Even though the Isle of Wight White-tailed Eagle project only started in 2019, their presence in and around south Dorset has become so ‘standard’ that there’s literally a chance of bumping into one anywhere around Poole Harbour and Purbeck, just like some of our team yesterday who had one fly right over their car at the Bakers Arms roundabout! What isn’t so ‘standard’ are hunting observations, with most sightings of eagles either sat for hours on end, or passing overhead with slow lumbering wing beats. However, this morning an incredible spectacle was observed with 3 individuals hunting off the Purbeck coast, attempting to catch fish in amongst a gull flock. The scene was straight out of a Norwegian fjord or Scottish Loch and quite incredible that it was in fact Purbeck. Then, later this afternoon a different 2 individuals were hunting geese and cormorants in the Lower Piddle Valley. Quite a remarkable change in circumstances. In the Frome Valley near Holmebridge a Swallow was feeding over the floodplain, plus there were 25 Cattle Egret there. A Great White Egret was on Wareham Common, 2 Spotted Redshank and a Ruff were in the Lower Piddle Valley and a Curlew Sandpiper was in Lytchett Bay this morning.

2 of 3 White-tailed Eagles hunting off the Purbeck coast this morning – Garry Hayman