Golden eagle "landing lights" (1 Viewer)

Hi everyone,

There's a golden eagle pair not too far away from me here in Aveyron, south of France. One of the adults has two white patches, one either side of of the head, on the leading edge of the wing which are very similar to the "landing lights" seen on booted eagles. In this area there are many eagle pairs but this is the only individual I have encountered which shows this variation.
I was wondering if anyone else has come across this, either in the field or in literature?

Thanks,
Rob

PS: Just to make this post a bit juicier, the day I first observed this they were hunting as a pair, soaring high up then suddenly diving down after a juvenile cormorant which was flying down the valley. The first eagle narrowly missed causing the cormorant to twist and turn and almost immediatley the second eagle came divng in too, again narrowly missing the target. It then recovered rapidly and began pursuing the cormorant in level flight, but the cormorant was able to beat a rapid escape!

Rob77 said:

I was wondering if anyone else has come across this, either in the field ....

Click to expand...

I'm wondering if this could be caused by moult...I've often seen odd little spots of white on GE and have have always assumed its moult or displaced feathers. As your bird shows it on both wings, moult makes more sense. Can older GEs develop white areas with age?

Edit: Just re-read this and realised I'd missed mentioning that due to missing, moulting or displaced feathers, white down can be seen.