I was delighted to hear, via Liz Snell's posting on the blog that an eagle is still in residence in the Cors Caron area; I say this as I have heard no mention of the eagle since it's provenance was discussed a few months ago on the blog. At that time I suggested that the eagle's behaviour pointed towards an escaped bird. Since then I have heard from a very reliable source that the bird did infact escape from a private collection of raptors in the South Wales valleys, the original owner is fully aware of where the eagle is living, and having made several time consuming efforts to recapture the bird he has wished it well in it's chosen life.
The discussion about the eagle, and the possibilities of procuring a mate brought me in mind of the tale relayed in Ronald Lockley's book 'The Islands'. In the chapter about Ramsey Island he tells of two golden eagles that were released on Skomer in the 1920s, one was shot fairly soon after release but the other one disappeared only to appear on Ramsey some time later. It lived there successfully and talk started by those supportive of eagles and their like, of releasing a mate for the freeliving male eagle. Captain C.W.R. Knight, a well known falconer of the time was asked to train and release a female eagle for this purpose. It was thought that even if the released eagle did not fare well the encumbent eagle would support it. As is usual theory outstripped performance, and the released eagle was washed ashore in an emaciated state. A few years later the original eagle was, in true tradition shot for killing lambs. Post mortem revealed that it was in fact a female bird, this brings me to the other piece of information I gleaned from my source, that is that the lost eagle in the Tregaron area is female.
I attach a further golden eagle painting, inspired by these awe inspiring birds.
Alastair Proud
