A white-tailed sea eagle nicknamed Kinky was spotted soaring again above the Isle of Mull, three years after falling from its nest and sustaining a badly broken wing in a 2023 storm. The RSPB dubbed the bird the island's "miracle eagle" after experts did not expect the male chick to survive but saw the distinctive kink in his wing clearly visible. Retired RSPB officer Dave Sexton, who has worked with Mull's sea eagles for more than 20 years, described the sighting as "incredible". Kinky was nursed back to health by both parents, who unusually skipped a year's breeding season to continue tending their year-old offspring. The bird was photographed flying over Loch Spelve on Mull's south-east coast, confirming he survived his first winter alone. Sexton warned the sub-adult phase could be dangerous because established adult pairs may drive off immature birds with sometimes severe behaviour. Sea eagles were hunted to extinction in the UK, last shot in 1918; a Scottish reintroduction began in 1975 and the species returned to Mull in the 1980s, now forming a self-sustaining population.
