Eagle Days

Eagle Days Synopsis

This book is based on many years of experience with eagles. It was written by bringing together Stuart's diary and field notes, along with his photographs, thus providing a complete description of eagles, their behaviour and ecology. The book consists mainly of a series of descriptions of the author's field activity over many years, searching for and monitoring Golden Eagles Aquila chrysaetos in Scotland.

There is a focus on the breeding season and the annual quest to identify the locations of breeding pairs and monitor the outcome at their nests. Reaching some breeding sites requires several hours of hard walking over difficult terrain; since the birds roam over such huge distances, there is no guarantee of seeing one during a day's fieldwork. Combined with the vagaries of the weather, swarms of biting insects and the need to scramble over rocky slopes or wade through treacherous bogs, it becomes clear that eagle monitoring will not be for everyone.

Nevertheless, the author's enthusiasm for it shines through. Stuart is a founder member of the North East Raptor Study Group-the first to be set up in the country. He has worked with Jeff Watson and Keith Brockie, and more recently with Mike McGrady.

Illustrated with the author's own remarkable photographs.