Some people boast about waiting a few hours to get the perfect wildlife photo.
But a Black Isle minister’s 40 year effort to photograph one of Scotland’s most majestic birds was finally rewarded with these stunning pictures.
The Rev Sandy Sutherland photographed a golden eagle and chicks in their nest in July 2015 at Glen Tanar Estate in Aberdeenshire.
It brought to an end a quest for the photographs stretching back to 1975 for the Fortrose Free Church minister.
Mr Sutherland had been snapping wild birds since 1975 and previously his best opportunity to capture a golden eagle on camera was in 1986 when he received a licence for a nest near Brora.
As the golden eagle is given special protection, licences are needed to take pictures at a nest or in the vicinity of dependent young.
However, there was no eagle activity in 1986 and when a subsequent attempt to gain a licence in 1992 was turned down Mr Sutherland shelved the ambition.
However, his interest was revived in 2014 after reading a story in the Press and Journal about a photographer’s efforts to get pictures ta Glen Tanar.
The estate rents out its hide to wildlife photographers wanting to get rare pictures of the eagles.
Mr Sutherland was driven and then hiked to the hide and settled down for the long wait for the perfect photograph through his long lense.
At first he could only see the young eaglets – which he described as “a thrill in itself” – but the real target was a picture of an adult at the nest with the chicks.
Several hours passed with no sign of an adult – and in fading light Mr Sutherland was concerned his long wait may have to continue.
He said: “Then at 8.10pm the chicks were calling again but this time there was an added dimension of excitement in both the calling and body language.
“An adult suddenly burst into view, surprisingly swinging up from below the nest, through the forest, to land on the rim of the nest carrying an item of food, the evening sunlight showing up her golden feathers.
“After moving into the centre of the nest she peeled off pieces of food for the chicks before making a back-door exit. A late supper and one that I was most grateful for.”
He described the experience as “well worth the wait”.
