White Tailed Eagle

[Petrus1983]

I think for the 2nd time (same location, two days apart) I’ve seen a white tailed eagle - it’s freaking massive - poor photo attached -



Apparently very rare so lovely to see.

[TheBALDpuma]

Where was it? Photo is rubbish

[Petrus1983]

TheBALDpuma said:

Where was it? Photo is rubbish

Yes - very bad photo. The wing ends were white as was the tail - and as said, wingspan was genuinely massive - easily on par with the vultures I see often in Texas.

I’ve seen there’s some bad people over rare birds - so can I stick to - “the Bath area”.

[Johnnytheboy]

One has been reportedly seen flying over north Dorset...

[Petrus1983]

Johnnytheboy said:

One has been reportedly seen flying over north Dorset...

We think this is soletary.

[irocfan]

Makes me feel better about my woodpecker pic today:




(though I'd far rather see the eagle)

[Petrus1983]

irocfan said:

Makes me feel better about my woodpecker pic today:




(though I'd far rather see the eagle)

This is cool but reminds me to add - all birds in the sky scarpered - by the time we saw the eagle it had a clear sky.

[TheBALDpuma]

Petrus1983 said:

TheBALDpuma said:

Where was it? Photo is rubbish

Yes - very bad photo. The wing ends were white as was the tail - and as said, wingspan was genuinely massive - easily on par with the vultures I see often in Texas.

I’ve seen there’s some bad people over rare birds - so can I stick to - “the Bath area”.

Ah nice - yeah the white tail is probably a giveway! haha but in that photo it could literally be any bird! I thought I saw a golden eagle when I was in the Cairngorms earlier this year but in the sky not all that close with very little to reference it is not that easy to distniguish them from a buzzard. Would be handy to have had a buzzard flying next to it!

I think I can beat you for bad photo's though...



ETA - this isn't the Golden Eagle I hoped I saw - anyone see what it is?

As mentioned below what made me thing the Cairngorm bird I saw was a Golden Eagle was a white strip along it's tail, plus the location it could have been a young bird. Could just as likely been a buzzard with a touch of leucism. The crows around here are more likely to have white in them than not I've noticed!

Edited by TheBALDpuma on Monday 16th November 18:50

[Mabbs9]

Petrus1983 said:

Yes - very bad photo. The wing ends were white as was the tail - and as said, wingspan was genuinely massive - easily on par with the vultures I see often in Texas.

I’ve seen there’s some bad people over rare birds - so can I stick to - “the Bath area”.

I think location sensitivity is only really important for nesting birds. If it's one of the release program on the Isle of Wight then you should be able to look up which you saw as they're tracked.

I learned recently that young Golden Eagles show a similar white tail but we can be confident it isn't one of them near Bath.

Share more pics if you get a clearer view please.

[AdiT]

There was some coverage of the IoW release program I caught on TV a couple of weeks ago. Might have been Autumn Watch but I was just channel surfing. They're ranging right across the south from there and one had been as far north as Durham I think they said before returning.

[Petrus1983]

TheBALDpuma said:

Ah nice - yeah the white tail is probably a giveway! haha but in that photo it could literally be any bird! I thought I saw a golden eagle when I was in the Cairngorms earlier this year but in the sky not all that close with very little to reference it is not that easy to distniguish them from a buzzard. Would be handy to have had a buzzard flying next to it!

I think I can beat you for bad photo's though...



ETA - this isn't the Golden Eagle I hoped I saw - anyone see what it is?

As mentioned below what made me thing the Cairngorm bird I saw was a Golden Eagle was a white strip along it's tail, plus the location it could have been a young bird. Could just as likely been a buzzard with a touch of leucism. The crows around here are more likely to have white in them than not I've noticed!

Edited by TheBALDpuma on Monday 16th November 18:50

Ah - ok - we were in Box and think we’ve found the trees it’s residing in (on a farm and can’t get there closely, although I’m sure the farmer would be cool if needed).

[Nightmare]

PistonHeads really does have the lock on ‘the most difficult bird of prey photos to identify ever’ award lol

@TheBaldPuma. If in the UK maybe a kite with a particularly white head? If in the US bald eagle!
Frankly it could be a weird pic of a pigeon tho. The beak doesn’t look very raptor in that pic but I’m guessing it’s the angle

Give us some clues!

OP - awesome!

[TheBALDpuma]

Nightmare said:

PistonHeads really does have the lock on ‘the most difficult bird of prey photos to identify ever’ award lol

@TheBaldPuma. If in the UK maybe a kite with a particularly white head? If in the US bald eagle!
Frankly it could be a weird pic of a pigeon tho. The beak doesn’t look very raptor in that pic but I’m guessing it’s the angle

Give us some clues!

OP - awesome!

it was in Vancouver and you're right it was a bald eagle. Saw a few of them and this one was actually really close but camera phones suck when you zoom in!

Edited by TheBALDpuma on Tuesday 17th November 12:43