Whilst out guiding for the day in the West of the UAE last Saturday, I had the good fortune to cross paths with a rather beautiful young Imperial Eagle (Aquila heliaca). Imperial Eagles are listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Listing primarily due to habitat loss and degradation, adult mortality through persecution and collision with powerlines, nest robbing and prey depletion. This particular bird had a story to tell because it was a ringed bird and after contacting the Russian Raptor Research and Conservation Network it was revealed that the bird had been ringed on the 16th July 2013 in Tatarstan, Russia being approx 51-55 days old at the time. The distance between the nest and the location I photographed it at is about 3375 km ! Hope the images tell the story.
