Since the start of the White-tailed Eagle project, which we run in partnership with Forestry England, satellite tracking has shown how nomadic the young eagles can be prior to settling on a breeding territory. For example, one of the birds now established at Poole Harbour, male G463, spent two successive summers in continental Europe, before returning to the South Coast and pairing up with female G466. Up until a few weeks ago G463 was the only one of the Isle of Wight eagles to cross the English Channel, but at the end of last month G818, a female that was released in 2021, having been translocated from the Isle of Lewis, followed suit, spending just over a fortnight wandering extensively in northern France, as Tim Mackrill explains.

The bird’s flight was also featured on BBC News at Six, and you can watch the film by pressing play below.

Flight to France

Although so far unpaired, G818 has been favouring the Avon valley on the Dorset-Hampshire border in recent months and has been regularly seen catching grey mullet in Christchurch Harbour. On the morning of 22^nd March she left a favoured area and then flew south across the Isle of Wight, before spending the afternoon at RSPB Brading Marshes. It is not uncommon for the young eagles to visit the Island, but they are usually seen off by the resident pair, G274 and G324, quite quickly and so it was no surprise when G818 crossed the Solent at 9:00 next morning. Once over the mainland G818 tracked east along the South Coast, passing over Brighton at 10:00, Eastbourne half an hour later, and Hastings just before 11:00.

At 12:13 she was over the sea at St Margarets Bay, just to the east of Dover, and while circling at 665 metres, would have been able to see the French coast at Calais.  She flew 35 km (21 miles) across the English Channel in 30 minutes, with her altitude dropping from a high of 804 metres off the English coast to 255 metres as she made landfall west of Calais.

Once she reached France she headed south through des caps et Marais d’Opale Regional Natural Park and eventually roosted to the east of the market town of Desvres having flown 301 km (187 miles) since leaving Brading Marshes that morning.

French Explorations

G818 continued south at first light next morning, before crossing into Normandy at 12:55. She continued to track the Normandy coast for the next three days, passing Rouen at lunchtime on 25^th, and Caen the next day.  Eventually she then reached the wetlands of Parc des Marais du Cotentin in the Cherbourg Peninsular during the afternoon of 28^th, having flown a total of 454 km (282 miles) in four days. 

On the morning of 30^th March G818 flew north towards the northern tip of the Cherbourg peninsular. However, she turned around as she approached Cherbourg and then headed south along the west coast. She roosted that night near Mont Saint-Michel in the south-west of Normandy having flown 189 km (117 miles). 

G818 moved a few kilomteres south into Brittany on 31^st March and spent the day at the wetlands of Réserve Naturelle Régionale du Marais de Sougéal. She was still there next morning and was photographed hunting wildfowl by Maude Bachet. 

Heading for home? 

G818 left the wetlands at 10:45 on 1^st April, initially heading south-east towards Le Mans, before turning to the north-east during the afternoon. She flew 224km (139 miles) before roosting in woodland near Longny-les-Villages in the Perche Regional Natural Park. It appeared from this significant flight and change of direction, that she might be beginning to head for home. 

She moved a little further north on 2^nd and then remained near Verneuil d’Avre et d’lton on 3^rd. Then, on 4^th, she made a more purposeful flight north, travelling 77 km (48 miles) to the River Seine just to the west of Rouen in Normady.   She lingered beside the Seine all day on 5^th and then during the morning of 6^th, before moving 32 km (20 miles) north that afternoon and roosting in the grounds of Château de Cany. 

Next morning G818 left the Château at 9:30 and then followed the Normandy coast north-east, passing over Dieppe at 10:30 and eventually reaching Wissant just to the west of Calais at 13:10. Conditions obviously weren’t conducive to a Channel crossing because she headed back inland, before roosting in an area she had first visited on 23^rd March, after a day’s flight of 227 km (141 miles). 

Next morning, on 8^th April, G818 flew back to the coast and then time headed out across the English Channel, 11 km south-west of where she had made landfall on 23rd March. She took 27 minutes to make the crossing, arriving over Dover at an altitude of 109 metres at 12:40.

