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| | | SOUNDSCAPE: The White-tailed Sea Eagle
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Go to the Listen Again page | | | | | 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.
| | |  | | | Golden Eagle |
Programme 5. Friday 25 February, 15.45-16.00
It's mid-winter, and of the six eggs laid by our three pairs of adult birds only one female survives the winter. We join her as she follows a party of ravens to a deer carcass, sending the birds scattering as she claims it as her own.
The sea eagles use all their patience and skills to procure their food. One tactic is to perch on the shore and wait for seabirds drowned at sea in the winter storms to be washed up on the beach.
One of our sea eagles heads up the valley and tries his luck at fishing in a mountain stream. He's successful. After a day's fishing, he sets out on the long journey back to his nest, when he encounters a golden eagle.
It's rare for these birds to meet; golden eagles tend to be birds of the mountains, whilst sea eagles are associated with lochs and coastlines. When they meet, the golden eagle attacks the sea eagle. It's a fight to the death.
Winter eventually passes, and cheered by the spring sunshine a farmer strolls round his farm. Something catches his eye on the ground. It's a talon and a piece of bone; all that's left of our sea eagle after his fight with the golden eagle.
The farmer turns over the fragments on his hand; believing in the luck that they might bring. At that moment, a white-tailed sea eagle soars overhead; with its huge wings spread wide, their fingered tips fluttering in the wind, the bird is a magnificent sight.
Programme Pages:
Soundscape home page
Episode 1: 21 February- More information >>>
Episode 2: 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
Soundscape: A Serengeti March
Soundscape: The Pond
 Listen again to Programme 5 | | |
RELATED LINKS | | | For further information about white tailed sea eagles and where to see them in Britain:
The Forestry Commission - White-tailed Sea Eagle
BBC Nature - Return of the white-tailed eagle
Basic Facts about Sea Eagles:
BBC Nature - Wildfacts
The Hawk Conservancy Trust
RSPB have a webcam to watch sea eagles >>>
Suggested Further Reading:
The Return of the Sea Eagle
by John A. Love
Published by Cambridge University Press 1983
ISBN 0 521 25513 9
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