The incredible 'White Tailed Eagle', photographed near Crinan in Scotland

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 arrive. This gives me time to make contact with local experts and build a rapport with them, so that they can learn to trust my intentions and allow me to work with them to achieve my goals. Regular readers of my blogs, know that I am a responsible wildlife photographer and naturalist who will always put the wellbeing of my subject, before the desire to 'get the shot'. 

In this instance, I had been speaking with local naturalists for around 6 months and now had a good working relationship with them, not only for photographing the White Tailed Eagle, but also guiding me to potential locations for Beavers, Otters and some potential sea life.

I particularly wanted to photograph the Eagles from the sea, as this would give me a better opportunity to get closer to them and hopefully, give me a range of 'in-flight' and 'at-rest' images. To achieve this, I was pointed in the direction of Sandy at Venture West Boat Charter. Sandy knows this stretch of coastline like the back of his hand and what he does not know, is not worth knowing! 

A private charter of this boat with its owner, is an experience not to be missed.

Sandy offers a wide range of 'public' trips to explore the coastline and islands, but we had very specific needs and the ability to 'charter' the boat for our own purpose, meant that we had the boat to ourselves and were able to utilise all of Sandys skill and knowledge to find our target. It also allowed me to take all of my camera gear on board and take up as much room as was needed. Sandy could not have been more helpful and continuously re-positioned the boat to ensure that we were getting suitable light on the subject and shooting from the right angle.

The ability to use every inch of space was essential in getting the shots that we were after.

A short trip from the stunningly beautiful and unspoiled Crinan Harbour, brought us to our target, which was the nest site for a pair of White Tailed Eagles with young on their nest. Sandy was careful to ensure that he positioned the boat far enough away from the birds, so as not to disturb them, whilst still allowing a good view through binoculars, or through my 750mm lens!

When we arrived on the scene, there was no sign of the adults, but one of the two youngsters could clearly be seen in the nest.

Far from being a good image, but this is one of the youngsters on the nest.

Within half an hour, one of the parents arrived with what looked like a gull, or Tern to feed to the chicks. - They don't just eat fish!

Fortunately for me, the adult bird left the nest and flew around us, before landing on a tree closer to our position. 

One of just a few images that I was lucky enough to get of this wonderful bird in flight!

The following images were taken of the bird whilst it sat in the tree for over an hour. They are very similar, but I make no apologies for making the most of this opportunity to photograph one of the rarest birds that grace the UK with their presence. I hope that you enjoy looking at them as much as I did taking these images.

The irony of this shot, when you think that an hour earlier, the Eagle had brought a Gull back to the nest for the youngsters to feed on. - This Gull is mobbing the Eagle!

The White Tailed Eagle has been on my 'bucket list' for many years and although I have travelled to Scotland on a number of occasions, I have never before had the time, or opportunity to search for these birds.

So now that I have 'ticked off' that ambition, it is time to move on to the next one..........watch this space!

Not a bad office for the day!

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