Sea eagles released into wild

In more great birds of prey news, a batch of white tailed sea eagles have been released into the wild in Scotland (BBC report here). This is part of a project aiming to re-introduce the bird back to eastern Scotland. All the birds have been tagged and can therefore be tracked so that members of the project team can watch their progress and monitor where they end up.

All 15 of the birds were taken as chicks from nests in Norway, and were raised with the intention of re-introducing them into the wild. This release follows on from last years successful release program, and it is hoped that some of the new birds will meet up with last years releases, some of which travelled as far as the Argyll islands, and the island of Mull. Up to 20 new birds a year will be released for the next 3 years.

This really is fantastic news for the survival for these iconic birds (affectionately known as “flying barn doors”). Having been one of a very few privileged people to handle one of these birds I was absolutely amazed at the size of the juvenile that I handled (with a wingspan approaching 6 feet) and certainly knew what was going on when it clocked me on the back of the head with its wing! Handling one of these birds is one thing, but I’d love to see one of these birds in the wild, so I’ll be watching with interest for any more news from the East Scotland Sea Eagles project.