Boxing Day Eagle!

The discovery of a White-tailed Eagle sitting in a tree near Aughton at lunchtime, Boxing Day, led to a rather anxious drive north towards York! Following Christmas in Hertfordshire with the in-laws, we were pootling up the A1 when news of this bird came through. I casually suggested we might go home via North Duffield, which received a rather mixed response from the family, but Vicky was up for it, so I kept my fingers crossed and eyes on my phone...

News that the bird had flown north up the LDV came through just before we planned to turn off on to the M18, so we hastily returned to Plan A and gunned north towards York. As the miles dragged by, I hatched a plan to drop off the family, grab my scope and shoot over to Thorganby, where I'd have a good view down the valley, giving me a good chance to see the eagle if it was still around. Just before I got there, Tim Jones rang to confirm he'd just seen the bird over near Ellerton Church! Minutes later, I joined Tim, and shortly, the enormous shape of the eagle got up and flapped across the floods and on to the riverbank south of Ellerton Landing. Flipping 'eck, what a beast! 

 

White-tailed Eagle is a bird I had dreamt of seeing in the LDV and often discussed with local birding mates, and to my astonishment, here it was, even bigger than I'd imagined, sitting in the familiar landscape, a few miles from home. Incredible! What a Christmas present! Every time the eagle flew, the entire avian contents of the LDV went skywards like confetti, filling the sky with panicking shapes. The bird, a juvenile, noticed some carcass or other on the opposite bank, so flapped across and grabbed it, before heading a little nearer to pick at the bones. 

More local birders arrived, including Chris Gomersall, Ollie Metcalfe and Duncan Bye, to enjoy this amazing scene. The eagle lacked a satellite tag and colour rings, so seemed not to be one of the released Isle of Wight birds, so together with the continuing easterly wind, which has brought stacks of geese across the North Sea from the low countries, this gave the bird great credentials for being wild. 

 

With time getting on, I had to get back to prepare for my folks imminent arrival, so leaving this behemoth sitting on the riverbank, I shot back home, to get Boxing Day tea ready. 

 Big thanks for Adam Firth who got the news out on this bird at lunchtime, and to Ollie Metcalfe and Tim Jones for the updates. The first wild individual seen in the York area in modern times was in 2020, with another bird seen earlier this year, which is subject to acceptance by the YNU. If that bird is accepted this would be the third modern record, but the first to be twitchable in the York area. There have been several seen and unseen records of satellite tagged birds that have passed through the area, having originated from the reintroduction program on the south coast. With the huge numbers of birds present in the valley right now and reduced disturbance due to deep flooding, I hope the eagle lingers allowing more birders to catch up with it.