The UK's oldest known pair of white-tailed eagles have celebrated their 25th anniversary together by successfully fledging their 25th chick.

Skye and Frisa are 28 and 38 years old respectively and paired up in 1997 on the Isle of Mull. The following year, Frisa laid her first ever egg. Since then, they have continued to produce young, sometimes even raising two chicks a year.

White-tailed eagle in flight
A series of reintroduction programmes were launched in 1975 to help re-establish the white-tailed eagle population on the Isle Of Mull/Credit: Getty

In 2005, they enjoyed their television debut on the first ever episode of BBC's Springwatch. Their chicks Mara and Breagha were also featured on the programme in 2008 as the first white-tailed eagles in the UK to be satellite tagged.

It's not always been plain sailing for white-tailed eagles. They were driven to extinction in the early 20th century, but a series of reintroduction programmes were launched in 1975 to help re-establish the population. Frisa's mother, Blondie, was the first eagle to successfully hatch a chick in Scotland following this project.

Skye and Frisa's latest chick is thought to be a female.

Chick 25/Credit Steve Bentall

You can follow the pair's adventures on @skyeandfrisa on Twitter.

Read Skye and Frisa's love story on the RSPB website.

Read more

Top image: Frisa (L) and Skye (R)/Credit Jim Manthorpe, BBC Winterwatch

Authors

Freya ParrDigital Editor and Staff Writer, BBC Music Magazine

Freya Parr is BBC Music Magazine's Digital Editor and Staff Writer. She has also written for titles including the Guardian, Circus Journal, Frankie and Suitcase Magazine, and runs The Noiseletter, a fortnightly arts and culture publication. Freya's main areas of interest and research lie in 20th-century and contemporary music.

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