She then continued north, stopping briefly on the Isle of Sheppey at 14:15 before heading west and skirting around the south side of London before roosting south of Oxted in Kent, having flown 196 km (122 miles) from northern France. Over the course of the next three days she continued west through the South Downs, and then the New Forest, before arriving at a favoured location in the Avon valley at 08:30 on 12^th. She had flown a total of 2062 km (1281 miles) in 22 days. A remarkable flight for a young eagle learning her place in the world.  

Very many thanks to everyone who has made donations to the Foundation and the White-tailed Eagle project in the past few months. Your support is greatly appreciated. If you would like to donate to our work, then you can do so via the link below.

Christmas is a good time to reflect on the past twelve months, and 2023 has proved to be a very significant year for our work.

Fledging success

The White-tailed Eagle project, which we run in partnership with Forestry England, reached a major milestone in July, with a chick fledging from a natural nest in southern England for the first time in 240 years. We fitted the youngster, G625, with a satellite tag and this has provided a fascinating insight into his movements since leaving the nest. The young male remained within 1km of the nest site for the first month after fledging, with his parents, G405 and G471 – both translocated to the Isle of Wight in 2020 – providing a steady supply of food, which field monitoring and analysis of prey remains indicated was predominantly fish, supplemented with some rabbits. He made his first longer flight away on 15^th August, following G471 to a favoured area 10km to the south. These exploratory flights became more regular thereafter, and on 6^th September G625 flew over 20km north-east and eventually roosted away from the nest for the first time.

We know that G471 catches bass off the South Coast and on 23^rd September G625 followed his father to the coast, and then made another visit with him on 29^th, before making a solo visit on 3^rd October. Such experiences will be invaluable for the young male as he becomes independent. He remains in his natal territory most days but there are signs that he is becoming more self-sufficient. It was particularly encouraging that he was seen catching a fish for the first time on 11^th December, by Ben Ayling. It will be fascinating to see at what point G625 finally decides to leave the area, or whether he will wait until he is pushed away by his parents once the new breeding cycle begins.

Establishing pairs

While G405 and G471 were the only pair to breed this year, two other territorial pairs of White-tailed Eagles are now well-established. G274 and G324, released in 2019, are resident on the Isle of Wight and the Solent, while G463 and G466, translocated in 2020, have paired up at Poole Harbour. This latter pair are regularly seen from the brilliant Birds of Poole Harbour boat trips which are now one of the very best ways of seeing the White-tailed Eagles in southern England. It has been wonderful to join some of these trips and to see the excitement that the birds generate. Birds of Poole Harbour are running regular trips this winter, so check out their website for more. We are hopeful that these two pairs of White-tailed Eagles will attempt to breed for the first time in 2024.

Sad news

Unfortunately, it is not all good news from Dorset. In early September we were encouraged that two 2021 birds, female G801 and male G816, appeared to have paired in an area to the south-west of Poole Harbour. However during the afternoon of 26^th September, the satellite data indicated that G816 had been hit by a train on the main London-Weymoth line. We contacted Dorset Police and, with assistance from Network Rail, they recovered the body of the bird. A subsequent post-mortem carried out by the Disease Risk and Health Surveillance team at Zoological Society of London (ZSL) confirmed that the injuries sustained were consistent with a train strike. It seems G816 had been feeding on a dead deer close to the tracks and was then hit by the train as he attempted to fly off. Sadly, this is a well-known cause of death of White-tailed Eagles in other parts of Europe, but it was especially disappointing to lose a bird that had begun to pair-up.  Thanks to Dorset Police, Network Rail and ZSL for their valuable assistance in dealing with this sad case.

Although G801 avoided the train strike, she has recently developed an overgrown bill. This has been recorded in White-tailed Eagles in Scotland in the past and can be caused by a rage of factors. One possibility is that she sustained an injury, which subsequently became infected. G801 has had several territorial disputes with the Poole Harbour female, G466, and it is possible that she damage her bill in one such incident. Although G801 appears thin, the satellite data indicates that she is behaving normally. We will continue to monitor her condition closely over the coming months.

