A FULLY-FLEDGED white-tailed eagle recently sighted in Dumfries and Galloway is the survivor of a nest tumble as a chick on the island of Mull, conservationists have revealed.

Last June, the bird, now nicknamed Sona, had to be returned to her nest by Forestry Commission Scotland climbers after being attacked by an intruding eagle and falling 30 feet to the ground. This attacking behaviour, which had never been recorded before, was a surprise to the experts.

But the experience clearly didn't cause Sona any lasting harm, as she has safely grown to adulthood, flown down the coast and since been repeatedly sighted in the south-west corner of Scotland, where white-tailed eagles haven't bred for over 150 years.

RSPB Scotland's Mull officer, Dave Sexton, said: "We know this bird well after all the drama last summer, and I'm extremely relieved to hear that she's alive and apparently healthy. We got her back into her nest uninjured after her dangerous fall, and she fledged a few weeks later. But that's often the last we'll see of these young eagles, as they wander quite widely in their first few years.

"It's unusual to have so many sightings of a juvenile like this in Dumfries and Galloway, even though it's perfect eagle habitat. She's gone from the Isle of Mull to the Mull of Galloway probably via the Mull of Kintyre so she clearly likes to mull things over!

RSPB Scotland area manager for Dumfries and Galloway Chris Rollie said: "We'd heard reports of white-tailed eagle sightings from several Wigtownshire locations in the last few weeks, and thanks to her leg rings and local birdwatcher Brian Henderson's photography, we were able to positively identify her as the lucky Mull bird.

"As you can imagine, people have been very excited. White-tailed eagles are such distinctive birds and it's an absolute pleasure to see one. They haven't bred in Dumfries and Galloway since 1856 and Sona will probably move on to another area before long. But it gives you a real glimpse of what the future could be, and the hope there is now just 40 years after their re-introduction, that these magnificent birds could once again be seen in our skies right across Scotland."

White-tailed eagles were first re-introduced to Rum in 1975, and quickly spread to nearby islands. An east-coast re-introduction project began in 2007, with the first chick successfully fledged in 2013.

Sona's mother, Sula, was a Norwegian bird released in the first year of that east-coast project, showing that the two populations are now starting to come together to breed.