Five Golden Eagle Fledglings Mark Another Step in Southern Scotland Recovery

Quick summary

• Five golden eagles fledged in southern Scotland this summer, including four descended from translocated birds.

• Translocated eagles are surviving, pairing and successfully raising young within the existing southern Scotland population.

• Beaky Jr is the first project chick fledged from a translocated eagle on a managed grouse moor.

• Southern Scotland now has more than 50 golden eagles across 18 active ranges.

Five young golden eagles successfully fledged in southern Scotland this summer, with four directly descended from birds translocated through the South of Scotland Golden Eagle Project.

Among them is the first chick to fledge from the nest of a translocated golden eagle on a managed grouse moor in the southern uplands, where gamekeepers have played what Restoring Upland Nature describes as a “vital role” in supporting the project.

The results are an important test of the long-running restoration effort. Translocated birds are not only surviving and settling in southern Scotland: several have now paired and successfully produced fledged young.

Four fledglings descend from translocated eagles

Four of this year’s five fledglings came from nests involving birds moved to southern Scotland through the project.

GoldenEye is the offspring of Shine, a male translocated in 2021, and Amelia, who fledged naturally from the only original remaining golden eagle nest in the Scottish Borders in 2021.

Sassy fledged from a nest near Moffat. His mother, Emma, was translocated in 2021, while his father, Keith, is a local bird that hatched in Galloway in 2018. The same pair produced Princeling in 2025, the first bird to fledge from the nest of one of the project’s translocated golden eagles.

GoldenEye was named by Dame Judi Dench, while actor and Galloway Distillery co-owner Sam Heughan named Sassy. The names have provided some public interest, but the more important development is this: translocated eagles are now breeding successfully within the existing southern Scotland population.

Dr Cat Barlow, chief executive of Restoring Upland Nature, said:

“Seeing not just one, but four young birds hatch, fledge and fly freely from the nests of golden eagles that we translocated to southern Scotland is a hugely significant milestone in our work to restore the species to southern skies.”

A fifth young eagle fledged this year from an established local breeding pair rather than from translocated birds.

Managed grouse moor produces a project first

One fledgling is particularly relevant to the managed uplands.

The bird, currently known as Beaky Jr, is the first chick to fledge from the nest of a translocated golden eagle on a managed grouse moor in the southern uplands.

Its mother, Beaky, was translocated from the Scottish Highlands in 2018. Its father, Skan, was moved south in 2019.

The gamekeepers on the moor will name the fledgling at a later date. Restoring Upland Nature says they have played a “vital role” in supporting the project.

Their involvement is part of a wider pattern identified by the charity. Restoring Upland Nature chairman Michael Clarke said people who live and work in landscapes occupied by golden eagles had responded positively to the project.

He said:

“Individuals from all walks of life, including many who live and work in the landscapes they share with golden eagles such as gamekeepers, farmers and forestry workers, have responded positively to the project and played an important part in its success.”

The new fledglings have been satellite-tagged by licensed experts with support from Restoring Upland Nature, local Scottish Raptor Study Group members, landowners and land managers. Their progress will continue to be monitored.

Golden eagle recovery in numbers

The breeding success comes after years of work to strengthen what had become a small and isolated golden eagle population in Dumfries and Galloway and the Scottish Borders.

Before the project began, there were only two to four pairs across the region. The South of Scotland Golden Eagle Project has since translocated 28 juvenile golden eagles from the Scottish Highlands and another 18 sub-adult birds aged between six months and three years.

Restoring Upland Nature now reports:

• More than 50 individual golden eagles in southern Scotland, which it describes as the highest number in the area for three centuries.

• Around 80% of translocated eagles still alive and living in southern Scotland.

• 18 active ranges occupied by golden eagles, compared with three nesting pairs when the project began.

• More than 25 translocated birds recorded south of the Scotland-England border at least once between 2020 and 2026.

Conservation supported by people working on the land

The South of Scotland Golden Eagle Project has brought together conservation bodies, land managers, estates and rural communities over many years.

Original partners included RSPB Scotland, Scottish Land & Estates, Scottish Forestry, NatureScot, the Southern Uplands Partnership and The Buccleuch Group. They worked together for more than 11 years before the first eagle chicks were released in southern Scotland in 2018.

Local involvement has extended well beyond the organisations running the project.

More than 30,000 volunteers and project participants are reported to have taken part, including school pupils, Scottish Borders Scouts, local businesses and specialist raptor groups.

The role of gamekeepers, farmers, forestry workers, landowners and other people working in the uplands is an important part of the latest results. In the case of Beaky Jr, that support has coincided with the first successful fledging from a translocated eagle nesting on a managed grouse moor.

Monitoring continues as some eagles cross into England

The fledglings will continue to be monitored for their movements, survival and health.

One of this year’s birds, N47, was being cared for at a Scottish SPCA hospital after contracting what the release describes as an “incredibly rare bacterial infection”. The project team hopes the bird will recover sufficiently to be released again.

Satellite tracking is also showing that some translocated golden eagles are exploring beyond southern Scotland. More than 25 have crossed into England at least once since 2020, with some remaining there for up to six weeks before returning north.

In 2025, project staff confirmed that some birds were venturing into Northumberland and further afield. Restoring Upland Nature says it remains too early to know whether they will settle in these areas.

For the time being, the clearest development is in southern Scotland itself. Several translocated golden eagles are now breeding successfully, their offspring are fledging, and people working across the uplands are directly involved in supporting and monitoring that recovery.