Glynn Hobbs - imageweaver

The UK's largest raptor.......The White Tailed Eagle Following on from my last blog about the beautiful and scarce Osprey, I was lucky enough to spend the past two weeks on the west coast of Scotland, in search of the UK's largest raptor; the huge and incredibly rare White Tailed Eagle.  Hunted to extinction in the UK over 200 years ago, they were re-introduced on the Isle of Rum in 1975, with more birds brought over from Norway at the start of the new millenium. - It is thought that there are now around 40 breeding pairs in Scotland. Also known as the Sea Eagle, this impressive bird can stand at 3ft tall and has a wingspan of up to 8 ft. With dimensions like that, you would think that they are easy to find, but with such small numbers and a habit of nesting in the remotest of areas, they are seldom seen..... unless you know where to look! When travelling to new geographical areas, I always try to make contact with wildlife groups within that location well before I am due to a

This male, flew directly overhead with the remains of breakfast. Just over a year ago, I was fortunate to visit a Scottish Estate for a week and record some of the wildlife that resided there. A week ago, I was privileged to return to this fantastic (but secret) location and concentrate my efforts on a pair of Osprey that were nesting on the land.  Having spent a couple of days watching them from long distance, I had just one day to get slightly closer (still a couple of hundred meters away) and capture some images from a better, but concealed location, with views of the actual nest. Ospreys are protected birds and it is imperative not to disturb them, especially near to nest sites. I was fortunate, in that whilst this particular nest was located in open land, it was surrounded by woodland, which would give me cover to approach unseen and also allow me to set up my camouflaged position, beneath an overhanging tree line.  Set up at a safe distance and under the tree line of the neighbou