On 3rd June 2000 while watching the Golden Eagles at Haweswater from the RSPB viewpoint I witnessed a remarkable fifteen minutes of intense mobbing by several species.

The eagles’ breeding attempt had failed by this time, the female having abandoned the nest, though the conscientious male was still sitting in her absence.

The female had been very active all morning, her behaviour suggesting she was actively hunting. On one occasion, as she was flying down the valley opposite the viewpoint, three Ravens and a pair of Peregrines started mobbing her aggressively, causing her to call loudly. The male eagle then appeared, having been tempted away from his lonely vigil, and joined in the fracas before drifting back up valley.

As the Ravens and Peregrines lost interest and drifted away, I noticed a female Goosander flying frantically in circles above the eagle and then was amazed to see the duck diving headlong at the eagle who seemed unimpressed and ignored the attacks. This continued for ten minutes as both birds flew to the head of the valley near the eagle’s eyrie.

Although mobbing by corvids, raptors and even thrushes is a regular occurrence at Haweswater, a Goosander behaving in this way is, to the best of my knowledge, unprecedented - nor can I find any reference to it in ‘eagle’ literature. The reason was probably that the duck had a brood of ducklings on the beck below.

A memorable day’s eagle-watching culminated in an unsuccessful attack on a red deer calf by the female eagle. The eagles may have failed, but they are - as ever - great entertainment!