As the 1-15pm glight from Oslo touch down at Edinburgh airport,an eager band of conservationists gathered on the runway.
On board the light aircraft were 19 sea eagle chicks, ready to take part in their species’ remarkable Scottish renaissance. Almost a century ago, these birds were driven to complete extinction in the British isles.
On board the light aircraft were 19 sea eagle chicks, ready to take part in their species’ remarkable Scottish renaissance. Almost a century ago, these birds were driven to complete extinction in the British isles.
Part of the East Scotland Sea Eagle (ESSE) reintroduction programme – a partnership between RSPB Scotland, Scottish Natural Heritage and the Forestry Commission Scotland – the Norwegian chicks will now be held in purpose-built aviaries at a secret location in Fife, for fear of being injured or poached, before being released into the wild this August.
Among those on the tarmac to greet the sea eagle chicks was Claire Smith of the RSPB, who is also a project officer for the east of Scotland release scheme. She said that since the reintroduction programme on the east-coast started in 2007, there have been more than “2,000 sightings of these wonderful birds”. Smith added: “Last year’s chicks have had a really great year, with more than 700 sightings by the public all over eastern Scotland – one bird even made it over to Skye and Mull.”
For the next two months the chicks will be fed venison, rabbit and fish to build up their strength before being tagged and released.
The eagles, which will continue to be monitored by RSPB experts, are not expected to breed for at least another couple of years, when those first released will have reached maturity. So far, the survival rate has been hailed as a success, with 33 out of the 44 Norwegian birds having survived. Causes of death include being hit by trains and electrocuted by power lines. A couple were also killed through “illegal persecution” – otherwise known as hunting.
Environment Minister Roseanna Cunningham, who was at the airport to see the eagles touch down on Friday, said: “We are not bringing a new species to the country, we are simply re-introducing a bird that was a huge part of Scottish history and should be part of our country’s future.”
The white-tailed sea eagle was once regularly spotted in Scotland’s skies. With a majestic natural profile, it was more familiar than the golden eagle.
But farmers and landowners of more recent centuries did not share a love of the iconic bird of prey. They regarded the sea eagle as a lamb-stealing threat and persecuted the “nuisance” to extinction in most of the country. Eventually, the sea eagle retreated to a last stronghold in the Highlands and Islands.
There it was persecuted further by Victorian collectors. The more it was hunted, the rarer it became, until eventually it succumbed. The last nest was seen in 1916 and two years later, the last native British sea eagle was shot, on the Isle of Skye.
In 1975, however, this magnificant bird began a come back.
A west-coast reintroduction project saw young birds flown in from Norway, where the population remains healthy, and released on the Hebridean island of Rum. And after 10 years of high hopes of a new British breeding population, a pair finally nested and raised a chick, on the Isle of Mull.
Over the next decade more than 80 young birds were brought across from Norway and released on the west coast.
It may have been a painfully slow process but the programme was a success, with the breeding population soaring to 46 pairs last year, stretching from the Isle of Lewis to Argyll.
Rebecca Lewis: Herald Scotland: 28-6-10
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