Sea Eagles

[Tracey.A]

Guess who had three Sea Eagles on their local reserve? Yep, my beloved Vane Farm (RSPB) They had two males and a female at their reserve feeding on the carcass of a fox nearly two weeks ago. Amazing!!!

Tracey

[aeshna5]

They are impressive birds. I was at Lac du Der the previous weekend when one flew close to putting up c60 Great White Egrets that were feeding on fish being driven to the shore by many Goosander + Cormorants.

[RobSutton]

Originally Posted by Tracey.A

Guess who had three Sea Eagles on their local reserve? Yep, my beloved Vane Farm (RSPB) They had two males and a female at their reserve feeding on the carcass of a fox nearly two weeks ago. Amazing!!!

Tracey

Originally Posted by aeshna5

They are impressive birds. I was at Lac du Der the previous weekend when one flew close to putting up c60 Great White Egrets that were feeding on fish being driven to the shore by many Goosander + Cormorants.

Two very nice sightings, a few years ago I saw one on Mull being mobbed by a pair of shelduck, they looked tiny in comparison, as the eagle was picking of their chicks from the water below.

[fairplay]

Originally Posted by Tracey.A

Guess who had three Sea Eagles on their local reserve? Yep, my beloved Vane Farm (RSPB) They had two males and a female at their reserve feeding on the carcass of a fox nearly two weeks ago. Amazing!!!

Tracey

Is there any chance of highlighting SEA EAGLES FEEDING ON CARCASS OF A FOX (oh, I just have !) so that all the outdoor pig farmers who oppose the reintroduction of the Sea Eagle on the Suffolk coast can read it ?

So, all you pig farmers, the Sea Eagle might not be such a bad thing after all.
Give it a chance.

Neil.

[Dogghound]

Dont sea eagles pick up adult sheep and carry them to their nests . Another example of one feeding on one of its principle prey items carrion.

[fairplay]

Originally Posted by Dogghound

Dont sea eagles pick up adult sheep and carry them to their nests . Another example of one feeding on one of its principle prey items carrion.

Is that true or a joke ? (live or dead adults ?)

Neil.

[eeyore]

Originally Posted by fairplay

Is that true or a joke ? (live or dead adults ?)

Neil.

i think he was joking - certainly they'd take lambss both live and dead , and piglets if they had the chance - but not adults.

that said ive seen a golden eagle kill a adult fox so the bigger weagle is definitely capable of it. Whether they take enough foxes to outweigh their impact on the livestock is debateable.

My feeling is that their livestock impact is pretty neglible anyway - why would a bird that lives mainly on fish and carrion risk messing with a mother pig and possibly geting injured as a consequence.

[Cowgirl]

Originally Posted by Tracey.A

Guess who had three Sea Eagles on their local reserve? Yep, my beloved Vane Farm (RSPB) They had two males and a female at their reserve feeding on the carcass of a fox nearly two weeks ago. Amazing!!!

Tracey

Aah I have very fond memories of Vane Farm. I originate from only a few miles down the road and every Christmas (we're talking 70's/early 80's here!) my dad would take me on an after Christmas walk in the vicinity of there. He would show me birds & teach me how to recognise tracks & things. It was always my ambition to see a golden eagle & would get quite excited & point out various birds shouting "look an eagle!". My dad would duly look & go "No lass that's a crow!" My skills haven't really haven't much .

Fantastic to hear they've got eagles there, must plan a trip to visit mother soon.

[fairplay]

Originally Posted by eeyore

i think he was joking - certainly they'd take lambss both live and dead , and piglets if they had the chance - but not adults.

that said ive seen a golden eagle kill a adult fox so the bigger weagle is definitely capable of it. Whether they take enough foxes to outweigh their impact on the livestock is debateable.

My feeling is that their livestock impact is pretty neglible anyway - why would a bird that lives mainly on fish and carrion risk messing with a mother pig and possibly geting injured as a consequence.

I was a bit worried then, I thought Dogghound was serious

Inevitably a lot of the outdoor pig rearing units have public footpaths alongside some of them and from here I frequently see the young piglets wander under the electric fence (designed to keep big fat mama in) and at times, go 10 - 20 metres into the big wide world.
Where one piglet goes the rest tend to follow and it is not unusual to see up to 8-10 piglets well away from Mum who is probably only keeping an eye open for humans, dogs and foxes and may have no knowledge of anything likely to swoop down from the air.

Surely it takes only 1 Sea Eagle to see this easy potential and other Eagles catch on, so for this reason alone it is absolutely essential that before the re-introductions start, the farmers improve the fencing to make sure the babies do not stray too far from Mum.

Neil.

[Tracey.A]

Dogghound, you had me doubled up with laughter re adult sheep being carried off by Sea eagles to their nests

Cowgirl, I hope you do manage a trip up to Vane Farm in the future. Your dad sounds like he was a fascinating man and a patient one at that. Made me laugh, when you thought you'd seen an eagle and your dad said "No lass, that's a crow"! When I use to work at Vane I use to have very little knowledge of birds (still not great to be honest) and I use get mixed up trying to name all the different birds, which was a bit embarrassing, especially as I worked there!! Vane was a lovely learning curve though The footpath is about eight miles long now around the loch, eventually it will form a complete circle around it. I'm glad you have fond memories of Vane, it is a lovely place

Aeshna5, what a wonderful sight you had. Rob it just goes to show how protective those Shelducks were in trying to see off a Sea eagle.

Eeyore, I remember seeing a programme about Golden eagles. The eagle was trying to spook deer on a mountain into falliing and if one did and died it could then gorge itself on it.

Tracey