Flying school: Methuselah must find head for heights

AFTER being grounded for 27 years she was understandably reluctant to take to the air again.

But Methuselah, a 31-year-old golden eagle, is a tough old bird and is now spreading her wings with the help of some dedicated trainers.

The bird of prey was captured in Scotland at four years old and spent most of her life in aviaries. She was confiscated as evidence in the trial of those who took her and it was found that she could not be returned to the wild.

After unsuccessful attempts to breed her at a centre in Yorkshire, she was passed in November last year to Elite Falconry in Fife, where trainers have been working on her fitness, and teaching her to fly again.

At first unable to fly even 10ft, the magnificent Methuselah, who has a wingspan of nearly 7ft, is now flying hundreds of yards. She recently enjoyed a bird's eye view of Perthshire over the Dalmunzie Estate in the Spittal of Glenshee, taking her first free wild flight since being saved.

Barry Blyther, who runs Elite Falconry, near Kirkcaldy, said Methuselah has needed intensive coaching after almost two decades in a variety of aviaries.

He said: "We have her relatively physically fit now. Our battle is developing the bird's mental confidence.

"Although she is physically strong and can fly into a stout wind on level ground and over a good distance without tiring, her belief in her ability to fly, especially in the hills where it's windy, is really on its knees.

"She is really lacking in confidence, but bearing in mind she has been in a 12ft by 12ft environment for the last 28 years, it's going to take time."

Work to build up her muscles has gradually increased. Her training regime now entails flying 70 yards repeatedly into the wind, trailing a line.

Mr Blyther said: "She has to drag the friction of the line through the grass and carry the weight of the line, which means to stay airborne she has to work harder and that helps the muscle development and cardiovascular efficiency more quickly.

"When she is flying loose we will fly her over distances of 200-400 yards in a single flight.

"Hopefully she can transfer the horizontal distance into a vertical height with confidence.

"At the moment as soon as she gets more than 20-30ft off the ground her confidence goes and she steers herself back to the hillside to land. That's what we need to overcome in the last part of her training."

Work will continue gently during the summer so as not to interfere with breeding wildlife and continue during the hunting season next winter.

"By that time she should be in good physical and mental condition and take her back into the hills and have her fly as she would do had she not had this period of extreme inactivity," Mr Blyther said.

At present Methuselah cannot catch her own food. "Birds of prey are motivated to hunt by their appetite," Mr Blyther said.

"The aim is to work her appetite, so if she is flying and sees game and chooses to hunt it she can do so – without needing to do so. But her fitness will not reach the point where she is capable of catching game probably for another year."

And despite the progress, Mr Blyther said Methuselah would never return completely to the wild. "She is completely institutionalised," he said. "Because of her advanced age and inexperience she doesn't know how to deal with other predators, with other eagles in her territory. And because she has no conditioning depth she would be incapable of getting enough food in cold weather and would starve to death. So she will never return to the wild."

Mr Blyther said a golden eagle bred in captivity and kept fit could live into its fifties.

"However, Methuselah has had this incredibly long period of extreme inactivity," he said. "If we get her into her early or mid-forties we would be delighted, but that is being optimistic.

"If the bird lives ten years from now we feel we have done incredibly well. But we will give it the best shot that we can."

OUT OF THE ARMCHAIR
BARRY Blyther said a three to four-year-old golden eagle could be compared to a superfit middle-distance athlete or middleweight boxer aged 23 or 24.

What had happened to Methuselah was like taking the athlete or boxer and feeding them a high-fat, high-protein diet while allowing them no exercise for 28 years.

"Where we are with Methuselah now is like getting them out of the armchair and telling them they are in a world championship boxing bout or running the 10,000 metres."