In early August 2020, seven white-tailed eagles were released on the Isle of Wight in the second year of a five-year project to establish a breeding population there. Using an audio diary recorded by Ian Perks of the Roy Dennis Wildlife Foundation, this podcast looks back at the early stages of this year's work, and finds out how some of the chicks were collected from their nests. The podcast follows Ian and Justin Grant as they travel to the Western Isles, where with the help of Robin Reid of the RSPB, they check nest sites for suitable candidates for translocation.
The Covid 19 outbreak meant a very different way of working for the team, but this podcast hears how, while observing lockdown rules, the project was able to continue uninterrupted. One of the biggest differences was that, due to the Covid 19 outbreak, the nests had not been checked in advance this year. Many were found to have only one young, and chicks can only be taken from nests with at least two. In some cases, though, Ian fitted a satellite radio to single chicks, meaning that data will be fed back from birds that will fledge in the Western Isles as well as on the Isle of Wight.
Ian and Fraser Cormack later made trips to Mull, Skye and Sutherland, in the north of the mainland, in an effort to get as many chicks as possible for translocation, before the birds were sent south to the Isle of Wight, to be kept in hacking cages prior to their release.
Contributors (in order of appearance): Tim Mackrill Ian Perks Fraser Cormack Roy Dennis Robin Reid
Producer: Moira Dennis
Music: Realness by Kai Engel, downloadable from the Free Music Archive
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