Eight months of tender loving care from the SSPCA saw Bud the eagle make a full recovery

A charity has nursed a rare golden eagle back to health and released it back into the wild.

The bird, named Bud, was rescued by the Scottish SPCA after it was found with a damaged wing in Mull last year.

After eight months it has been brought back to health by the charity’s workers, in conjunction with Raptor World and RSPB Scotland, and is now soaring free.

This is the first time the Scottish SPCA has returned an injured golden eagle to the wild.

Colin Seddon, manager at the charity's National Wildlife Rescue Centre in Clackmannanshire, said: "Bud was found to have soft tissue damage to his wing which took a long time to heal and unfortunately once he had fully recovered he broke his right leg in a freak accident.

"The break was repaired by a vet using an external fixator and as the healing process was very long Bud was kept with us over winter.

"We had to carefully choose the best time and place to release Bud and following discussions with David Sexton of the RSPB and Stewart Millar from Raptor World, we decided to take him back to a location close to where he was found."