Man fined £600 for disturbing rare sea eagle on nest in Mull
Oil worker first to be convicted under new act
Published:
AN OIL worker has become the first person to be convicted under the Nature Conservation Scotland Act 2004 for disturbing a rare eagle while on holiday on Mull.
Alistair Waters, 54, of 331 Lee Crescent North, Aberdeen, was fined £600 at Oban Sheriff Court yesterday. He was convicted of recklessly disturbing a protected white-tailed sea eagle while it was on or near a nest at An Cairealach, near the Grasspoint road, Lochdon, on the Inner Hebridean island on March 4.
An egg failed to hatch after the eagle flew off the nest while Waters took photographs of it as it swooped over the tree, squawking.
Waters, who pleaded not guilty, said he did not know the nest was there when he took a morning walk near where he was staying.
The police wildlife crime officer for Mull, Finlay Christine, said there were two large signs at the entrance to the Grasspoint road warning it was a conservation area, it was illegal to disturb wildlife, and telling the public where they could watch eagles without disturbing them.
Waters said: “I don’t rem-ember seeing any signs. I got two-thirds of the way up the hill when I saw the eagle flying around, then I saw the nest. I sat down 30 metres from the nest site, watched the bird and took a few photographs.” A local initiative known as Eagle Watch was in full swing as it was during the breeding season.
A local bed-and-breakfast owner spotted Waters near the nest and phoned Constable Christine, who went to the scene.
The officer told the court all nine sea eagle nests on the island were monitored closely and that an egg had been laid at the nest in question in the previous 24 hours.
He said: “When an eagle is disturbed, it flies off the nest and makes a creeing call and swoops over the nest back and forward. It is my opinion it had been disturbed from the way it was flying and calling.”
Fining Waters, Sheriff Douglas Small said: “I have to take account of the consequences of this reckless conduct.”
Mull officer for the RSPB bird charity David Sexton said: “We welcome responsible tourists to Mull. What happened here wasn’t responsible, it was reckless.”
He said the fine was appropriate, adding: “The economy benefits to the tune of £1.5million to £2million a year from people coming to Mull to see the sea eagles.”
Outside court, Waters said he was “in the wrong place at the wrong time”.
