Sea Eagles returned to Scotland

[Hhaawwkkeerr]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/north_east/6228016.stm

[MickeyDredd]

As i've posted before, this is absolute madness, 100 sea eagles being released between the Forth Estuary and the Montrose basin....a distance of maybe 70 miles!


And the residents of nearby towns thought the gulls were a problem, these things will be an interesting pest control job for GaryPCO in the near future!! :rolleyes: :lol: :lol:

[Berkut]

As i've posted before, this is absolute madness, 100 sea eagles being released between the Forth Estuary and the Montrose basin....a distance of maybe 70 miles!


And the residents of nearby towns thought the gulls were a problem, these things will be an interesting pest control job for GaryPCO in the near future!! :rolleyes: :lol: :lol:

There are pest controllers closer than him. ;)

[ReluctantTwitcher]

As i've posted before, this is absolute madness, 100 sea eagles being released between the Forth Estuary and the Montrose basin....a distance of maybe 70 miles!

Hi MickeyDredd,

With all due respect, since these 100 sea eagles will be released in batches over several years, I doubt there will be much trouble. Don't forget that many of them will die before next year's clutch arrives, at least without artificial feeding. Also, sea-eagles are usually much more gregarious than Golden Eagles, and can easily spend the winter together in loose groups at favourable locations. 70 miles of coast-line will be more than enough, trust me.

I wouldn't be overly concerned about them taking lambs or pet dogs either. Yes, the occassional roaming pet cat, free-range chicken or lamb will probably be taken once in a while, but on the whole there are plenty of examples from around Europe where the initial fears have proved to be rather exaggerated. The last ten years my home province of Scania has gone from 0 to around 8-10 breeding pairs of sea-eagles, and yet I haven't heard about any major complaints from the farmers, land-owners or the public. Heck, even the fishermen seems to be surprisingly positive, not least since the Sea-eagles predate heavily on young cormorants, which have experienced a virtual population explosion the last 20 years (top predators have their uses too LOL). The Germans and the Danish seems to have had similar experiences with their increasing populations, and there are now pairs nesting in the vicinity of major cities even, without any significant problems. IMO

Sincerely yours,
/Magnus

[MickeyDredd]

Magnus, with all due respect back at you the proposed release sites are within a few eagle wing-flaps of major human population areas. I cannot comment on the human population density where you live, but I can assure you that the current WTSE release programme on the west coast of Scotland is very different to what is proposed here, the west coast is very lowly populated with no major cities for many miles.

I've been in a meeting where fairly senior RSPB guys have rolled their eyes at the thought of 100 eagles in such a small area and in the location they will be released in, and whilst they stated that very few if any farm animals or poultry were taken by the eagles at the release sites in your country they still believe that is highly possible they will come into conflict with farmers/keepers.

I dont mind a few being released....but 100??!!

Still think it is madness :rolleyes: :D

[MickeyDredd]

There are pest controllers closer than him. ;)

I know Neil, but none I'd love to see getting nailed by a big F.O. eagle more than Gaz! ;) :lol:

ps better watch when you're hacking Spike, you may find he has a few buddies to go on the soar with ;)

[ArnoudH]

We Dutch had for the second year a succesfull breeding-pair.
It seems that we have space for maybe 1 or 2 other.
Send those 4 birds to us please, leaves 96 for the Schottish:supz:

[MickeyDredd]

We Dutch had for the second year a succesfull breeding-pair.
It seems that we have space for maybe 1 or 2 other.
Send those 4 birds to us please, leaves 96 for the Schottish:supz:

So Holland with its vast coastline only has room for 3 pairs, yet we can have potentially 50 in a 70 mile range!! :wink:

[Fudge100]

although i have never seen sea eagles myself, i have been informed by several people in my area that they have witnessed sighting of these birds up here in caithness.only last week a neighbour and friend said she saw them again while at work near castle mey. castle mey looks out across the pentland firth towards the orkneys and it is from that area that my friend says she see's them. i could be wrong as i have a mind like a sieve but i seem to remember a year or so ago it was reported on caithness.org that sea eagles had been sighted at dunnet which is only a few miles along the coast from castle mey.long may it continue.:supz:

[TLDWB]

Where I live and work there should be a good chance of seeing one of these magnificent birds. Even though there may be slim chance of one of my falcons getting a little to close. But when your flying a falcon for bird control, there are a lot a dangers out there. The next few years may become interesting regards conflict with Eagles, and not just falconry related, but our American cousins having been dealing with this issue for years. In the end I would still love to see them back in there natural habitat around the Bass rock.

Tom

[ArnoudH]

So Holland with its vast coastline only has room for 3 pairs, yet we can have potentially 50 in a 70 mile range!! :wink:

Not so quick Mike, our coast is filled with humans and in no way compairable with yours (I've made a trip of 1700 km's through Scotland some years ago).
"Our" eagles breed in a reservate (Oostvaardersplassen) close to what used to be the 'Zuiderzee', the inclosed part of the sea in the middle of Holland.

What we could see through the placed webcam, they feed on fish, birds and bait. In the reservate they also house red deer, wild horses etc. Every winter some of those die because of starvation: food for the eagles.

