With a crack and puff of gun smoke, the last white-tailed sea eagle to grace the Scottish skies plunged to its death.
It was 1918, and the pale brown eagle – thought by some to be albino making it an exceptional bird among an already rare species – had lived for nearly 30 years, the final few waiting in vain on its rocky perch searching for its long-dead mate.
The female was well-known among Shetlanders; it would return year after year to the eyrie where it once raised its chicks, recognisable thanks to its pale plumage.
But sea eagles had a poor reputation – albeit misguided – for taking lambs. Many were hunted and killed by landowners and some for sport. Eventually just this one remined.
Events of 1918 ended what was once the regular sight of white-tailed eagles in Scotland’s skies.
Some, however, were determined the birds, with their impressive 8ft wingspans, should not be lost forever.
Efforts to reintroduce the species began in the 1950s, well before the concept of ‘rewilding’ became a topic of debate.
George Waterston, who became RSPB Scotland director, and his cousin Pat Sandeman released three sea eagles sourced from Norway at Glen Etive in 1959.
One lived for a year before being caught in a fox trap, another was caught and ended up in captivity and the third’s fate was unknown.
Later, leading conservationist Roy Dennis, now in his 80s and living in Forres, took part in the release of four Norwegian birds on Fair Isle. Their numbers, though, were too low to make an impact.
By the early 1970s, focus had switched to the Inner Hebridean Isle of Rum.
Bought by the Nature Conservancy Council from its private owner in 1957 to establish a national nature reserve, it became the focus for a three-phase programme to release sea eagles gifted by Norway.
Among the host of ornithologists devoted to seeing their return was the late John Love, the NCC’s sea eagle reintroduction officer based on the island.
Over the following ten years he monitored the release of 82 white-tailed eagles on Rum, helping to ensure the success of the project.
As the birds matured, they travelled further afield. The first successful breeding of the re-introduced white-tailed eagles occurred on nearby Mull in 1985.
Two chicks hatched, one survived – the first successful wild-bred chick in the UK for 70 years.
Now known as ‘Eagle Island”, Mull has nearly two dozen breeding pairs with this season seeing record numbers of young birds.
In 2007, the East Scotland Sea Eagle project saw 15 young sea eagles from Norway released into the Tayside area. By 2010, a total of 63 had been released.
Across Scotland, there are now 220 breeding pairs, with birds established from Loch Lomond to the Cairngorms, Wester Ross to Fife.
Such is the success story, that sea eagles from the Isle of Mull are now involved in another wave of nature restoration.
Some have been shared with rewilding projects in England, including the Isle of Wight. Last week conservationists there confirmed that two white-tailed eagle chicks have just fledged - the second time the birds have bred there in 240 years.
The same same pair successfully raised a single male chick last year, the first white-tailed eagle to be born in southern England since 1780.
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