Sea Eagle chicks on view at Beinn Eighe visitor centre

Visitors to the Beinn Eighe National Nature Reserve visitor centre in Wester Ross will be treated to fantastic close up views of sea eagle chicks this summer.

Local staff have announced the successful hatching of a chick at the nest on Loch Maree Islands.

It has been regularly used by the pair of eagles for the past 16 years, and last year Scottish Natural Heritage, which manages Britain’s oldest NNR, installed a remote camera which sends live footage via radio signals to the visitor centre in nearby Kinlochewe.

Eoghain Maclean, the reserve mamager, spotted the fluffy chick poking out above the nest cup, and breathed a sigh of relief: “We’ve got to know these birds well over the years – they were both Norwegian chicks which were released in the area in the early 1990s as part of the reintroduction programme,” he confirfmed.

“Weather can have a big impact at nesting time, so it’s always a special moment when you actually see the chicks for the first time. It’s a logistical challenge to bring the pictures in to the centre, but when you see the quality of the images it’s well worth the effort.

“The cameras will allow close views of the adults bringing in food for the chicks, and people will be able to monitor their progress as they grow, and hopefully fledge the nest in late summer. Sea eagles frequently rear two chicks, so we’ll be watching the screen eagerly to see if another one appears”.

Being Eighe visitor centre is open seven days a week from 10am to 5pm from Monday 31 March to the end of September. There are a number of walks at the reserve including the Beinn Eighe Mountain Trail, Woodland Trail, the Corbett Meall a Ghiubhais and a traverse of Beinn Eighe itself.