Was it a Golden Eagle?

[kazenc]

I have seen an extremely large bird near my home in Bolton. Bolton is in Lancashire in the north west of the UK, i live quite near to winter hill which is a very open, green obviously hilly area. The bird that i saw is very large, with a vast wing span, it moves its wings very slowly but seems to cover a large distance. I havent heard it make any noises so can't describe how it sounds.

I have only seen its underside, which is dark brown in colour. It has quite large dangly legs, i would say it is around 3 times larger than an average large bird such as an seagull.

The first time i saw it i was shocked and just stood there in awe of it. I have never seen a bird so big? It also flies quite low, quite near to the roofs of houses. I have seen this bird 3 times now in just over a week, it is always on its own?

Please could you help me with this matter

Thanks

Kaz

[jennyb]

Buzzard, maybe?

Jenny

[Kayleigh]

Buzzard

[VinceS]

Extremely unlikely to be a golden eagle. More likely to be a buzzard if wild or possibly some escapee. Are there any reports of escaped birds in your area.

Vince

[kazenc]

How could i find out if this is a missing buzzard? who would i contact?

[bee warrior]

My money is on a buzzard

[tony a]

Kaz

I also live near Winter Hill and haven't seen a golden eagle around lately. (and they would be hard to miss)

It is much more likly to have been a buzzard as the previous posters have suggested.

You don't need to contact anyone as it's a native British bird.

[Tam]

Another possibility is ,with its dangly legs and slow wingbeats is a heron but if its obviously not then sorry but i thought i would ask anyways they do have white underneath though its not always obvious

[ChrisJB]

Originally Posted by Tam

Another possibility is ,with its dangly legs and slow wingbeats is a heron but if its obviously not then sorry but i thought i would ask anyways they do have white underneath though its not always obvious

That was my thought too. The area you are talking about (Winter Hill and the Smithills area) is well watched (check out the Greater Manchester Birds website), so I doubt a Golden Eagle would slip through the net. Sounds intriguing however.

Regards, Chris

[Dogghound]

Originally Posted by kazenc

How could i find out if this is a missing buzzard? who would i contact?

Buzzards are native so wouldnt be missing from anywhere, i agree sounds very much like a heron or buzzard.

[outdoorguy]

i thought heron straight away all the descriptions match perfectly.. if u see them in from underneath on a bright day they look very dark.. and are obviously massive... james

[outdoorguy]

oh and if its flying in the same direction at the same time every day... eg late afternoon it would be charcteristic of a heron going to roost.. james

[ron1863]

Is there not Eagle Owls down that way. I think I watched a programme about them a few months ago. At least I think it was Eagle Owls.

[Jonathan]

Originally Posted by ron1863

Is there not Eagle Owls down that way. I think I watched a programme about them a few months ago. At least I think it was Eagle Owls.

Hi Ron,

There was an escaped eagle owl in Bolton last year:

Rare Owl Spotted In Bolton (from The Bolton News)

Sure there's some footage of it on YouTube or somesuch.

I think the birds you are referring to are probably the pair that have bred at Catterick in Yorkshire for several years.

Another pair nested at Dunsop Bridge in the Forest of Bowland (bit further north than Bolton) last year. I think LDBWS were the first to break the news:

LDBWS > Latest Birdnews

Cheers
Jonathan

[Tornado]

I think it's more likely to be a Buzzard, but I only live a few miles from you and last year we had what we thought, at first glance a Buzzard was actually a Marsh Harrier (the very first sighting on our own doorstep) this being seen a few seconds later through a scope and a pair of bins. They can be misleading BOP size-wise when seen in the air.

It's great to see more people from my own neck of the woods on the forum!!
Good luck with the ID
Tornado

[Jason Green]

Originally Posted by bee warrior

My money is on a buzzard

How did he get it?

Buzzard

[Jason Green]

Sad news. The Eagle Owl died this morning. We found it perched in our garden a couple of days ago and this morning rang an owl rescue centre as the owl was looking very docile. The owl died shortly after they arrived. they believe it may have suffered secondary poisoning such as eating a poisoned rat.

Yes it's an emotive subject but when are people going to stop killing our birds?!?

[dragonfly]

you say it flying close to the ground just over the roof tops and it was a very big bird
with dangly legs are you sure it wasnt a heron which fly low as for eagles when they fly the are usealy higher

[Kayleigh]

Originally Posted by Jason Green

Yes it's an emotive subject but when are people going to stop killing our birds?!?

Maybe the mention of the bird may take "SMALL PETS" in the news item prompted someone into action.

[Jason Green]

Yes, and someone on the Bolton page's 'thread' said it often rested in an area eating rats...

Originally Posted by Kayleigh

Maybe the mention of the bird may take "SMALL PETS" in the news item prompted someone into action.

Perhaps they thought this gave them justification - an excuse.

At the start of the thread the description of a large bird with slow wingbeats and dangling legs made me think Heron.