White-tailed Eagle Beeley Moor 29/01/2005

On 29th January 2005 Mel Hayes and Mick Taylor found a White-tailed Eagle at Beeley Moor. The bird approached them from the direction of Bunkers Hill Wood and after a short while landed on rocks along Harland Edge. Shortly after this the bird disappeared over the edge onto Eastmoor. About 20 minutes later Roy Frost arrived and as he did so the bird re-appeared over Harland Edge. They continued to watch the bird for about 40 minutes circling around the area while the news was quickly telephoned out. The bird eventually left in a NW direction over Bunkers Hill Wood.

with Raven with Raven with Raven
                           1                                 2                               3

I arrived with Alan Heeley a short while after the bird had disappeared. At around 13.20 hrs the bird was picked up approaching the area from the direction of Chatsworth, and it continued quite low over Hell Bank Plantation. The bird then made its way over to Ravens Tor where two or three Ravens began to mob it. From here it circled slightly to the east before flying off north over Harland Edge and onto Eastmoor disappearing from view at around 13.30 hrs. I took the record shots here after the being reminded to do so by Richard Taylor (thanks Richard). I had not thought about taking any up until then as I was busy enjoying views of the bird through the scope. The shots were hand held through the scope during the last minute or so that the bird was present, so I did not have time to think about exposures etc so although they are not the best quality photos hopefully they should bring back good memories for those lucky enough to have been present. Note the Pink-footed Geese in the background on photo 7, just a small part of the 3000 plus that flew over that day.

with Raven 
                           4                                 5                               6

The huge size of the Eagle is apparent in some of the photos most of which show a nearby Raven for size comparison. The wings were very long and broad with slightly bulging secondaries. The large, powerful looking head and neck protruded markedly. The huge bill was visible in the field but is difficult to see in the photos. It was mainly dark grey with a paler area at the base, particularly around the gape. The tail appeared mainly dark though paler shaft markings could be seen as the tail was spread. The bird appeared to be a typical juvenile, being quite dark on the whole of the underparts with noticeably pale triangles in the armpits (axillaries) and a very indistinct pale line along the median coverts. The mantle and upperwing coverts were mid brown contrasting with the darker flight feathers. Some coverts and scapulars had scattered paler tips, some of these forming a hint of a vague paler band on the median coverts in flight.

with Pink-feet in background with Raven with Raven
                           7                                 8                               9

with Raven 
                           10                                11                             12

There were no further sightings that day, though on the next day the bird was reported to the north of Beeley over Bleak House during the early morning flying in an easterly or south-easterly direction. There was a further unconfirmed sighting of the bird circling Stone Edge Plantation (SK 342675) before heading off towards Beeley during the early morning of the 30th (around 08.30 hrs). If anyone has any details of this or any other sightings I would be interested to hear about them.

This was the first White-tailed Eagle in Derbyshire since 1939 when one was at Derwent from 9 - 17 March. Prior to this another was at Derwent from 20 December 1920 until 8 February 1921 when it was eventually shot by a gamekeeper. There are also at least eight 19th Century records. There were also at least two records considered probably to be White-tailed Eagles from the 19th century as well as probable sightings in 1933 at Kinder and 1940 at Derwent.

Thanks to Mick and Mel for finding this excellent bird and to Roy for getting the news out quickly so as many people as possible got to see the bird.

References
The Birds of Derbyshire R.A. Frost (1978)

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