Visitors to RSPB Scotland’s Abernethy nature reserve have enjoyed the first ever live footage of a wild white-tailed eagle hatching in the UK.
The young eaglet is the offspring of Shona and Finn, a pair who are nesting in the vast landscape of the Cairngorms Connect partnership, of which RSPB Scotland is part. Since eggs were first seen in the nest on Thursday 3 March, both parents have shared incubating duties, including protecting them from snow and recent storms, before the first egg hatched at 19:43 on Friday 8 April.
The birds’ activities are being beamed live to the Loch Garten Nature Centre, via a camera which has been hidden in a stick 3 metres from the nest to avoid disturbing the birds. This is the first time such a method has been used in the UK after successful trials in Latvia and Estonia.
Fergus Cumberland, Visitor Experience Manager for RSPB Scotland, said, “The response to the eagles from the public has been one of excitement and anticipation. The true character and personalities of these birds are on full display for the public to experience and it is a wonder to watch it all unfold. Now to see that they’ve hatched their first chick is incredible. We feel so privileged to have been able to witness such a special moment.”
Also known as sea eagles, white-tailed eagles are the UK’s largest bird of prey with a wingspan of 2.5 metres. They were driven to extinction in Scotland in 1918 before birds from Scandinavia were re-introduced to the Isle of Rum in 1975. Subsequent re-introductions in other parts of the country, as well as the birds’ natural dispersal means there are now populations spread as far as Fife, Orkney and the northwest Highlands.
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Posted On: 11/04/2022