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The Eagle Returns
Last modified: 09 December 2011
A White-tailed eagle in flight
Staff and visitors at RSPB Vane Farm Nature Reserve have welcomed the first sightings of a White-tailed Sea Eagle to the reserve this season. Bird ‘H’, a two and a half year old female, recognisable by her turquoise wing tag, was first seen on Monday 5 December and has shown up daily to delight visitors since then.
The arrival has come to signal the start of winter for staff at the reserve, as for the last three years the cold winter weather has attracted up to three of these magnificent birds of prey to the nature reserve at Loch Leven, perhaps drawn to the area by the large numbers of wintering pink-footed geese and other wildfowl on the loch.
Vane Farm Warden, Vicky Turnbull remarked: “During the cold winter months, when water bodies can freeze up, the eagles can benefit from the stress this puts on wildfowl and other wildlife who experience increased mortality at this time of year. Last year we witnessed a Sea Eagle with a rabbit carcass being repeatedly charged by a fox, obviously hoping to steal the meal for itself. Hopefully if eagle ‘H’ stays around for a while, we can witness more of these wildlife spectacles”.
The birds are part of the East Scotland Sea Eagle (ESSE) release programme – a concerted effort by the RSPB, Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) and the Forestry Commission Scotland (FCS) to help the species re-colonise east Scotland. The eagles were collected as chicks from their nests in Norway, before being reared in specifically constructed aviaries in Fife and released into the wild as juveniles several months later.
Eagle ‘H’ was released in August 2009 and has made regular appearance at Vane Farm through the winter months since then. Rhian Evans, RSPB East Scotland Sea Eagle Officer, commented: “Bird ‘H’ was last seen at Vane Farm in February this year and stayed in the Fife area for a while before spending the past few months on Loch Tay. I’ve been picking up signals for her there since September, and as far as I know, she’s been there the whole time before making her way to Vane as soon as the snow arrived. I’m hoping she’ll be joined by some more White-tailed Eagles soon”.
There are around 200 individual sea eagles in Scotland, including 57 breeding pairs on the west coast, so this is a great opportunity for people to come and view one of these birds. So far, 80 have been released in Fife since 2007 and the project is now entering year six of white-tailed eagle reintroduction in which it is hoped that the programme will reach a total of 100 released birds. All birds are individually marked and carry radio-tags allowing their movements to be tracked.
Visitors have been flocking to Vane Farm to catch a glimpse of this stunning bird for themselves. The eagles’ enormous stature and 8-foot wingspan make her highly visible against the magnificent backdrop of the reserve and she has been regularly sighted from the café and viewing area, which has unparalleled views out across Vane Farm and the wider Loch Leven National Nature Reserve.
RSPB Scotland’s work at Vane Farm is supported by Scottish Natural Heritage, SITA Trust, Perth and Kinross Quality of Life Trust through the Landfill Communities Fund, Biffa, Dundee City Council, Falkirk Council and Stirling Council and a range of Scottish charitable trusts. RSPB Vane Farm is part of the Loch Leven National Nature Reserve (NNR).