24/06/2014 The Eagle returns! 3 hours of bliss!

Tuesday 24th June 2014
Gills Lap Car Park
Ashdown Forest

I spent some time at Gills Lap on Sunday afternoon following reports of the Short-toed Eagle being present in the morning.  Unfortunately it had gone by the time I arrived and was not seen again that day.  On Monday it failed to show again, leading to speculation that it had finally left the area.

On Tuesday afternoon I got a message on my I-phone, from Rare Bird Alert, saying it had returned and had been seen around 15.25.  By 15.50 Sue and I arrived at Gills Lap to join a small group of birders who quickly pointed out the bird on a dead tree on the hillside opposite. 



 

Short-toed Eagle
Library picture

With really good lighting conditions the views were excellent and we savoured them for about 40 minutes.  The eagle relocated to a small tree on the edge of the wood for the final 10 minutes or so and although slightly further away, the views remained superb.

Then to our great joy it started a 30 minute flying display just in front of us.  As you would expect it was quite majestic as it glided around.  Every now and then it would lower it's legs, like the undercarriage of an aeroplane, and hover like a Kestrel, presumably looking for snakes or lizards on the ground below.    Watch the Youtube video clip by following the link below for a good views of this behaviour.

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=juCEaDSQyuA&feature=player_embedded


It then settled atop a small tree on the edge of 500 Acre Wood (of Winnie the Pooh fame) for the next 90 minutes or so, relocating once but only a few metres west to another low tree.

Unfortunately we had to leave with the bird still present. 

What a lovely surprise - 3 hours of pure bliss with a bird we thought had left the area.  If anyone had told me a few years ago that I would miss an England World Cup match to go bird watching, I would have told them they were crazy but that was the case and I barely gave the matter any thought - it was a "no brainer".