Project BLOG

Latest News from the South of Scotland Golden Eagle Project

31 May 2018

Project Update May 2018

R

by Rick T.

31 May 2018

Welcome to the brand-new blog site of the South of Scotland Golden Eagle Project.

This exciting new project aims to reinforce the small, fragmented and vulnerable population of Golden Eagles in the South of Scotland.

Over a series of five yearly translocations, we hope to once again welcome a healthy population of this iconic species to Scotland’s Southern Skies.

This blog will follow the progress of this exciting new translocation project and keep you up to date with the latest news, pictures and developments as work to reinforce our isolated southern Golden Eagle population progresses.

The new team are ready and awaiting the arrival of the Eaglets………

After an extensive planning and development period the South of Scotland Golden Eagle Project is pleased to announce the successful recruitment of their new team.

Project Manager: Dr Cat Barlow

Eagle Officer: John Wright

Community Outreach Officers: Philip Munro (Dumfries and Galloway); Rick Taylor (Scottish Borders)

Stakeholder Engagement Officer: Brian Burrows

So what have we been doing?……

Initially, the main task at hand has been the construction of 5 custom built Eagle aviaries which will be a temporary home to the eaglets for a brief 2-month period prior to release. Meticulous care has been taken to ensure the safety and care of these young pioneers during this time with project volunteers already logging 330 hours at the workshop and on-site to ensure the aviaries have been constructed to the highest standards, under the expert supervision of Daniel Lacey, a professional carpenter and furniture designer from Langholm.

After completing the 5-day workshop build between 20th-25th March, snow-covered ground was broken on-site on 5th April.

All groundwork was undertaken by hand and was, to put it mildly, brutal due to the ‘more-rock-than-earth’ make-up of the subterranean conditions. However, progress was sufficient for a team to be ready to begin on-site construction by 16th April with the final lick of paint being applied to the completed aviaries on 4th May.

With preparations almost complete we are eagerly awaiting news of suitable eaglets for translocation. We’ll keep you posted here.

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