Eagle-Eyed Twitcher Spots A Rare Bird On Suffolk Reserve

A bird-watching enthusiast has spotted a rare white-tailed sea eagle at a Suffolk Reserve.

11:27 16 March 2015

A rare white-tailed sea eagle has been spotted on a small island at Mickle Mere Reserve in Suffolk, near Bury St Edmunds, at about 09:45 GMT by a bird enthusiast. Paul Haines said: "It was a bit of shock to see an eagle like that out of the bedroom window."

 

The last recorded sighting of the bird in west Suffolk was in the 1930s. 

 

Mr Haines continued: "I was still in bed when my wife, who isn't into birding at all, shouted 'There's a really big bird on the mere'.

"I was expecting a goose or something like that and when I looked it was like 'Wow'."

Mr Haines have been an avid bird-watcher and said that the bird might have “blown in” from northern Europe on recent high winds. 

 

"Carrion crows and gulls were dive-bombing it as it stood on a little island, but when it took off the mere erupted with some 400 or so geese taking flight," he said.

 

Giles Cawston, from Suffolk Wildlife Trust, said: "This is an incredibly rare sighting, it's a once in a lifetime bird really - especially here in the UK.

"Sea eagles tend not to stick around too long so unfortunately only about six people managed to see it.

"The reserve is busy with geese and waders at this time of year - they had quite a shock when the eagle dropped in but the birders were over the moon, to tick a white-tailed eagle off their lifetime list is very special."