Golden eagle chicks fly the nest

The chicks have taken to the wing for their first flight

A pair of golden eagles has succeeded in rearing two chicks for the first time since 46 wind turbines were built close to their nest site in Argyll.

Scottish Power, which runs the Beinn an Tuirc wind farm near Campbeltown, spent £2m to create a new habitat for the birds safely away from the development.

The two chicks hatched in May and recently took their first flights.

They have been fitted with satellite transmitters to monitor their movements over the next three years.

The conservation area is said to be the largest of its kind for golden eagles in the UK.

It was created during the construction of the wind farm to divert the birds away from the 40 metre (130 feet) high turbines by giving them somewhere else to hunt.

A conifer plantation was cut down and the area's traditional heather moorland regenerated and stocked with prey such as red grouse, hares and rabbits.

The eagles had experienced a number of fallow years prior to the wind farm project, thought to have been caused by poor quality hunting in the surrounding land.

The younger chick statistically only had a 20% chance of surviving the crucial first weeks.

David Macarthur, ecologist for ScottishPower Renewables, said: "The news of two healthy golden eagle chicks, after a few barren years, is fantastic for the golden eagle population and proof that our habitat management programme is paying real dividends."