Sad ending for Sanday sea eagle

It was a tragic ending for a young sea eagle which was found wounded in Sanday this week.

The juvenile white-tailed eagle (also known as the sea eagle) which could have grown into one of the world’s largest birds of prey, was euthanised due to the severity of its injury.

The bird was first spotted on Monday afternoon by farmer Adam Towrie, who contacted fellow Sanday resident Adam Hough, who kept birds of prey for nearly 20 years.

Hoping that the bird was just underweight and disorientated, Mr Hough approached the casualty and wrapped it in a blanket.

The eagle, which can grow to have a wing span of almost 2.5m, was badly wounded by the elbow, with bones showing.

Mr Hough quickly contacted Ruth Brough, a former veterinary nurse who runs Sanday Wild Life Rescue, who helped him assess the injured specimen.

“As soon as we pulled out its left wing you could see the bones were severed,” Ms Brough said.

“I would say the wound was a few days old; the bones were dry,” she said, adding that the animal appeared to have lost a great deal of weight.

Knowing a vet was on the island, though soon due to board the ferry back to the Mainland, the pair placed the eagle in a dog crate and raced off to the Loth terminal.

“It filled the crate, so that gives you an idea of the size, and it let you know it had a beak and talons,” said Ms Brough.

At the pier, vet Balfour Hay assessed the eagle. “It had a nasty old fracture — basically it was missing a part of its wing,” he told The Orcadian on Tuesday.

“It had been suffering for a wee while, lost a lot of weight, and it was decided the best course of action was to put it to sleep.”

Mr Hough said: “It was a sad ending, but its pain-free now. Very glad the vet was out and happy to help, and thankful to Orkney Ferries for waiting while he helped.”

It is unknown what caused the injury, but both Mr Hough and Ms Brough suspect a high speed wire impact, probably caused by the bird striking a barbed wire fence.

In 2015, a pair of sea eagles, the largest birds of prey found in the UK, and the fourth largest in the world, nested in Hoy. The species has been seen across Orkney.