22nd June – Arrival

The chicks first day in Scotland was a long one for eagles and Project Team alike. The birds were placed into large plastic pet kennels from their temporary accommodation in Norway before taking their first flight across the North Sea courtesy of the Norwegian Royal Air Force. 

For me, the day began preparing fish for their first feed! The birds’ introduction to Scotland was a hectic one being greeted by the press at RAF Kinloss and for ‘Orion’ in particular – named in honour of plane that the birds were brought over in – who was star of the show. The birds were then driven to their release cages at a secret location in East Scotland.
 
Each chick was examined and weighed by two vets to check that they were healthy and Blood samples were taken to confirm the sex, before being placed in pairs in the cages, matched up by size. It was gone 8 pm by the time everyone left, just leaving me to feed them some fish and lock up for the night. They suddenly seemed very vulnerable on their own in the wood.

Returning early to feed them on Saturday morning was extremely nerve-wracking as the birds had hardly eaten, but by Sunday all of the birds seemed to be getting settled in and were eating lots – they haven’t stopped since!