Main content

Eagle attack

John Aitchison and Bill Oddie are looking for golden eagles. There’s an eagle coming over using the slope - patrolling backwards and forwards along the edge. It’s just patrolling up and down looking so at home. They really are mountain specialists, these birds. You can see it working its tail, with it angled very sharply sideways. It must be working against the wind, and side on you can see how much the primaries - the wingtips - bend upwards. We think of the golden eagle as a rare bird, but it’s quite surprising that there's four hundred pairs in Scotland. The eagle is coming back towards a deer - it’s going for that hind. The eagle attacks the deer, diving at it repeatedly, trying to drive her over the edge. It’s got no hope of killing a fully grown deer, but if the deer stumbles over the cliff it might be able to come back later and scavenge the carcass. Now, that’s the way to see a golden eagle.

Release date:

Duration:

2 minutes

Featured in...

More clips from Scottish Highlands