Richly illustrated throughout, these are indispensable guides for both traveller and scholar.

The Hebrides are famed for their great natural beauty, facing both the wrath and the mildness of the Atlantic Ocean Their spectacular scenery and diverse, abundant wildlife attract many visitors every year - two of the most famous nature reserves in Britain are the islands of Rum and St. Kilda. A Mosaic of Islands describes the wonderland display of seabirds, seals, wildfowl and machair flowers which can be seen throughout the Hebrides.

John Morton Boyd, CBE, was formerly the Nature Conservancy Council's Director for Scotland, and is Honorary Conservation Adviser to the Forestry Commission and the National Trust for Scotland.

Ian Lamont Boyd is currently Head of Seal Research for the British Antarctic Survey, and is a leading authority on marine science and island ecology.

Both authors have written extensively on ecology and natural history. Let me share just one small section with you.

Sea Eagles
It is testimony to the wild, shy character of the golden eagle (Aquila chusaetos) that it has survived the persecution of centuries in Britain, and now enjoys full protection. By comparison, the white-tailed eagle or sea eagle (Hahaetus albicilla) is by nature much more confiding to man, and was exterminated in Britain at the beginning of the 20th century. The last pair nested in Skye in 1916.

In the past the sea eagle lived in the Hebrides in ecological conditions very similar to the present day but with important exceptions. These include persecution by shepherds, gamekeepers and collectors, and though the illegal killing and taking of eagles and their eggs has been greatly reduced, persecution of today is in constant scrutiny by the RSPB, police, and the general public. Also, the ability of eagles to raise young is inversely related to concentrations of pollutants in their food. Coastal eagles feeding on seabirds and fish may accumulate damaging amounts of these toxic substances (eg DDT and PCBs), which did not exist in former times when the sea eagles bred in the Hebrides. In 1968, George Waterston and Johan Willgohs of Bergen, who believed a reintroduction of the sea eagle to Scotland would be a great triumph for wildlife conservation, made an unsuccessful attempt at reintroduction on Fair Isle. A much more sustained effort over several years was clearly required.

The decision by the Nature Conservancy Council in favour of the reintroduction of the sea eagle to Scotland was therefore a finely balanced one to which Lord Dulverton gave crucial support. The project was started on Rum in 1975. For eleven years an annual batch of eight-week old nestlings was collected under licence in Nordland by the Norwegian naturalist Herald Misund, and transported by the Royal Air Force from Bodo to Kinloss, Moray. From thence the birds were taken to Rum for rearing and release into the wild under licence by the project officer John Love. From the beginning the project was a fine example of teamwork between the Nature Conservancy Council, Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, Royal Air Force, World Wide Fund for Nature, Scottish Wildlife Trust, Institute of Terrestrial Ecology, and the Norwegians. It is described in The Return of the Sea Eagle (Love, 1983). The Bodo district in Norway is very reminiscent of the seaboard of West Inverness. The view that we described of Skye and the Small Isles from Mallaig closely resembles that of the sea-eagle islands Landegode, Helligvaer and Bliksvaer from Bodo. The ecology is also similar in detail, but there is a difference of about 100 of latitude, with different day-lengths and breeding conditions. The confiding nature of the sea eagle is evident, when they can be seen scavenging in Bodo harbour, and nesting in accessible sites close to human habitation. They also nest at high density, as on Karlsoyvaer where the birch woods are similar to those on the Garvellachs, Raasay and South Rona. Nests are found in crevices on high vertical cliffs and pine trees above the fjords in sites typical of golden eagles in Scotland. The species prospers in Nordland, and the few young taken for the Rum project (single birds were taken from eyries possessing two eaglets) pose no threat to the sea eagle in north Norway.

If the birds could be given living space in the Hebrides the portents of reintroduction were good. However, there were a number of other unanswered questions to be put beside that concerning the toxic effects of pollutants. Would people with guns, traps and poisons in Scotland kill these huge, often lowflying and rather fearless birds (wingspan up to 3m, weight up to 7.25kg)? Would ravens, crows, greater black-backed gulls and fulmars (which seriously oiled one of those released in Fair Isle) harrass and cause the death of the newly fledged eagles? Would the resident golden eagles prevent the young sea eagles establishing feeding and breeding territories? Would the techniques of rearing and release cause the young birds to be imprinted on their handler and have difficulties in forming successful breeding pairs in the wild?

The first batch of four young almost brought the project to a halt. The single male died before release, and of the three females reared and released one was later found dead under an electric city cable in Morven. The remaining two survived. Fortunately the project was budgeted for five years based on the fact that the birds were unlikely to breed in the first six years of their lives. The doubts of the critics and the jibes of the cynics were not strong enough to stop it, and since then it has gone from strength to strength. The techniques of transportation, caging, feeding, handling, release, provisioning and observing the birds in the wild all improved with experience. The project was extended, and over the period 1975 to 1985, 85 young eagles from Norway were transferred to Rum. Three died in captivity and 82 (43 females and 39 males) were released at the same rock beside the road above Loch an Dornabac. Seven (3 males and 4 females) died soon after release and a few others may have died unnoticed. Sadly, two were poisoned, one of which was four years old and approaching breeding condition.

The young eagles remain in the vicinity of the release site for a few weeks, and a few have settled in the Small Isles. Others have wandered far: south to Ireland, north to Caithness and throughout the Hebrides. The first birds were ready to breed in 1980-81; in 1980 birds were seen carrying sticks; in 1981 a crude nest was built close to the site used by sea eagles a century before, and between 1982 and 1984 there were several breeding attempts each year which failed because of infertile or broken eggs. This was possibly to be expected in young birds breeding for the first time, however. Other breeding pairs may have gone unrecorded. In 1985 at least four pairs attempted to breed, and the first Scottish-bred sea eagle for almost 70 years flew in the Hebrides. In 1986, two more were fledged, in 1987, three and in 1988, two. In 1988, eleven pairs (about a quarter of the birds reintroduced) attempted to breed, and in 1989, three pairs reared five young. The total number of Scottish-bred birds fledged so far is 13. All the birds are young; with growing numbers in breeding condition and with growing experience of the birds in breeding, prospects of a successful reintroduction are good.

The return of the sea eagle to the avifauna of Britain is on its way. Unlike the osprey which returned naturally, the sea eagle has been physically brought back by a scientific and technical endeavour. In the minds of those of us who conceived and ran the project, there was never any doubt that the qualities of the Rum National Nature Reserve as the point of introduction were the best in the country and that we would require to keep the supply of recruits coming from Norway for at least five years. In the event the recruitment continued, thanks to Captain Misund, for ten years and was discontinued on the year of the fledging of the first Scottish sea eagle in the new population. The project proceeds with the care and protection of breeding pairs towards a viable population by the end of the century.

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