Sea eagles have landed in secret

Jul 10 2009

ENVIRONMENT Minister Roseanna Cunningham this week visited a secret location near Tayside to learn about Scotland’s forests and biodiversity, writes Felicity Martin.

Ms Cunningham visited an aviary on Forestry Commission Scotland land that is acting as temporary accommodation for the latest 15 sea eagle chicks – part of the East Scotland Sea Eagle (ESSE) project – that were flown in from Norway last week.

The project – a partnership between RSPB, Forestry Commission Scotland and Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) – is the last phase of over 30 years of work to restore a Scotland-wide population of sea eagles.

Ms Cunningham said: “Scotland’s forests deliver economic and social benefits to communities and businesses across the country but are also a tremendous resource for biodiversity.

“Playing an important role in ambitious reintroduction programmes, such as ESSE, our forests make a direct contribution to the richness of our natural heritage and to the continued growth of the eco-tourism sector.

“This has been a tremendously successful project and I congratulate and applaud the partnership’s efforts to revive the fortunes of this incredible bird.”

The sea eagle chicks – the latest batch being reared during this ESSE project – were collected in Norway when they were five-eight weeks old. They will be released into the wild when they are 11-14 weeks old.

Charlie Taylor, for the Commission in Tay Forest District, said: “Managing forests to provide a wide range of habitats for a huge number of animal and bird species is an important part of the Commission's work.

“Being able to contribute to the successful reintroduction of these awe inspiring birds really is something special.

"To date we've hosted around 40 sea eagle chicks here in the district as part of this programme and are very pleased to welcome this year's new arrivals.

“With the expertise and invaluable support of RSPB and SNH, it’s been a real partnership effort. We’re all delighted at how well the birds have taken to life in East Scotland.”

Claire Smith, the East Scotland sea eagle officer, went over to Norway in June to collect the latest batch of chicks.

Ms Smith said: “It was finger-tip stuff, climbing up the side of fjords and into trees, looking for nests containing two healthy chicks, where one bird could be removed and one left.”

She added: “Scotland’s birds of prey are good for tourism.

“The Mull sea eagles have drawn an extra £1.5 million to the economy. And in Perthshire, Highland Safaris near Aberfeldy are now seeing sea eagles on their wildlife safaris.”

During the winter, the sea eagles released in 2007 and 2008 seemed to do well, with up to eight being seen at a communal roost in the Carse of Gowrie and others feeding on wildfowl at Carsebreck, near Blackford, and in fields around Auchterarder.

In early spring they dispersed more widely, some birds visiting the Argaty red kite centre near Dunblane.

The sea eagles are likely to be at least five years old before they begin breeding and it can then take a couple of years before they successfully raise their own chicks.

In March, Perth Museum opened its ‘return of the native’ exhibition, which runs until January, 2010, and looks at the recovery of native species.

There is a special focus on the ESSE Project, including a short film about the first two years of the reintroduction programme.

Sea eagles were hunted to extinction in Scotland during the early years of the last century.

As a result of ESSE and earlier reintroduction programmes, there are estimated to be around 200 individuals resident in Scotland, including more than 40 breeding pairs.

The most recent confirmed locations where the sea eagles have settled include Midlothian, Fife, Angus and West Perthshire, with four birds sharing a communal roost site near the Fair City.