10 May 2018
Gamekeepers and land managers
from an Aberdeenshire estate have appealed for help in locating a missing sea
eagle.
The bird's satellite tag was last
recorded in woodland near the River Dee on the Invercauld Estate near Braemar.
The estate said its ranger and
gamekeepers were working hard to find the one-year-old eagle, named Blue T,
whose tag last signalled on Saturday.
Pellets are understood to have
been found in the the search area, which suggest it had been roosting there.
RSPB Scotland confirmed Blue T
was raised from a chick at Abernethy before it fledged.
The tag was said to be last
operating within a native woodland and Scots pine regeneration zone on
Invercauld.
But neither the bird nor its tag
have been located within the woodland or estate.
One other sea eagle - also known
as a white-tailed eagle - and two golden eagles have been spotted but there
have been no known sightings of the missing bird.
Shooting estates are often blamed
for bird of prey disappearances, but the Invercauld estate insisted it was
committed to conservation.
Estate manager Angus McNicol
said: "We have spent the last two days trying to locate any trace of the
missing sea eagle and we will be continuing our efforts to watch the area in
case there has been a technical malfunction of the tag and the sea eagle
returns to roost again.
"For several months our ranger
has been working with the RSPB's sea eagle project officer to track the
movements of the sea eagles in our area and if the tag is no longer
transmitting then it is a concern to us.
"Invercauld hosts a vast
range of bird species and other types of wildlife and we want to learn if any
harm has come to the bird.
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