A pair of White-tailed Eagles on the Isle of Mull have amazed experts by continuing to care for their injured offspring into its second year of life, going so far as to skip breeding this year to focus on tending to the youngster. The chick injured its left wing in July last year after its nest fell to the ground during unseasonably wild weather. Despite its sibling surviving unscathed and fledging not long afterwards, the injured youngster’s story has been a little less smooth.
As the parents continued to support the chick its wing continued to heal and it finally took to the skies in the autumn, in rather wobbly fashion, with little hope from locals that it would survive the long, harsh winter ahead. But nature has a funny old way of proving us wrong, making this year’s events even more heart-warming.
This spring RSPB Mull Officer Dave Sexton was onboard the Lady Jayne, run by Mull Charters, for an early season White-tailed Eagle monitoring check, when he witnessed an incredible sight… more in the printed issue

Photo: White-tailed Eagle chick © Ashley James