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‘Just the icing on the Christmas cake’: White-tailed sea eagle flying home to Mull for Christmas

Chick being fed by parent. Image: RSPB Scotland.
Chick being fed by parent. Image: RSPB Scotland.

A young female white-tailed eagle who thrilled millions watching BBC’s Springwatch series this year has flown west for the festive season.

The eagle, whose first weeks were captured live on camera footage shown at RSPB Scotland’s Loch Garten Nature Centre, has made its way to the Isle of Mull.

The island is home of the young bird’s great-great grandparents, Skye and Frisa.

White-tailed Sea Eagle in flight with the Isle of Mull in background. Image: Shutterstock.

Visitors to Loch Garten were treated to unrivalled views of life at a white-tailed eagle nest in the Cairngorms earlier this year.

In a UK-first, a camera was installed by specialists Wildlife Windows and External Reality overlooking the nest over a year ago in the hope the eagle family would take up residence in the spring.

Satellite tags help track birds movements

Early signs were promising when an adult pair, named Finn and Shona, were seen nest building in the snow deep in the forest in the Cairngorms.

Eventually eggs were laid, two chicks hatched and both went on to fledge successfully after the female chick was fitted with a satellite tag.

The tags allow conservationists to track the movements of birds, providing insights into their behaviour and helping to identify the threats they face.

Immature white-tailed eagles explore far and wide in their first five years prior to becoming mature adults pairing up and establishing a breeding territory of their own.

A group of 16 white tailed sea eagles were spotted in one area on Mull. Of these, five were photographed together. Image: Wild About Argyll tours.

The young eagle from the Cairngorms has now successfully navigated her way to the west coast.

She was recorded on the Morvern peninsula before crossing the Sound of Mull and onto the Isle of Mull.

Mull has played a critical role in the re-establishment of white-tailed eagles since their reintroduction in 1975 following their UK extinction in 1918.

BBC Springwatch presenter Iolo Williams said: “It was such a privilege to watch the two sea eagle chicks in the Cairngorms last spring and to know they both successfully flew the nest was just fantastic.

The flight of the white-tailed sea eagle to his ancestral home. Image: RSPB.

“Now to hear that the female has made it all the way across country to Mull – one of my favourite places in the world – and that she’s exploring the island home of her ancestors is just the icing on the Christmas cake.

“I hope the family gave her a warm welcome for the festive season!”

Some white-tailed eagle chicks on the west coast succumbed to bird flu this year, possibly after feeding on sickly or dead seabirds which were badly affected by the disease.

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