UKC

I m very puzzled by this but I m 75 % sure I saw a young golden eagle about an hour ago in the west lakes  . The 25% doubt is because half an hour of googling brings up the usual stuff about Haweswater etc and nothing about there being any eagles around now. Had I found anything about any other recent sightings I would be 100 % sure .  It wasn’t an osprey . It was nt a buzzard . It was big and very brown  It swooped over my car whilst I was driving home . I didn’t see it’s head clearly but it’s wingspan was much bigger than a buzzard and it was very  brown . I had not been drinking or taking anything stronger . I have now . Drinking that is . At first I thought it was one of the ospreys because I saw it very close to where I’ve seen them several times . But it wasn’t  . It was a bloody eagle !   

In reply to mike123:

If I remember reading correctly you do get the odd youngster venturing south for a nosey round from Scotland. None seem keen enough to stop around though!

In reply to mike123:

Could it have been a juvenile White Tailed eagle? They roam far and wide and there seem to be plenty of specimens who have been doing UK tours over the last couple of years. Vaguely buzzardy colours, massive heavy beak, no white tail and feckin' huge!

In reply to mike123:

Juvenile White-tailed (sea) eagles - which don't have a white tail, also make large journeys of discovery.

There was apparently another pair of eagles in the west lakes for a few years (no idea how few) when the well known site was at Haweswater - I don't believe they ever successfully bred and their location (for obvious reasons) was never publicised - and in those days it was much easier to keep such locations more secret.

In reply to mike123:

I wouldn’t be surprised. Young eagles fly miles from where they have been born or released (breeding programmes).   White tailed sea eagles especially, have a scan at these:
 

https://www.pdhphotography.co.uk/rare-sea-eagle-was-first

https://www.forestryengland.uk/blog/white-tailed-eagle-project-summer-2022-...

In reply to Mal Grey:

Hmmm . No white tail  . So Possible . I’ve seen the sea eagles on mull reasonable close up and I didn’t think they were so brown ? 

In reply to Bottom Clinger: one of the pictures on the forestry site looks possible but there was no hint of mottled colours . It was however close to where I’ve seen an osprey carrying a fish ( close to a lake) so I am starting to wonder .

In reply to mike123:

Female and immature marsh harriers look very brown and, due to their shape/proportions, look bigger than buzzards. They are very brown, little ‘mottling’.  

In reply to Mal Grey:

Beat me to it ☹

In reply to mike123:

I have it on good authority that Goldies which were released in Galloway have relocated to the Lakes

In reply to Bottom Clinger: just looking at pictures . I think it was bigger 

In reply to Bottom Clinger:

Here’s the link for the IoW eagles…https://www.roydennis.org/category/latest-news/

As you say they travel a long way, some prospecting all the way to Scotland/Sweden and then returning to IoW.

In reply to mike123: thanks all .

I’ve just found this on the RSPB site :

https://community.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/f/ask-an-expert/277042/golden-eagle-...
 

I was very close to where the person asking was . 

In reply to mike123:

Swooping yr car doesn't sound like typical golden eagle behaviour to me. They tend to stay well clear of people.

In reply to mike123:

As an aside, The Eagle Huntress is an absolute stunning (ten out of ten) documentary film: 

youtube.com/watch?v=Vfi5JS6HTH0&

In reply to CurlyStevo: it didn’t really swoop my car but came across the road above me from pretty tall trees across to other pretty tall tress 

In reply to mike123:

I've seen them quite a few times and never at the height of trees. That's more typical of buzzard / kite or even sea eagle behaviour IMO.

In reply to mike123: many years ago one of the Haweswater eagles flew alongside my ford escort for a few hundred metres when I was driving along the road next to Haweswater .

In reply to Bottom Clinger ; 

Thanks . I’m going g to watch that now .

In reply to Bottom Clinger ; 

Thanks . I’m going g to watch that now .

In reply to mike123:

It is worth watching twice  

In reply to mike123:

When I was driving  in Colorado I saw a dead squirrel on the road.  Then a golden eagle caught my eye so we slammed on, looked behind us and the eagle had landed on the road, quickly grabbed the prey and flew off. Too quick for a photo, not as though it would have mattered coz I lost my camera anyway. 

In reply to mike123:

Well that's certainly on the correct side of the Lakes for a quick day trip across from Galloway, and of course eagles have no trouble seeing a potential "area of interest" from that distance.

In reply to mike123:

It was featured on Storyville on the Beeb so might/should be on iPlayer. Cracking bit of telly.

In reply to mike123:

There used to be resident Golden Eagles in the western Lakes in the 70s / 80s. I was walking up Blengdale into the wind and one lifted off right in front of me as I crested a slight rise.

In reply to Jim Lancs:

While a WTE seems more likely, due to their distribution being much wider than golden eagles and they, in my experience, turn up closer to human than golden eagles, it would be quite difficult to mistake a WTE.

Confusing a buzzard with a golden eagle is not that surprising; from a distance, sometime at a difficult angle and with a brief view, they do no immediately look that different. A WTE is something else.

While there are some superficial similarities between buzzard and golden eagle, a WTE has a different shape and is HUGE.

Quite a useful guide to buzzards and eagles - https://www.bto.org/develop-your-skills/bird-identification/videos/identify... - but so often we don't get a good look at them.

Dave

In reply to Tringa:

There were no WTE sighted in the Lakes in the 70s and early 80s. But there were two breeding pairs of Golden Eagles, one in Blengdale and Riggingdale. We saw the western ones very regularly flying at a distance with binoculars but only once close up. The western ones were suspected of being poisoned in the early 80s.

In reply to mike123

:https://www.birdguides.com/sightings/?OrderDesc=True&SortBy=Date&Lo...

In reply to Jim Lancs:

Did the Western pair ever successfully breed? - I never heard that they did but such information in those days was a bit secretive.

I'd never heard of Blengdale although I'm a frequent visitor to the Lakes - once I looked on Google maps I knew exactly where it was - nearest I've been is top of Ponsonby Fell - I suppose that's what I get for concentrating on summits/tops rather than valleys/rivers - saving that for when I can no longer do the up bits (if I'm still here).

In reply to mike123:

I was up in the Cairngorms recently and saw a large bird of prey hunting and fishing in a loch. At first glance I thought it might have been an Eagle but it was too small, wrong wings. 

It was distinctly reddish brown on top, with a white head. Dived into the water and flew to the beach with a fish. I figure it can only be an Osprey. 

In reply to purplemonkeyelephant:

From your brief description of features and behaviour I'd say you're spot on, and privileged to see an osprey make a successful catch.

In reply to mike123:

I used to see the Haweswater pair every time I went in the 90s, which was often.

The most recent one I saw was 2014 flying over Buttermere. It was the real deal, not to mistaken with a buzzard or red kite.