Twins at 7-8 weeks of age
In early July 2010 we fitted a satellite transmitter to a golden eagle chick at a North Harris nest site with the help of experts from Natural Research Ltd. At the time the eagle chick was around 9 weeks of age, just a couple of weeks away from leaving the nest. The chick tagged was one of a two chicks raised at a nest site near Reinigeadal. Usually only one chick survives to fledging but in this case the two chicks were raised on a healthy diet of mountain hares, grouse and rabbits which were particularly abundant in the area last year.
9 week old eaglet at satellite tagging
Both chicks left the nest in late July and between fledging and early January the satellite tagged chick stayed close to the nest site only making short exploratory flights. During this period the youngster would have been mainly dependant on its parents for food whilst learning important hunting skill. Some young leave their parents territory as early as October but is not unusual for young to stay in their parents territory until February when they are probably kicked out by their parents who then be preparing for the next breeding season.
Our youngster left its territory between the 8th and 9th of Jan moving a short distance to the East across loch Seaforth. It then spent the next two weeks exploring the central area of the Pairc peninsula. During this time it would have passed through a number of other golden eagle territories. The Eisgein estate holds a large deer heard and the young eagle would probably have been feeding largely on deer carrion. During the harsh winter weather in January it would also have been important for the eagle to find sheltered roost sites on cliffs and crags with protection against the worst weather.
Loch Reasort
On the 27th Jan it moved west spending the last few days of January around Loch Reasort. This is one of the most remote areas of Scotland, a few km away from adult golden eagle breeding territories where a number of young golden eagles can often be seen.
The North Harris Trust would like to thank Natural Research and Haworth Conservation for funding this project.
Click HERE to see the updated mapping.