White-tailed Eagle breeds in Sutherland
Great news, after an absence of over 100 years the magnificent White-tailed Sea Eagle is back breeding in Sutherland. This notable event sadly did not happen in Assynt, yet! These huge birds seem to be spreading up the west coast following several re-introduction programmes on both the west and east coasts.
The most recent chick was about 7 weeks old and doing well when the nest was visited recently. The purpose of the visit was to place uniquely numbered and coloured rings on this chick’s legs. At the same time its vital statistics are measured and recorded. The rings allow the bird to identified over the years as it matures and hopefully successfully breeds itself. Andy Summers the Highland Council Senior Ranger in Assynt and also a member of the Highland Raptor Study Group was fortunate to be involved with the visit. Andy says there were the remains of an adult gannet, fulmars, dogfish, roe deer and guillemot in the nest.
The parent birds were both full adults meaning they were at least five years old. Although they can breed when younger than this the chicks from such pairs often do not survive to fledge. This is generally because the parents are too inexperienced.
This is a photo of the chick after it had been ringed and clearly shows the downy head feathers and the flight feathers still ‘in sheath’.