Ospreys breed again

We were delighted that Ospreys nested for a second year at Poole Harbour. Translocated male 022 and Rutland Water female CJ7 raised three chicks, which all fledged successfully in July (see video below, which shows 5H3 returning to the nest after his first flight). It was excellent that Birds of Poole Harbour arranged public viewings at the nest for the first time, and Osprey boat trips during August and September were once again a resounding success. We were also encouraged that a second translocated male, 374, released in 2021, returned for the first time and spent time at several artificial nests around the harbour. We very much hope that this young male will return earlier in 2024 and attract a mate.

In addition, two translocated females, 014(18) and 019(19), again bred successfully in North Wales, both rearing three chicks. Meanwhile two other younger females from the 2021 cohort, 372 and 379, were also seen in Wales, raising hopes that they may return to join the expanding Welsh population in 2024. These sex-based differences in natal dispersal, with males returning to breed close to their natal site, and females often joining other populations, is typical of Ospreys and shows how the Poole Harbour translocation can play a key role in linking different populations of Ospreys.

Thank you

Sincere thanks to everyone who has supported our work in 2023, through donations, by submitting sightings and photos of White-tailed Eagles or Ospreys, or simply through words of support. We wish you all a very happy Christmas and all the very best for the New Year.   

Very many thanks to everyone who has made donations to the Foundation and the White-tailed Eagle project in the past few months. Your support is greatly appreciated. If you would like to donate to our work, then you can do so via the link below.

In a landmark moment for conservationists, the first white-tailed eagle for over 240 years has fledged from a nest in the wild in England. The chick is the first successful breeding attempt of the white-tailed eagles released by Forestry England and the Roy Dennis Wildlife Foundation’s project to return this lost species to England.

White-tailed eagles are Britain’s largest birds of prey with a wingspan of up to 2.5 meters and were once widespread across England. Human persecution caused their extinction with the last pair breeding in southern England in 1780. In 2019, Forestry England and the Roy Dennis Wildlife Foundation began a reintroduction programme to restore these iconic birds to the English landscape.

Two of the birds released by the project in 2020 – female G405, originally translocated from the Outer Hebrides and male G471, from north-west Sutherland – reared the male chick earlier this summer. The location of the nest, on private land with no public access, is not being disclosed for the welfare of the birds and to prevent any disturbance to them or the landowner either this year or if the birds return to breed at the same location. 

The chick was ringed and fitted with a satellite tag by licensed ornithologists from the Roy Dennis Wildlife Foundation enabling the project team to track this historic bird’s daily progress through its life. 

Roy Dennis MBE, Founder of the Roy Dennis Wildlife Foundation, said: 

“This is a very special moment for everyone who has worked on, supported and followed this ground-breaking project. Restoring a breeding population in southern England, where the species was once widespread, has been our ultimate goal. Many thought it was impossible but we knew food for eagles – fresh and salt water fish, cuttlefish, rabbits, hares and wild birds – was plentiful. I visited the Isle of Wight as a young birdwatcher in the 1950s, saw the last breeding location at Culver Cliff and knew they should be restored. It is early days, but this is a very significant milestone and we are heartened by the enthusiastic support shown by so many people and that the sight of these huge eagles in the sky inspires hope for restoring nature. We still have a long way to go, but the feeling of seeing the first pair reach this stage is truly incredible.” 

The birds are one of three territorial pairs that have now become established in southern England and the first to breed. 

Steve Egerton-Read, White-Tailed Eagle Project Officer for Forestry England, said: 

“We are thrilled that this moment has happened and at such an early stage in the project. At only three years old, it is remarkable that the pair have successfully bred, with most white-tailed eagles not attempting to do so until they are at least four or five. This pairs’ ability to breed and fledge their chick at this early age is extremely encouraging.”

“It is really hard to put into words just what an incredible moment this is for the return of these iconic birds to England. It is evidence of just how well the eagles are starting to fit back into this landscape and how, with a little help, nature can begin to return and thrive. Although it has not been possible to set up a public viewing site at this location, we are hopeful that one of the other pairs that has become established in southern England will choose to nest in a location that we can share with the public in future years.”  

To date, 25 white-tailed eagles have been released by the reintroduction project with 16 still surviving. A further release of young white-tailed eagles is planned for later this summer from the project team’s base on the Isle of Wight. 

