Whales , Dolphins , Sharks.... Fish eagles??

[oldessox]

Ok , I know I should have went to spec savers or stayed off the medication whilst out on the boat , but while I was out there yesterday the gulls were in a bit of a feeding frenzy , diving for sprats or whatever and this huge bird of prey came over ,bigger than all the gulls and some of them are some size, the gulls didn't like it at all and mobbed it , it took no notice of them whatsoever and proceeded to land on the water where they had been diving , pick something up and fly off again , I watched it away , it was definitely a bird of prey , looked like a giant buzzard , I only really seen it's back and sillhouette shape , it was a chestnut gingery brown colour with distinct wide white bars across the back of it's wings which were well rounded on the ends like a buzzards ............... what the hell was it?

[<(Andy2009)>]

Your not the only one mate, I well nd truely believe what you are saying.

When I fished the customs house on sunday, about 30mins after a got there a could here the seagulls where agitated/angry at something, and when I looked up, there was this big eagly type bird carrying something of a fair size in its talons, all this about 20yds away and around 100ft above me.

Anyways the seagulls continued to attack it and it dropped its kill.Whatever it killed (fish by the shape of it) was heavy, coz falling from the height it was at, when it hit the water there was an almighty SPLASH and THUMP!

I know that white-tailed sea eagles where re-introduced into parts of Scotland a few years ago and there breeding has been quite a success, and a few pairs have disappeared. Could they now be possibly starting to make there home around here?... I hope so, they are spectacular birds and rare at that.

Hopefully this is what you seen, as this means they are spreading, and with them being so rare, the more the merrier!!

[Red5]

White Tailed Sea Eagles have been reported on the Farne Islands in the past year so chances are it could well have been one of these majestic birds if you are sure it was definitely a raptor.
Alternatively, if you didn't get a good look at it, it could have been a Great Skua.

[oldessox]

I've just been googling pictures of both the skua and the fish eagle , I'm pretty sure it was a fish eagle , the skua is a much more slender shaped bird , this was definitely a raptor ,they fly in a very distinct way , I can't name them all .but I know birds of prey when I see them , I've watched the buzzards and the red kites up at loch ken and often see kestrels , sparrow hawks and owls etc, but when I see something that looks like an eagle plunging into the water in the north sea , it kind of blows me away a bit.
Had no idea there was anything like that around these parts , though I've seen some strange things , nearly crashed the car one day when I seen a green parrot sitting in the hedge large as life up at Felton

[Mad as a fish]

Could it have been Osprey doon from Scotland on holliday

[madmitch26]

Def not a skua as they don't have talons.

[<(Andy2009)>]

I've just been googling pictures of both the skua and the fish eagle , I'm pretty sure it was a fish eagle , the skua is a much more slender shaped bird , this was definitely a raptor ,they fly in a very distinct way , I can't name them all .but I know birds of prey when I see them , I've watched the buzzards and the red kites up at loch ken and often see kestrels , sparrow hawks and owls etc, but when I see something that looks like an eagle plunging into the water in the north sea , it kind of blows me away a bit.
Had no idea there was anything like that around these parts , though I've seen some strange things , nearly crashed the car one day when I seen a green parrot sitting in the hedge large as life up at Felton

Think of it this way too mate.

A skua cannot hit the water using its feet and grab prey, this goes for carring the killed prey too, as said before, skua's do not have talons, they've have webbed feet like our favourite herring gull...

Definitely a sea eagle on both our accounts matey.

[oldessox]

I'm just resurrecting this old threads I seen a great skua while I was out today , real close up and it was definitely not the same as the eagle I saw . Similar colourings but different size and shape and a totally different flight.