OVER the past two years, members of the public in the south of England have reported seeing an enormous bird of prey overhead.
Sometimes described as ‘a flying barn door’ on account of its vast rectangular wings, the white-tailed eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla) is once again taking to the skies after being demonised as a lamb killer from the Middle Ages onwards. Its return to England is the result of a reintroduction programme based on the Isle of Wight that hopes to release a total of 60 birds over a period of five years; there are now thought to be 25 white-tailed individuals surviving in the wild. The birds have been seen coasting over the country from Essex to Yorkshire—one young bird from the original 2019 group surprised Londoners when it was spotted flying over Big Ben only days after release.
The Isle of Wight White-tailed Eagle Project is a joint venture between Forestry England and the Roy Dennis Wildlife Foundation that has already helped the species re-establish in Scotland. The Isle of Wight was chosen for its plentiful supply of fish and rabbits, as well as quiet nesting sites—it is also, fittingly, the last place where an English pair of sea eagles bred, on Culver Cliff in 1780.
The eaglets are collected under licence from nests in west Scotland, where the population now stands at more than 140 breeding pairs, and flown by aeroplane to the Isle of Wight. There, Forestry England project officer Steve Egerton-Read takes over, providing a selection of food through a hatch. Once they have been checked over by a vet, the young eagles are fitted with satellite trackers and released at about 14–18 weeks old: in August 2021, a total of 12 birds were released successfully.
Denne historien er fra December 01, 2021-utgaven av Country Life UK.
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Denne historien er fra December 01, 2021-utgaven av Country Life UK.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Save our family farms
IT Tremains to be seen whether the Government will listen to the more than 20,000 farming people who thronged Whitehall in central London on November 19 to protest against changes to inheritance tax that could destroy countless family farms, but the impact of the good-hearted, sombre crowds was immediate and positive.
A very good dog
THE Spanish Pointer (1766–68) by Stubbs, a landmark painting in that it is the artist’s first depiction of a dog, has only been exhibited once in the 250 years since it was painted.
The great astral sneeze
Aurora Borealis, linked to celestial reindeer, firefoxes and assassinations, is one of Nature's most mesmerising, if fickle displays and has made headlines this year. Harry Pearson finds out why
'What a good boy am I'
We think of them as the stuff of childhood, but nursery rhymes such as Little Jack Horner tell tales of decidedly adult carryings-on, discovers Ian Morton
Forever a chorister
The music-and way of living-of the cabaret performer Kit Hesketh-Harvey was rooted in his upbringing as a cathedral chorister, as his sister, Sarah Sands, discovered after his death
Best of British
In this collection of short (5,000-6,000-word) pen portraits, writes the author, 'I wanted to present a number of \"Great British Commanders\" as individuals; not because I am a devotee of the \"great man, or woman, school of history\", but simply because the task is interesting.' It is, and so are Michael Clarke's choices.
Old habits die hard
Once an antique dealer, always an antique dealer, even well into retirement age, as a crop of interesting sales past and future proves
It takes the biscuit
Biscuit tins, with their whimsical shapes and delightful motifs, spark nostalgic memories of grandmother's sweet tea, but they are a remarkably recent invention. Matthew Dennison pays tribute to the ingenious Victorians who devised them
It's always darkest before the dawn
After witnessing a particularly lacklustre and insipid dawn on a leaden November day, John Lewis-Stempel takes solace in the fleeting appearance of a rare black fox and a kestrel in hot pursuit of a pipistrelle bat
Tarrying in the mulberry shade
On a visit to the Gainsborough Museum in Sudbury, Suffolk, in August, I lost my husband for half an hour and began to get nervous. Fortunately, an attendant had spotted him vanishing under the cloak of the old mulberry tree in the garden.
