A nest, handbuilt by an elderly conservationist on a cliffside at the Dundreggan estate in the Highlands, has prompted the return of the first breeding pair of golden eagles to the area for 40 years.

Roy Dennis, a renowned endangered species expert now in his 80s, constructed the eyrie using arm-sized branches while dangling from the top of the crag by a rope in 2015.

Golden eagles build their own nests in remote and inaccessible places, and are highly sensitive to disturbance.

Earlier this year, Dundreggan estate manager, Doug Gilbert, discovered that the artificial eyrie had been taken over by the pair.

Last week, the eagles successfully fledged a chick in the nest.

Doug Gilbert said the accomplishment was “beyond our wildest dreams.”

“I’ve been checking the eyrie regularly since we built it in 2015, hoping to see evidence that the eagles had returned, and now they have,” he said.

A nest, handbuilt by an elderly conservationist on a cliffside at the Dundreggan estate in the Highlands, has prompted the return of the first breeding pair of golden eagles to the area for 40 years.

“As golden eagles may use their nesting sites for generations, we’re hoping they are back for the long term.”

The 10,000 acre Dundreggan estate, which lies between Loch Ness and Skye, has been rewilded by conservation charity Trees for Life since 2008.

Golden eagles – regarded by many people as Scotland’s national bird – are regularly seen over Dundreggan, but until now there has been no sign of them nesting or setting up a territory.

Highland Raptor Study Group member and golden eagle expert Stuart Benn said: “This is terrific news – the first time golden eagles have definitely bred at Dundreggan since 1980.

Eagles are undergoing a marked expansion in the Highlands just now, recolonising ground they haven’t been on for many years and even colonising some completely new areas.”

The golden eagle is the UK’s second-largest bird of prey, after the white-tailed eagle. It is native to Britain, but centuries of persecution saw it driven into extinction in England and Wales by the mid-1800s.

The bird has been making a slow recovery in Scotland – though continues to be threatened by illegal persecution, with annual reports of golden eagles being shot, poisoned or having their nests robbed.

The fourth national golden eagle survey, published in 2016, showed that Scotland’s population of the birds had increased to 508 pairs, a rise of 15 percent since the previous survey in 2003.

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Golden Eagles: breeding pair use handmade nest built by conservationist

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