Golden Eagle in Scottish mountains? (1 Viewer)

[ASB12]

Hi everyone,

First time posting on this forum so hello to you all!

I'm on holiday in Scotland in the 'Arrochar Alps' near Loch Lomand and the Trossachs and saw at least 1, maybe 2 huge looking raptors circling above the mountain on the other side of the loch. I did at one point see one getting mobbed by a crow and the size difference was massive.

The pictures are terrible as it was at huge range and full zoom but shows what I think are more rectangular wings than a buzzard. It's not easy to tell but the fingers are heavily splayed. Hopefully the quality doesn't get lowered further by sending them on here.

Do we think at least one of these birds is a golden? 😊 Never self found a golden eagle and only ever seen them once (live in Surrey).

Thanks all!

Adam

 

[delia todd]

Hi Adam and a warm welcome to you from all the Staff and Moderators. I'm useless at identifying raptors in flight but the first looks rather like a White-tailed Eagle with those very broad wings (barn doors). Probably a juvenile if I'm right. But wait for the experts to have a look!!

I'm sure you will enjoy it here and I look forward to hearing your news.

 

[Butty]

3 is equivocal. The rest seem to be a big eagle, and 4 is plausible as golden eagle.

 

[THE_FERN]

The short-tailed ones make me wonder about (immature) white-tailed eagle too. ..78 looks more like buzzard I think with relatively shorter wingspan and longer tail

 

[ASB12]

Thanks for all the replies! I've attached some more photos I got. Could have been mutiple species as I saw 3 birds in total across an hour at different parts of the mountain. One was definitely an eagle as the size comparison with the crow that was mobbing it was obvious. Any further thoughts greatly appreciated 😊

 

[ASB12]

Apologies I may have doubled up on one of those photos! So many blurry raptors on my camera. Here's the correct one

 

[Butty]

Group 2, no. 4 looks like a red kite.

 

[ASB12]

Group 2, no. 4 looks like a red kite.

Hi Butty. Thanks for the reply. I live just west of London where Red Kites are incredibly common so can be 100% sure none of them were Red Kites. Different flight etc. It's between WT Eagle and Golden Eagle for one due to the size but the other could be a buzzard as I didn't get a great view of size on that one 🤔 what do others think?

 

[Butty]

Check its 'tail'. Or it's carrying a rabbit maybe? Who can tell.

 

[vergan]

Check its 'tail'. Or it's carrying a rabbit maybe? Who can tell.

I'll say it is carrying something (or exposing the legs in a weird way). Certainly not a Kite (by structure-proportions)
Cheers

 

[Stonefaction]

Group 2, no. 4 looks like a red kite.

Around this time of year, I often see Buzzards that are moulting their central tail feathers resulting in a superficial resemblance to a Kite's tail. I think the second lot of photos all could be Buzzards. The first 2 photos in the first post could well be White Tailed Eagle (as could the most recently posted photo).

 

[Butty]

Let's face it, given the very low quality of the photos (no offence), we're all just speculating. None is identifiable.

 

[ASB12]

Yeah the second group (except the last photo) were of a different bird that I wasn't sure on size so Buzzard is definitely possible on those. The first group of photos (and most recent photo) were definitely of very big birds. My gut was golden due to the location and I'm not quite sure the wings are barn door enough for white Tailed but could be wrong.

 

[Stonefaction]

Yeah the second group (except the last photo) were of a different bird that I wasn't sure on size so Buzzard is definitely possible on those. The first group of photos (and most recent photo) were definitely of very big birds. My gut was golden due to the location and I'm not quite sure the wings are barn door enough for white Tailed but could be wrong.

I'm quite lucky to see White Tailed Eagle over/from Dundee at least a few times a year but don't see Goldies all that often. I think 1 & 2 are probably WTE.

White Tailed Eagle

Explore this photo album by stonefaction on Flickr!

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Not sure the others look proportioned quite right for Goldies. EDIT : the 3rd pic in 2nd batch does look quite long winged.

Golden Eagle

Explore this photo album by stonefaction on Flickr!

www.flickr.com

 

[ASB12]

I'm quite lucky to see White Tailed Eagle over/from Dundee at least a few times a year but don't see Goldies all that often. I think 1 & 2 are probably WTE.

White Tailed Eagle

Explore this photo album by stonefaction on Flickr!

www.flickr.com

Not sure the others look proportioned quite right for Goldies. EDIT : the 3rd pic in 2nd batch does look quite long winged.

Golden Eagle

Explore this photo album by stonefaction on Flickr!

www.flickr.com

Thanks for the reply, that's really useful and interesting. I do now think the first bird I saw (1st 2 photos in batch 1 and last photo in batch 2) was a White Tailed Eagle. That is assuming they frequent the tops of reasonably high mountains? I think there is a buzzard in there (2nd photo in 2nd batch). It's just the other few photos in the second batch I'm unsure about. Do we think the 3rd in the 2nd batch is a golden then? Maybe I had all 3 species!

 

[Stonefaction]

Thanks for the reply, that's really useful and interesting. I do now think the first bird I saw (1st 2 photos in batch 1 and last photo in batch 2) was a White Tailed Eagle. That is assuming they frequent the tops of reasonably high mountains? I think there is a buzzard in there (2nd photo in 2nd batch). It's just the other few photos in the second batch I'm unsure about. Do we think the 3rd in the 2nd batch is a golden then? Maybe I had all 3 species!

I've had definite Buzzards look unexpectedly long winged from time to time, so without any additional detail in the photos (number of primaries, extent of white on underwing etc) I wouldn't be claiming anything in particular for that 3rd bird in 2nd batch. I think you're probably safe enough to count WTE and Buzzard from a few of the other photos, but I don't think there's enough for me to be confident with any sort of ID for that particular photo. If your original photos are shot in RAW, you MIGHT be able to claw back some extra detail but I suspect it still won't be quite enough to be 100%.

 

[ASB12]

Thanks again for the reply. I will check the originals but I don't think I'll have the detail. How many primaries are we looking for? I did see WTE the day before on a boat tour round Mull so would have thought I'd have got that one but it was at crazy long range. Guess I immediately associated the habitat with GE. Photos are at 100x digital zoom on a bridge camera so we're never going to be the clearest.

 

[William Lewis]

I spent a long old while looking into the plumage and structural differences between white tailed eagle, golden eagle and buzzard before heading up to sky for a few days to look for them last year.

I can't say definitively what you have there from the photos but for me group 1 photo 2 is definitely an eagle, whether golden or white I couldn't say, the differences are quite subtle especially between immature golden eagles and white tailed.

Either way they are very impressive birds, I saw a white tailed heading up a sea lock on sky, it went in a dead straight line, no soaring, no flapping, I must have followed it for 10/15 minutes and didn't see it's wings move once. Must head back up there when I get chance.

Will

 

[Farnboro John]

Group 1: WTE, WTE, Buzzard, Buzzard.
Group 2: All Buzzards.
Single pic: WTE.

John

 

[ASB12]

Thanks all. John that's great and was what I'd finally settled on. Beautiful birds either way. Had much better views of WTE on a tour from Oban on Saturday but always nice to find one yourself. Thanks again!