A golden moment for Ireland as eagle chick takes to the skies

WATCHING offspring leave the nest is always hard but one group of guardians were thrilled to see their youngster spread her wings.

The first golden eagle chick in Ireland for a century finally took to the skies over Donegal in recent days after a tense two and a half months during which her twin died and she and her parents endured some of the wettest and worst hunting weather ever to blight an Irish summer.

With a wingspan close to seven feet and a beak made for tearing flesh as if it was tissue paper, she is hardly the most vulnerable creature in the air but Lorcan O’Toole, project manager with the Golden Eagle Trust, said she still had a bit of growing to do.