I went up to Bhac this morning to try to get a couple of rainbows to take back alive to the hatchery, so that they could act as "trainers" for reconditioning wild brood stock brown trout after they have been stripped. The problem is that getting wild trout to take fish farm pellets can be quite tricky and it pays to let them see other trout that are used to taking them. I am not sure that rainbows are a good choice for they tend to go off their food quite quickly once the water gets really cold.
Hatchery-reared brown trout from Kinardochy might be better, but that'll have to wait for another day. Anyway, I cut through the Bhac wood down by the burn to see if any brown trout were spawning (there were a few) and a magnificent sea eagle flew out of the trees above me and circled the near end of the loch before landing again in the trees to the left of Jim Fraser's bench seat.
Then after a few minutes it glided over and landed in a group of big trees on the right bank, looking just like one of the bald eagles in Canada, which often hang around in trees close to rivers and lakes. I could see anyway that it wasn't a golden eagle for it was too big and the white feathers were prominent above the big shovel-like tail, with its slightly pointed middle. I walked round to try to get a photo with my wee camera but couldn't get a good one before it took off again. This time it closely harried a heron for about ten to fifteen minutes in an aerial duel, over and around the loch. The heron was squawking all this time and I could see it didn't have anything in its beak.
Perhaps the sea eagle was trying to get it to regurgitate a trout, in the same way that skuas chase sea birds to get them to spew up. Then they catch the "prey" as it falls to the ground or into the sea. Oddly enough, the heron eventually landed only about 30m away from me and the eagle went back to roosting at the top of some larches, where it remained very prominent. The heron stayed put and went on squawking for ages. It was mightily pissed off! I stayed up there fishing for over two hours and the sea eagle could be seen very clearly all this time, even when I sploshed around the far end of the loch - which was very high after heavy rain. Eventually the eagle took off and headed directly over the wood and across the moor to the north west. Pity, as a resident sea eagle might have kept the cormorants away! I don't think, though, the shepherds would take so kindly to it as we might.
Oh, and I caught a lovely firm rainbow of about a pound and a half or more and brought it back to the hatchery. I had to use a small black hopper dry fly because booby-nymphing with a sinking line didn't get a take, although this method normally works well at Bhac in early winter.
Andy Walker