Trees for Life put out a press release today about golden eagles successfully breeding at their Dundreggan reserve for the first time in living memory. The news item went worldwide and I was interviewed on Sky News this morning and talked with the Radio Canada this evening. It a long interesting story, which I partly covered in my blog of 5th October 2015 but it’s worth re-telling.
On 30th June 2010, I left home at 10.30am and collected David Clark and Ryan Munro, from Alladale Wilderness, on my drive north to the RSPB Forsinard Reserve in the Flow Country
The manager, Norrie Russell, took us by argocat some of the way and then we walked across the hills to an eagle nest with two big young. The reason for the trip was to fit satellite transmitters, as part of our eagle studies. We ringed both young before returning them to their eyrie. Transmitter 57107 was fitted to the young male, the female’s was 57106. We had a great walk back in the evening sun and finally I reached home at midnight after a wonderful day’s fieldwork.
The male eaglet left his parents in October and ranged widely but the female stayed with her parents until after the New Year. During his wanderings he arrived at Dundreggan on the 17th November 2010 and roosted there overnight in a cliff, before departing north the following day. This is part of Glen Moriston, which runs north and west of Loch Ness. It was an area I knew well in the late 1970s and 1980s when I monitored golden eagles in the Highlands. In those days this glen though was a black spot for illegal persecution so the ancient breeding sites were unoccupied. By 2008 Dundreggan estate had been purchased by Trees for Life during the time I was one of their volunteer board members.
During the collection of satellite data from over twenty eagles I noted that many chose to visit long abandoned nesting areas, and this led to me suggesting the idea of building a nest on the new reserve with the Alan Featherstone Watson, the founder of Trees for Life. On 5th October 2015 I went to Dundreggan and explained to the staff how to build an eagle nest before we headed for the location. Alan had asked a local climber Ewan to come with his climbing gear and after fixing ropes, he and I abseiled into the best ledge. To my amazement the overgrown ledge contained the ancient stick remains of an eagle eyrie, probably from the middle of the last century. I cleared the ledge of vegetation, including a small conifer that was blocking access, and then we hauled up bundles of sticks tied to our rope by the group of helpers below. Arranging the sticks and adding moss and grass resulted in a good starter eyrie for prospecting eagles.
Doug Gilbert, manager of the reserve, reported an eagle over the cliff that winter but it was not until last month that I heard the exciting news that a pair was rearing a single eaglet in our nest. He reported that they had built a big structure on top of our original nest and it’s very likely they had started taking an interest in the ancient breeding site last year.
This is an exciting development and demonstrates that eagles will successfully return to ancient nesting places when illegal persecution is ceased. Sometimes by their own actions and sometimes with help. Five years may seem a long time to wait for successful breeding but we have built nests in other good places and are still waiting for them to be occupied. For Trees for Life it’s an accolade to their management of their rewilding reserve and there’s every likelihood that this pair will decide to stay and become regular successful breeders. The interest today has been very encouraging and it’s given us a chance to point out that it’s part of the ecological restoration of degraded lands: an icon of restoring nature. And for fun it’s created amusing headlines – my son-in-law Whatsapped me to say he liked the quote “an octogenarian conservationist dangling from a rope”.
Can you help us?
We will be building more Golden Eagle, White-tailed Eagle and Osprey nests this winter. If you would like to help us with this important conservation work, then please consider making a donation to the Foundation by clicking on the donate button below. All support is very gratefully received.
