Wildlife and bird watching in Wiltshire

21/10/2007 00:00:00 White-tailed sea eagle resident on the Hampshire Wiltshire Border

Europe's largest eagle seems to have taken up residence close to the small village of Sutton Bellinger. Birders from around the country travelling to the village to see this unusual sight.

The eagle is believed to be a juvenile bird which, it is thought, has flown in from Finland for the winter.

The White-tailed sea eagle is now relatively common on the west coast of Scotland where it has been introduced in the last 20 years after being shot to extinction earlier in the century. They have also been reintroduced to Scotland’s east coast this year.

Although normally a fish eating bird, they can survive on carrion or even other birds. Let’s hope that he doesn’t get a taste for Great Bustards, which have been reintoruced onto the nearby Salisbury Plain.

To see the eagle head to Shipton Bellinger on the border of Wiltshire and Hampshire. A local farmer is providing car parking in a field off the B3084 as a car park. (£5.00 per car). It is thought that the eagle will stay in the area for the winter.