Golden eagles - RSPB Ruthven (1 Viewer)

[Robinroe]

Would anybody know if there are golden eagles in this area? I visited last October and saw what I thought was three eagles circling above a hill / mountain on the road down to the carpark.
Distance ( best guess,approx quarter of a mile) height, and no other birds around to really compare size made it difficult to tell through binoculars but they looked huge. As they circled one bird had round white spots towards the end of both wings and from what I could see, the rest of the wing looked a darker colour.

To my relatively untrained eye they didn't look like buzzards and were definitely not red kites. I am aware that people can visit Scotland numerous times and never be lucky enough to see eagles, could I possibly have seen three all at once?

 

[THE_FERN]

suggest impossible to be sure from just the description, and buzzard by far the more likely. However, if the "white spots" looked like these:

Eagles in Peterborough and area can be difficult to spot

then perhaps were immature golden eagles.

 

[Ernest Garcia]

In Spain in autumn I have seen a juvenile of the year soaring with two adult Golden Eagles, presumably its parents. I doubt if this is unusual. The one with the white markings would have been the young bird if indeed they were Golden Eagles.

 

[Robinroe]

It's so difficult to gauge the size and distance. I have seen golden eagles in the findhorn valley and Skye but there was buzzards and ravens around to compare the size difference and of course these places are well known strongholds and I was with more experienced birders. On this occasion I was on my own and I haven't read anything with regards to golden eagle sightings at Ruthven.

 

[Robinroe]

suggest impossible to be sure from just the description, and buzzard by far the more likely. However, if the "white spots" looked like these:

Eagles in Peterborough and area can be difficult to spot

then perhaps were immature golden eagles.

G1B would be the closest resemblance but it was at a distance so I guess I will never know.

 

[ClarkWGriswold]

Hi Rob. I’ve seen three together on a few occasions so no issues there. And the location isn’t too far from the Findhorn so that wouldn’t be a problem either I’d have thought.

Rich

 

[Original PaulE]

Have seen one from the Car Park of Loch Ruthven before but was a few years ago.

 

[Robinroe]

Have seen one from the Car Park of Loch Ruthven before but was a few years ago.

Lovely thanks, hopefully it's what I saw as well, good to know they are in that area

 

[Hotspur]

Ive seen them from the Farr Road a few times, when travelling between Findhorn and Ruthven so no real surprise.