Unidentified large bird of prey seen today (w/ photo)

[music_man800]

Hi all
I was at Hanningfield Reservoir in Essex earlier today and would like a confirmation of a Bird of Prey we saw if at all possible?
The first thing that struck us was the vivid white patch on top of the tail with black ring on the end which was clearly visible with the naked eye. It was being mobbed by a crow which it was clearly bigger than, and had rounded wings and a fanned, somewhat short-ish tail.
Our initial, very un-educated guess was a female Hen Harrier however this bird exhibits a totally different shape. It also had fairly obvious fingers on the wings.
Please see attached photos below, apologies for quality but it was a fair distance away!
After looking in the bird book and on Google we have an idea what we think it is, however I'm reluctant to say, in the hope that you come up with the same ID and confirm our thought
Thanks
Tom
cropped


and
uncropped

[HamieRaptorcliff]

Certainly looks like it has the front end of a White Tailed Eagle. Hard (for me anyway) to know what it is from the pic, but I'm sure someone on here can give you a better clue.

[Dogghound]

Hard to say from these images, have you considered Raven? the white on the rump could be a reflection of the sun. Looks like its got quite a large bill.

[wildsusy]

Actually I've got to say, this does look rather raven-like. It's those wings...looks very black too

[music_man800]

Oddly enough white tailed eagle crossed my mind!
However it definately wasn't a raven, through the binoculars the tail was definately white in colouration, it wasn't the sun!
I dont think my description was very good however!!!
Tom

[aeshna5]

Not the clearest of images, but possibly a Harris Hawk.

[wildsusy]

Originally Posted by aeshna5

Not the clearest of images, but possibly a Harris Hawk.

yeah could be, we do get some escapees. Right sort of size for a male

[wildsusy]

Originally Posted by music_man800

Oddly enough white tailed eagle crossed my mind!
However it definately wasn't a raven, through the binoculars the tail was definately white in colouration, it wasn't the sun!
I dont think my description was very good however!!!
Tom

bit of a mystery for me then lol. i wouldnt rule out an escaped harris hawk though.

[music_man800]

As it is for me!!
Just to emphasise the first and only distinctive feature (which unfortunately is not really evident on the photo) was the bright white tail and black bar on the end. Probably doesnt help much though!!

[solus]

Comparing the size of the bird with the Crow in the uncropped pic, it doesn't look big enough to be a White-tailed Eagle, and anyway the whole tail of a mature WTE is white, with no dark band. I think it is probably a Harris Hawk (escaped). A photo of a similar bird, which was clearly identifiable as a Harris Hawk, was posted on Birdguides today from somewhere in Suffolk.