Golden Eagle

[Henstooth]

I am going to Cumbria in April. I have been trying to contact wardens on the Ullswater site to see if they have the Golden Eagle in situ. I want to know if I am likely to get a spot on the birds that time of year, where to go, who to call ETC ETC.
Any Help Out There?

[TJW]

I am going to Cumbria in April. I have been trying to contact wardens on the Ullswater site to see if they have the Golden Eagle in situ. I want to know if I am likely to get a spot on the birds that time of year, where to go, who to call ETC ETC.
Any Help Out There?

Don't go to Ullswater.
Go to Haweswater.

There are plenty of directions both on this site and elsewhere on the interweb. But.....
Go north through Shap (A6) and turn left for Bampton. Follow the road for Bampton and there will be a sign for Mardale (which is long submerged). Go through Burnbanks and down the lake (past the Hawaeswater Hotel) to the car park at the end of the lake.
From the car park go through the gate turn right and follow the path to the
other side of the lake. When you gat to a valley (Riggindale) take the path left to the the watchpoint.
The eagle can be seen at any time of the year. Sometimes it just takes patience. Obviously any RSPB staff can help in pointing out where they may have already pinned it down while perched.

The end

[Henstooth]

Thanks a lot. I will deffo take this info. Pete

[Craig H]

Any news on whether the Eagle has been showing recently? Am up in the lakes on Monday and am thinking of calling in if there's a chance of seeing him?

[Drumming Sniper]

Any news on whether the Eagle has been showing recently? Am up in the lakes on Monday and am thinking of calling in if there's a chance of seeing him?

I visited Haweswater on April 25th and 26th. On the first day it was extremely windy. The eagle did show but only fairly briefly. On the second day the weather was much better and the bird showed brilliantly, displaying repeatedly above Riggindale. The RSPB warden who was there actually said that he'd never seen the bird spend so much time in the air!

I posted an account of the trip on the "Your Birding Day" sub-forum. It's entitled "Borderlands" and I would guess that it's probably back a few pages by now but there's a bit more eagle info. on there.

Hope this helps.

DS

[Craig H]

Thanks DS,

Should get there on Monday all being well.

[Stand on Zanzibar]

Whenever I've popped to Riggindale to see this eagle, it has remained firmly rooted to it's perch.

By the way, whilst driving down the side of Haweswater, keep your ears open for Wood and Garden Warblers - there were plenty of the former (and Pied Flycatchers) when I was there last weekend.

Tim

[Drumming Sniper]

Whenever I've popped to Riggindale to see this eagle, it has remained firmly rooted to it's perch.

The flight views we had were truly spectacular but I think the weather may have helped a fair bit. On the Thursday the weather was fantastic (lots of sunshine, blue skies etc.) however on the Wednesday there were very strong north-easterly winds with a lot of black clouds around. As I understand it, the two days prior to that were very wet in Cumbria.

My theory is that the big bird probably spent a lot of time perched during the early part of the week and may have been encouraged to stretch the wings a bit when the weather improved. The warden remarked on the fact that the eagle had been flying right down to the mouth of the valley and back (in fact we first picked him up when he flew back up the valley from behind us) and went on to say that this is quite unusual.

This is just my theory of course however if I was going there again I think I'd keep checking the forecast and aim for a decent day following on from two or three days of the wet stuff.

DS

PS: The display flight is a fantastic thing to witness!

[Craig H]

Went today and got cracking views -in flight and perched, and being mobbed by a peregrine. Also crippling views of wood warbler down to 5-6feet.

Thanks for all the info.

[Drumming Sniper]

Went today and got cracking views -in flight and perched, and being mobbed by a peregrine. Also crippling views of wood warbler down to 5-6feet.

Thanks for all the info.

Superb!!!