I do agree that 100 is a lot, therefore I asked for 4 to decrease your problem:grin:

[ReluctantTwitcher]

Still think you guys are being slightly paranoid! ;) :lol:

Joke aside, I respect your opinion MickeyDredd. I've only visited Edinburgh briefly, and have unfortunately not been able to see much more of Scotland,
but I take your word for it regarding the differences between the two Scottish release sites.

I can however assure you that much of Scania and pretty much all of the Danish Islands are both pretty heavily populated, with several big cities (Copenhagen, Malmoe, etc) within reach of the eagles, as well as being quite heavily farmed. This region, often grouped together under the common
name "Öresundsregionen", has close to 4 million inhabitants on an area of around 20 000 square km.

Today, this area harbours some 25 productive pairs of Sea-eagles, with many additional juveniles and non-breeding floaters present year-round.
The winter population in Scania is regularly counted and has been estimated to be around 100-200 at any one time. Does the release of some 20 eagles annually for the next five years still sound so insane?

Cheers,
/Magnus

[MickeyDredd]

Magnus

Yes it does.

We will see.

They are being released amongst some of the best populations of breeding seabirds in the /uk so it will be interesting to see if they will be happy to stay on the coast and feed on them....hope they dont pick offthe rare ones...what would the RSPB do then?? ;)

[Agent D.]

"...........Each chick will also be fitted with wing tags and radio backpacks prior to release so that they can be radio tracked for up to five years. ......."


good bye 173,,,,, illegal frequencies here we come, :o

[JoHo]

"...........Each chick will also be fitted with wing tags and radio backpacks prior to release so that they can be radio tracked for up to five years. ......."


good bye 173,,,,, illegal frequencies here we come, :o

Yes I read something in the paper a while back of someone who lost a bird because the RSBP was doing something in the area (Cairngorms I think) I cant remember the exact details. Oscar has the article.

[Miliscer]

I've made a trip of 1700 km's through Scotland some years ago

That equates to 1056.33103 miles - it is only 874 Miles from John O'groates to lands end! (Furthest point in Scotland to furthest point in England!)

I think you must have got lost on route around Scotland :twisted:

Mike

[Fudge100]

That equates to 1056.33103 miles - it is only 874 Miles from John O'groates to lands end! (Furthest point in Scotland to furthest point in England!)

I think you must have got lost on route around Scotland :twisted:

Mike

i know no one likes a smart arse but i feel i should point out that i live in john o' groats. and although most people think that john o' groats is the furthest point north in the british mainland it is in fact not. the furthest point north is actually dunnet head which is about 12 miles west of the groats.:-P

[Gary B]

there was 1 flying about uphere a few month back at loch of strathbeg on scottish news think a thread on here 2 havent heard if still about or what

[MickeyDredd]

I think they said that one had come across from mainland Europe from memory.

[Pendleside]

I think they said that one had come across from mainland Europe from memory.

didnt need the sat nav then .:roll:
must have been here before to have remembered though .:yawinkle:

[ArnoudH]

That equates to 1056.33103 miles - it is only 874 Miles from John O'groates to lands end! (Furthest point in Scotland to furthest point in England!)

I think you must have got lost on route around Scotland :twisted:

Mike

OK, The total trip was 1700 km/1056 miles by car plus a sea-passage:
Startpoint Eindhoven->Amsterdam->IJmuiden->FERRY->NewCastle->Borders->Edinburgh->St. Andrews->East Cost->many cirkeling around Spey area(you probably know why we cirkeled)->Inverness->back to Spey->Inverness->Fort William->Glasgow-Hardians Wall->Newcastle->FERRY->IJmuiden->Amsterdam->Eindhoven.

Check it on Google Earth!
Anyway, I loved it and have seen also alsmost every match of EC'96 in the pubs, including semi-final England-Germany in Fort Wiliam, I'll never forget!
Altough I really loved the Scottish, I had to support England: the Dutchman who will support Germany has still to be born! :supz:

[JoHo]

"...........Each chick will also be fitted with wing tags and radio backpacks prior to release so that they can be radio tracked for up to five years. ......."


good bye 173,,,,, illegal frequencies here we come, :o

Here is the response I got from the RSBP


Dear Johann

Many thanks for your query and support for the project and apologies for the delay in replying, I have been very busy feeding the birds!

Yes, the WTE radio transmitters will operate on the 173Mhz frequency band, however they are being made by Biotrack who have made transmitters for many past & current raptor tracking projects and so are attempting to avoid frequencies already in use, however, some overlap may be unavoidable and I am in contact with all individuals currently radio-tracking raptors for research purposes in Scotland and we exchange information about the frequencies of any birds who are currently 'missing' or that may have moved into others' study areas.

I am aware that there has been some overlap with radio-tracked kite frequencies & those used by falconers in the past (some confusion can also arise when different receivers are used) and it is hard to pull together information on all frequencies used by individuals. We are looking into the possibility of using different pulse frequencies on WTEs in future to avoid confusion.

I hope that helps answer your query.

Kind regards

Claire Smith
East Scotland Sea Eagle Officer

[TLDWB]

Thanks for taking the time to contact them Johann. Their response says that boitrack would try to avoid a clash regards frequencies, but i think that could be difficult especially if your perhaps using a different manufacturer.

Tom