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SOUNDSCAPE: The White-tailed Sea Eagle
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A fictional 5-part series narrated by Paul Young. |
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This dramatic series follows the lives of three pairs of white-tailed sea eagles as they struggle to survive and raise their chicks in Scotland.
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Programme 1. Monday 21 February, 15.45-16.00
It's autumn and beyond John O'Groats in the Pentland Firth, a party of gulls hover near a fishing boat hoping for an easy meal. Suddenly they scatter. A cross-like shadow sweeps over the bow of the boat. It's a white-tailed sea eagle.
WithÌýthe largest wingspan of any British bird, the sea eagle is a magnificentÌýbut uncommon sight. In this first programme, we hear about the history of these birds in Scotland and how they were driven to extinction by man's relentless persecution.
We travel back in time to the summer solstice in the year 3000BC when our Neolithic ancestors revered the sea eagle and buried their bones alongside the human dead. (The Tomb of the Eagles on the Island of Ronaldsay is one such site where archaeological evidence supports this theory).
Back inÌýthe present, we hear about the re-introduction programme that began in the 1970s to re-establish sea eagles on our shores.ÌýWe join a pair of sea eagles on the Isle of Mull in their first stage of courtship. The story follows this pair as they struggle to survive the winter gales and find food in the icy conditions. Sea eagles are great scavengers and are far more likely to feed on carrion, such as dead fish, deer or seabirds, than hunt for themselves.
The programme ends with an acrobatic aerial display as a pair of sea eagles wheel and dive through the cold winter air performing their spectacular courtship display.
Programme Pages:
Soundscape home page
Episode 1: 21 February- More information >>>
EpisodeÌý2: 22 February- More information >>>
Episode 3: 23 February- More information >>>
Episode 4: 24 February- More information >>>
Episode 5: 25 February- More information >>>
See also:
Soundscape: The Swallow’s Journey
Soundscape: A Grey Seal Odyssey
Ìý
Soundscape: AÌýSerengeti March
Soundscape: The Pond
 ÌýListen again to Programme 1 |
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RELATED LINKS |
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For further information about white tailed sea eagles and where to see them in Britain:
Â鶹ԼÅÄ Nature - Return of the white-tailed eagle
Basic Facts about Sea Eagles:
Â鶹ԼÅÄ Nature - Wildfacts
Suggested Further Reading:
The Return of the Sea Eagle
by John A. Love
Published by Cambridge University Press 1983
ISBN 0 521 25513 9
The Â鶹ԼÅÄ is not responsible for the content of external websites
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