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My attempts to see greater spotted eagles over the years (1 Viewer)

Dr.Boletus

Well-known member
Spain
The Greater Spotted Eagle
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One spring day in 2021, I had a dream. I am from russia, and visited the country with enthusiasm until this disgusting war happened. I am an enthusiastic naturalist who prefers to, instead of socialising, lurking in deep, dark forests and impenetrable swamps. Back then, I studied Moscow Oblast for places I could visit.
Two paces always stood out to me: the large Dubna swamp massif in the very north of the region, and the honestly rather terrifying Cherusti forest in the very east. I had a grim fascination with the latter, as it was the largest stretch of true wilderness anywhere in the region. Both regions had the same wildlife: the short-toed eagle I was so obsessed with, and the majestic greater spotted eagle, which despite its global rarity was one of the very few true eagles which was widely seen in the region.
I deliberated for a long time, and almost visited the Cherusti forest until we decided to go for Dubna instead. I sought the eagle far and wide, looking among the fields complete with cranes.
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Braved impenetrable swamplands to try and see it in their midst.
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And was nearly driven crazy by the smell of Labrador tea hanging in the air like a fine mist on beautiful raised bogs.
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I never saw the eagle then- I only saw its distant relative, the even larger and more majestic white-tailed eagle which hovered overhead. But, no greater spotted eagle, and no trace of its small cousin, the lesser spotted eagle, anywhere to be found. I never had the opportunity to look for it in russia again, and may never do.
But this wasn’t the end for me. At the beginning of the 2010s, ornithologists made the surprising discovery of a small wintering group of greater spotted eagles at El Hondo nature reserve in Spain. And that nature reserve was close to me. As close as 23km from Santa Pola. I initially had doubts about surviving such a long bike ride, especially in the heat of summer. But my desire to finally see the eagle proved stronger, and I one day decided to go for it, my will further bolstered by news that in 2021 a sociable lapwing was found wintering in the area, a critically endangered plover.
On my first attempt to see both birds, I blew out my bike tires and had to get them repaired.
The first time I went to El Hondo was a visit to the North Gate, which was a terrifying experience. I cycled for 23km in the dark, first along a well-lit highway, then among a completely dark highway stretching for many kilometers, and then on a small road winding past dark palm plantations.
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I made it there against all odds, and began to wait for the place to open, which it did at 08:30am. I went inside, and searched, and searched, but had no luck, until at around 10-11am I saw the unmistakable outline of a greater spotted eagle perched on a eucalyptus tree in the distance.
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It flew off rapidly, circled over the area once, and it was gone. This was the first time I have ever seen this eagle anywhere.
I went again the next week, when the fog was replaced by a wonderful blue sky. I immediately found the eagle, perched a long way off in the distance.
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I wished it would come closer, but no luck, and my trips in 2021 ended on that note, and until my eventual return in December 2022 I could only dream of cycling through the dark and light for so long to see the greater spotted eagle.
I visited the North Gate only once in December 2022. I had an exam to prepare for at university, and on top of that fell seriously ill from flu. Once I had finally recovered, I visited the North Gate again. I doubt I ever saw the greater spotted eagle during this trip- maybe in the distance at first, but aside from an incredibly annoying eagle-owl, there was no trace of any spotted eagles here.
I did, however, visit El Hondo’s southern hides for the first time here, and over the course of 2022 and one time in 2023, there wasn’t a situation in which I visited this place and did not see a greater spotted eagle. But distances were very infuriatingly long. One time, I got a photo of a greater spotted eagle perched in a eucalyptus here and acted like I won a competition, despite hoping it would be so much closer.
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The year 2022 was marked by the presence of an ultra-rare form of the greater spotted eagle known as fulvescens- a pale and very distinctive morph. It showed up regularly to perch in the distance, giving me somewhat good views.
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The only time I ever saw the bird in 2023 was in January, with a distant nominate greater spotted eagle. I did not visit in December 2023.
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I waited for such a long time, and, finally, visited in December 2024, in my third year of university. I, as usual, started with the North Gate, and managed to reach the place far quicker than I used to.
I was cycling along the track at the North Gate on the 14th December when I saw a greater spotted eagle in one of the trees. I stopped my bike, and started my camera just as the eagle took off from its tree and lazily flew past at incredible range. I tried to get a photo, the eagle filling up almost half of my frame, when I realised that my camera stopped working!
By the time I fixed my camera, it was a mere dot in the distance. I vowed revenge.
I next saw the greater spotted eagle on the 16th December, when I finally managed to get photos of two eagles in flight- including one of the rare fulvescens morph, which had by now grown up and become darker.
I was overjoyed to see the eagles, but realised that had I been standing elsewhere, the image quality would have been incomparable. I had by this point began to strongly suspect that greater spotted eagles hunted in a weirdly specific area, and decided to investigate, as well as investigate reports of a pallid harrier in that area.
But none of my intensive searches produced any results despite several great photos of cranes and other wildlife. So the dots in the distance were all I had by then.
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I visited the North Gate again, and there was no eagle in the trees. The North Gate was bleak, and I was exhausted and tired.
A few days later, I cycled out to try and see the spotted eagles again, simply refusing to give up on such a massive rarity.
After getting my best-ever images of cranes feeding in the fields and seeing a greater spotted eagle mobbed by harriers in the distance, I was cycling along the Vistabella road when I noticed a raptor hiding in a eucalyptus tree. Despite immediately realising what it was, I spent a long time trying to confirm it, but the bird mercifully stayed put.
Eventually I found an opening in the ridiculously tall reeds to view the bird from, and with a smile realised that it was a greater spotted eagle trying to hide in that tree!
And it was close. Far closer than before.
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As I took photos, the eagle flew up and hid in the nearby eucalyptus forest.
I visited the North Gate for a third time, and for a third time I failed to see it there, and the North Gate was bleaker than it had ever been.
I skipped the Tuesday due to illness, and went out only on the 2nd January 2025, finally resolving to tracking down the bird in flight at any cost.
After getting spectacular views of ospreys and cranes, I circled in my usual areas and, after failing to see anything there at all, was returning along the Vistabella road when I noticed a greater spotted eagle hovering over the road. I rapidly accelerated and caught up with it. The eagle then turned left and began circling almost overhead and at low altitude. And, for the first time since I made a wish in 2021, I had a greater spotted eagle soaring overhead!
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As I took these photos, completely overjoyed, the eagle then ascended and began calling. And as it called, the dark eagle I saw earlier flew up to join it, and they together drifted off into the distance.
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My wish came true, and I then left. I’ll see them again in December 2025, and I’ll be interested in getting the dark eagle like this that time. But, a fact remains a fact, one of the rarest birds of prey in the whole world was circling overhead, studying me with interest :)
 

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