The reintroduction of white-tailed eagles is conducted under licence from Natural England, the Government’s wildlife licensing authority. All of the young birds involved in the project are collected under a NatureScot licence from the wild in Scotland and brought to the Isle of Wight.

Over the last year Poole Harbour has become a hotspot for White-tailed Eagle activity. The vast natural harbour provides rich forging opportunities throughout the year with abundant supplies of fish, including Grey Mullet, as well as waterbirds, and many quiet areas to perch. We have been particularly encouraged that three-year-olds G463 and G466 have become established as a pair, and up to six other birds have been regular visitors over the past twelve months. Here is a brief overview of each of the birds, and also where best to see them, by Tim Mackrill.

G463 and G466

Male G463 was originally translocated to the Isle of Wight from Sutherland in North-West Scotland in 2020. After spending his first winter near Chard in Somerset, G463 crossed the English Channel in early April 2021 and spent seven months exploring Netherlands, Germany and Denmark, favouring many areas with expanding White-tailed Eagle populations. G463 made the return journey across the English Channel in November that year and then spent the majority of the winter in East Anglia, favouring parts of North and West Norfolk and also the Suffolk Coast. During his time in Norfolk, G463 lost the lower part of his right leg, as reported in our blog in January. Despite this, G463 appears to have adapted well, and again crossed the Channel in early April before summering in mainland Europe; returning to many of the sites he had first visited the previous year, and also making a short flight into southern Sweden. 

Despite the fact that he would have encountered many White-tailed Eagles during his travels in mainland Europe, the draw of returning to the South Coast clearly proved very strong and G463 headed back across the English Channel on 22^nd September last year.  He then spent time in favoured areas in East Anglia and Somerset, before finally returning to the Isle of Wight on 9^th January, after more than two years away. He first visited Poole Harbour on Boxing Day, and has been present there almost continuously since late January, when he first encountered G466. 

Female G466, was also translocated to the Isle of Wight in 2020, from a nest near Uig on the Isle of Skye. After spending her first winter on the Isle of Wight, G466 flew north to Scotland the following spring, and then spent the rest of the year in Caithness in Sutherland. She eventually returned to the Isle of Wight in February 2022, but then flew north again on 5^th April, and like G463, returned to many of the sites she had favoured the previous summer, including Cape Wrath, the most north-westerly point of mainland Britain. She flew south again in late September and after visiting various sites on the South Coast, she became a regular at Poole Harbour from 20^th November, appearing to displace another female, G801, who has been resident over summer 2022 (see below). 

G466 was joined by G463 on 20^th January, and the two birds have been together on an almost daily basis since. Their favoured area, which covers approximately 125km², is centred on the Wareham Channel at Poole Harbour, and stretches south to the coast at Kimmeridge, where the satellite data indicates they catch fish off-shore, and also Wareham Forest to the north. The birds have made regular courtship flights in recent months, flying in tandem across much of this area. It is clear that they are now a pair, and we are hopeful that they may try and breed as early as next spring. 

G801

Female G801 was translocated to the Isle of Wight in 2021 from the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides. She spent much of her first winter on the Isle of Wight, but also visited Hampshire and Dorset. As the days began to lengthen, she made longer exploratory flights into Surrey and Sussex during February and then west to Devon and Cornwall during March.  G801 returned east to Poole Harbour on 19^th March, and became a regular in the Wareham Channel during April. On 4th May she set off on another longer exploratory flight, heading east to Kent where she was seen at Sandwich Bay Bird Observatory. She then followed the East Anglian coast north before continuing through Lincolnshire and Yorkshire, reaching Saltburn-by-Sea on the Cleveland coast, on 9^th May. After a few days in the nearby North York Moors, she headed south again, stopping at Middleton Lakes near Tamworth from 15^th-23^rd May before returning to Poole Harbour on 27^thMay. 

G801 spent the rest of the summer at Poole, again favouring the Wareham Channel, where she was regularly seen from the Birds of Poole Harbour’s excellent boat trips. She also visited the coast at Kimmeridge. However once G466 became resident at Poole Harbour, as described above, she seems to displace the younger female, who moved to Cranborne Chase, another area that is favoured by the young eagles. Nevertheless, G801 continues to make regular visits to Poole Harbour, most recently on 21^st May. 

