North Uist, Outer Hebrides, Scotland

Alan Fawcett (right) is Mr. Golden Eagle Watch in North Uist, Outer Hebrides. He arrives each spring, finds the nest and spends four months watching, every day, until the chicks fledge. He’s been coming for eight years.

Alan’s stake out was three weeks old by the time I met him, and he’d already welcomed 900 people to look through his spotting scope.
Dean Eades (left) is Bird Mad (self-proclaimed) and it’s hard to tell how Alan feels about having him along as a volunteer.

I asked Alan if he misses the birds the rest of the year. He replied, “I miss the people.”