The last British sea eagle was shot in 1916 and the species disappeared from the wild for over 50 years.

It wasn't until 1975 that the first formal reintroduction was carried out, with a total of 140 birds returned to the wild over the course of 20 years.

These birds have gone on to establish a population of over 80 breeding pairs on the west coast of Scotland.

A project started in 2007 aims to replicate this success in west Scotland - where white-tailed eagles haven't bred for 200 years.

This saw eaglets collected from nests in Norway before being flown to Scotland and released into the wild as juveniles.

To date 86 birds have been released and will all be carefully monitored through radio-tracking and public sightings.


Wildlife photographer Peter Cairns recorded the reintroduction of some of the sea eagles while taking part in the 2020Vision project.

This initiative saw 20 photographers spend 20 months in the field documenting 20 key habitats in Britain to show just how vital they are.

The sea eagle, or white-tailed eagle, is Europe's biggest bird of prey and is the fourth largest eagle in the world.

An adult female is significantly larger than the male and has a wingspan of around 2.5m.


Rhian Evans, the RSPB's Sea Eagle Project Officer, said: 'We owe a great deal to the volunteers, farmers, landowners, partners and members of the public who have helped us reach this important stage of the reintroduction.'

The project's backers, who also include Scottish Natural Heritage, and Forestry Commission Scotland, are hoping number will grow as more and more of the released birds reach sexual maturity.

Environment Minister Stewart Stevenson said: 'The return of sea eagles to the skies of Scotland's east coast marks an important step in ensuring we now have a viable population of these magnificent birds.


'As well as fulfilling a role in our ecosystems, the birds are an important feature for our growing nature-based tourism industry.'

Throughout the 19th Century the species was poisoned and shot by gamekeepers because they were considered to be a threat to livestock and gamebirds.


A HISTORIC ANIMAL FOR SCOTLAND

The sea eagle is a historic animal in Scotland.

At the Tomb of the Eagles in Orkney the remains of at least eight white-tailed eagles were found in the 3000 year-old tomb.


Experts belive the animals may have symbolised the tribe and so were buried with the dead; or perhaps they believed that the eagle carried the soul of the dead into the next world.

It is also known that some ancient peoples in Scotland left their dead to be eaten by birds of prey before burying the bones.
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