G812 and G486

Male G812 was translocated from the Isle of Lewis in 2021.  He has remained in southern England since release, favouring an area that extends from Poole Harbour in the south to Cranborne Chase in the north. He has formed a close association with female G486 who was translocated from the Isle of Mull the same year. The female has been more nomadic, visiting East Anglia during July 2022, Colliford Lake on Bodmin Moor in Cornwall from 11^th December – 26^th January, and then various South Devon estuaries in late January and early February this year. She returned to her favoured areas in North Dorset on 9^th February and she and G812 continue to visit Poole Harbour, often together. 

G816

Another 2021 male, G816, who was translocated from the Isle of Lewis, has also remained in southern England since release. He is a regular visitor to Poole Harbour, and also spends time on the Purbeck coast at Kimmeridge, the Isle of Wight, in south Wiltshire and Cranborne Chase. During the early part of 2023 he began to associate with 2021 female G818, but the female, who was also translocated from the Isle of Lewis, has since flown north to the Cairngorms, where she spent much of summer 2022.  

G318 

Female G318 is one of three surviving birds from the first release in 2019. She remains unpaired and somewhat nomadic, but was a regular visitor to Poole Harbour in 2022 when wandering away from her favoured areas in Cranborne Chase and the Avon Valley. She has spent the past two summers in the Peak District and recently returned north to the same favoured area near Howden Reservoir on 24^th May.  

Where to view White-tailed Eagles at Poole Harbour?

White-tailed Eagles can be encountered just about anywhere in and around Poole Harbour but there are a few particularly good spots to try:

• The new Ham Common Viewpoint offers panoramic views along the Wareham Channel and the areas often favoured by G463 and G466. More details here: https://bcpprojects.net/ham-common-lookout/
• Arne RSPB reserve offers an excellent chance of seeing White-tailed Eagles, with the Hyde’s Heath trail and Coombe Heath viewpoint the best places to try. 
• Birds of Poole Harbour run boat trips throughout the summer, and often get excellent views of White-tailed Eagles from on board. For more details check out the Birds of Poole harbour website: https://www.birdsofpooleharbourbookings.co.uk/.  

Fantastic that Poole Harbour’s now-resident White-tailed Eagle G801 flew directly over our @harbourbirds boat this morning. Fair to say everyone was very excited, including @jsparker_ and @LivCooper23! pic.twitter.com/q1lB0Cw4gz

— Tim Mackrill (@timmackrill) August 20, 2022

Thank you

Sincere thanks to everyone who has been in touch to report sightings or sent photos of eagles either from Poole Harbour or in their local area. This information is of real value and adds to our understanding of how the birds are living in the landscape. You can report any sightings using our online form. We have been thrilled at the excitement the birds have generated, and greatly appreciate the support the project has received.  

Very many thanks to everyone who has made donations to the Foundation and the White-tailed Eagle project in the past few months. Your support is greatly appreciated. If you would like to donate to our work, then you can do so via the link below.

We are now in the fourth year of the project we run in partnership with Forestry England to reintroduce White-tailed Eagles to southern England, through the translocation of Scottish chicks to the Isle of Wight. Early signs have been encouraging with two pairs forming, and other young eagles learning to live successfully in the English landscape. 

Early pair bonding 

Two of the birds released in 2019, male G274 and female G324, are now well-established as a pair on the Isle of Wight, as project officer Steve Egerton-Read described in his latest Forestry England blog. Steve has dedicated a huge amount of time to monitoring the birds in the field and this has provided an extremely valuable insight into their daily foraging habits and diet. We have been particularly encouraged that they have been catching fish around the coasts of the Isle of Wight throughout the year, and that they readily catch cuttlefish in the seagrass beds of the Solent. This rich local food supply will be extremely valuable when the first pairs begin breeding. Elsewhere a second pair have become established in West Sussex. Male G471 and female G405, both released in 2020, have been favouring the Arun valley and surrounding areas, and the male also makes regular trips to the coast. 

