Belties Eagle-Watch-Walk

 

My husband Stephen and I had been thinking along similar lines it seemed when it came to going out for a walk this morning.

The line of thought that we were sharing was something like this.

 

 

 

I am a White-Tailed-Eagle, we having been transported a great distance and released on the Isle of Wight, off the south coast of England along with two other breading pairs, by people who have experience in these matters and should know what they are doing. My wife and I should give a little time considering this new, carefully selected location. Having explored the island a little while, my love and I had flown to West Sussex, not very far away in search of somewhere else to set up home. Then following our inbred instinct’s, we flew away gliding on the prevalent south westerly wind soaring high above the pretty land and sea below, gliding in huge graceful circles taking in all that was going on far below us not missing a thing with our ‘Eagle- eyes’. Mmm River Arun…. Arundel Castle has a large estate of park, farmlands, wetlands and woodland with some pretty villages. The river Arun runs through it all and snakes through the South Downs.

 

 

Stephen and I have been obsessively striking out on Eagle-Watch-Walks since we first spotted the newest visitors to the area. We have got to know quite the land well in thirty years of running as training for our sport of triathlon and doing our best to avoid road running that neither of us is fond of. We saw the eagles first time completely by accident on the return leg of one of our exercise jog-run rambles. We do love the countryside and a bit of bird spotting goes down well, so it was very exciting to see these huge beautiful strangers soaring above us.

 

Today we were both on a bit of a mission and the training idea was less important that the Eagle spotting. We had both been searching our minds for where we might settle for as a home if we were a breading pair of Eagles thrown into a new landscape. We have seen them a fair number of times now on these rambles and thought we would stretch it out to search out toward the South Downs Way a little north on Burpham where we had seen them circling and also perched in a tree.  Maybe it was again simply a stroke of luck or if our own instinct had been correct, Lord only knows, but a little short of the old Roman, quite direct trail along the South Downs, there above us riding the air streams were the two vast birds that we were searching for. We stood transfixed long enough for five mountain bikers to climb up the very steep path behind us and in fact only one of these sturdy looking blokes actually made it anywhere near the top. We shouted encouragement at the first one to appear and he did manage to get to the top where it took him a few moments until he could breathe soundly enough to tell us about the groups trek from Portsmouth with an overnight stay on the downs before getting into our area. The other four all got off their bikes before they even came into sight around the bend in the stiff climb. We made then feel bad by telling them all as they arrived that only one of them made it. They all felt better when we pointed out that the old maxim, ‘The harder the climb the sweeter the prize’ was only too true by pointing to the pair of eagles above them. 

 

The circling spectacle over our head started to move back toward the River and Burpham where they have been hanging out of late. We managed to get a couple more good sightings before we finally picked up the van in the car park by The George Pub at our start point. As we stood there gazing around, I was so happy to see my first swallow this year. I turned to Steve and quoted

‘One Swallow doesn’t make a summer’, but did not get past that before another one darted by to make it official. Summer my friends is upon us.

 

Shortly after we got home there were the two White-Tailed-Eagles circling overhead above our home in Littlehampton, just two miles south of Arundel. I hope they are not going to return to the Isle of White which at their height in the sky, they can clearly see from that position.

 

Another of our funny little habits is to take a quick sweep around Arundel before driving home and I have to say that far from continuing to be half sensible, the world has gone quite mad and people a swarming everywhere shoulder to shoulder as if the pandemic was already over. Not in my book it isn’t. I can see that it has been a horrible time and nobody wants to go through anything like the last year and a quarter again but I do think that with arms all around each other, hugging and kissing all your mates and behaving in nothing short of festival mode is a little bit premature or to put it another way immature.

 

I contrast to this freedom hysteria, the behaviour of the Queen and her family at the very formal but perfect funeral of the Duke of Edinburgh, was far more sensible and in keeping with the official advice that still stands.