We have also been extremely encouraged that one of the 2021 females, G801, has taken up almost permanent residence at Poole Harbour since her arrival there, in early March. Recently G801 has been joined by two different males: G816, who has been summering in Wiltshire, and G812 who spent much of the winter and spring in north Dorset. The proximity of Poole Harbour to the Isle of Wight, coupled with the rich food supply, including fish such as Grey Mullet and Bass, make this another potential early breeding site. Although most White-tailed Eagles do not breed until they are five years old, the satellite data demonstrates that pairs can form much earlier, and we are hopeful that one of these visiting males will settle at Poole Harbour with G801. 

Returning to favoured sites 

Some of the younger birds dispersed widely in the spring and five individuals are currently in northern Scotland. 2021 females G818 and G487 are in the Cairngorms and two other females released last summer, have been spending time further north. G542 is currently in Caithness and G547 is living around Cape Wrath and other locations on the Sutherland coast. The fifth bird is 2020 female G466 who has returned to northern Scotland for a second summer. She spent much of 2021 in Caithness and Sutherland before flying south in February this year and then spending two months back on the Isle of Wight. She headed north again in mid-April and is now back in the Caithness having spent much of the past few weeks in and around Cape Wrath. The map below shows her 2021 (yellow) and 2022 movements (white). 

Another bird that has returned to an area that it visited last spring, is G463. This male released in 2020 crossed the English Channel in April 2021 and remained in mainland Europe until November, favouring the Wadden Sea coasts of the Netherlands, Germany and Denmark. He visited several locations in southern England during the winter, before spending the early part of the spring in East Anglia, returning to sites he first visited 12 months earlier. Then on 3^rd April he crossed the English Channel in the same location as 2021, but three days earlier. He has since returned to many of the sites he visited in 2021, with one notable exception: a short excursion to southern Sweden between 28^th April and 1^st May. The map below shows how faithful G463 has been to sites he first visited last year (2021 = yellow, 2022 = white). He is currently heading south-west through Germany, and so may return to the areas she previously visited in the Netherlands, or perhaps return across the English Channel once again. 

Like the two 2020 birds, G318 has also returned to a previous haunt. The 2019 female wintered in Dorset, but then flew north to the Peak District on 16^th May and has returned to the moors in the Dark Peak that she frequented for more than two months last summer. This bird has been a lagomorph specialist since release and it seems that Mountain Hares could be the reason she has returned to this particular area. 

The fact that three birds have returned to sites that they first encountered on their initial explorations, illustrates the superb navigational capacity of the young eagles, and the value of the initial wanderings and the associated knowledge they assimilate about the landscape.  

2022 translocation cancelled 

During June we were intending to translocate the next cohort of chicks to the Isle of Wight. However, the worsening situation with Avian Influenza which has resulted in major mortality of breeding seabirds around eastern and northern coasts of the UK, and poses a considerable risk to White-tailed Eagles – which can contract the virus by eating infected carcasses – meant that we felt the most responsible approach was to not translocate any chicks this year, particularly as fieldwork indicates it is a poor breeding year for White-tailed Eagles. We have informed NatureScot and Natural England of this decision, and hope to extend the licence to account for the missed year. The original licence permits us to release a total of 60 White-tailed Eagles over the course of five years with the aim of establishing an initial population of six to eight breeding pairs on the Isle of Wight and surrounding areas of the South Coast. 

In the meantime, we will continue to closely monitor the birds released in previous years, particularly in relation to their foraging behaviour, daily movements and how they are living in the landscape. We have also constructed two artificial nests to encourage early breeding behaviour.  

Thank you

Sincere thanks to everyone who has been in touch to report sightings or sent photos of eagles in their local area. This information is of real value and adds to our understanding of how the birds are living in the landscape. You can report any sightings using our online form. We have been thrilled at the excitement the birds have generated in different parts of the country, and greatly appreciate the support the project has received.  

Very many thanks to everyone who has made donations to the Foundation and the White-tailed Eagle project in the past few months. Your support is greatly appreciated. If you would like to donate to our work, then you can do so via the link below.

One of the most pleasing aspects of the first three years of the White-tailed Eagle project has been the great excitement of people who have seen one of the birds. The far-ranging exploratory flights of the young eagles has meant that they have been enjoyed by birders and wildlife enthusiasts across much of the UK. People often ask us to give the eagles’ daily locations on the website but we need to prevent disturbance to the eagles and local people. We have made many friends in the farming, forestry and landowner communities who have welcomed the great birds on their land.

Encouragingly, we are now seeing some of the older birds – those released in 2019 and 2020 – returning to the Isle of Wight and the wider South Coast region where we hope an initial breeding population will become established. On the Isle of Wight two eagles released in 2019, G274 and G324 have paired up, and, although still too young to breed, they are showing territorial behaviour. Meanwhile two of the 2020 cohort – male G471 who recently returned to the South Coast after an extended stay in southern Scotland, and female G405, who spent much of last year in South West England – are showing the first signs of forming a second pair, and have spent much of the past week in the South Downs in West Sussex, which is another potential breeding area.

Another bird that returned to the South Coast after spending a prolonged period away was G461. This male eagle, released on the Isle of Wight in 2020, explored widely along the South Coast during spring 2021 and then spent much of last summer in West Norfolk. After returning south in September, and being chased away from the Isle of Wight by G274, the young male began favouring Poole Harbour in Dorset. This huge natural harbour, with its abundant populations of a favoured prey species, the Grey Mullet, is a likely breeding site for White-tailed Eagles in the future.

G461 spent much of the autumn and early winter at Poole Harbour where many excited birdwatchers and members of the public were able to enjoy watching it.  On one occasion a boat full of school children enjoyed a fly past during a trip organised by the local charity Birds of Poole Harbour.

When not at Poole Harbour, G461 also visited the nearby Purbeck coastline, and spent time in North Dorset, in an area that has been visited by several other White-tailed Eagles since the project began.

Sadly, in late January the data from G461’s satellite tag gave us cause for concern, and we subsequently recovered the bird’s body in North Dorset on 27^th January, with Dorset Police and members of the RSPB Investigations team.

Post mortem and toxicology testing through the Wildlife Incident Investigation Scheme has subsequently identified brodifacoum poisoning as the cause of death. Brodifacoum is a highly toxic anticoagulant rodenticide that causes internal haemorrhaging. The bird’s liver contained approximately seven times the amount of brodifacoum required to kill a bird like a White-tailed Eagle. The satellite data indicates that the eagle, which was otherwise healthy, deteriorated and died over a period of several days.

Dorset police have today made a statement that no further police action will be taken.

Recent evidence indicates that brodifacoum poses a serious threat to birds of prey. It accumulates in the food chain and can cause secondary poisoning as a result. A number of cases where dead raptors have been found with very high levels of brodifacoum have suggested that it could also be illegally misused in some instances to target birds of prey. White-tailed Eagles are particularly at risk because carrion can form a significant part of the diet, especially of birds in their first year.  EU Environmental Risk Assessments have previously concluded that second generation anticoagulant rodenticides (SGARs) such as brodifacoum should not be permitted for external use because the environmental risk is too great. However, regulations around their use in outdoor settings in the UK have been relaxed in recent years, and we believe this could pose a significant risk to birds of prey and other wildlife.

It is very disappointing that G461 has become the latest bird of prey to die of brodifacoum poisoning, and we hope that the death of this bird serves as a reminder of the toxicity of anticoagulant rodenticide poisons and the impacts they can have on wider wildlife.

More encouragingly, two female White-tailed Eagles, G318 and G801 are the latest birds to take up residence at Poole Harbour, and there have been numerous sightings in recent weeks. With G463 back in England after spending five months in continental Europe last year, we are hopeful that the young male may eventually join the birds at Poole Harbour, particularly as G318, released in 2019, is now approaching breeding age. Since arriving back in England last November G463 has spent much of its time in East Anglia, but also returned to Chard area in Somerset – where it had spent its first winter – and visited Knepp in East Sussex last week.

Despite the loss of G461 we very much hope that White-tailed Eagles will become an increasingly familiar sight at Poole Harbour and in other parts of southern England, and that many more people will be able to enjoy seeing them in years to come.