Golden eagles flying again to northern England

After years of absence, golden eagles are starting to undertaking again into England from the south of Scotland, resulting in hopes they may nest. Among the ones crossing the border in 2025 was once a tender male referred to as Talla.

Wildlife fanatic Ian Glendinning has noticed the United Kingdom’s 2d greatest chook of prey time and again within the Scottish Highlands, however he by no means anticipated to stumble upon one in his house county of Northumberland.

“It was the end of March and I was driving in a remote corner of the national park with a couple of friends and the rear passenger suddenly shouted out ‘what on earth is that?’,” he says.

“I looked over to my right and about 30 metres away there he was, sitting on a rocky outcrop.

“Before I may get my telephone out for a photograph it glided away, nevertheless it was once completely colossal, there was once simply no doubting what it was once.

“I would defy anyone not to be impressed seeing such a huge bird at close range.”

Talla is one in every of round 50 golden eagles residing within the Scottish Borders and Dumfries and Galloway.

Their resurgence is because of the paintings of the South of Scotland Golden Eagle Project (SSGEP), arrange when the inhabitants within the area had dropped to a trifling handful.

Since 2018, SSGEP has effectively translocated 28 juveniles, accrued at six to 8 weeks of age, and 15 sub-adult golden eagles between 4 months and 3 years from the Scottish Highlands.

SSGEP chair Michael Clarke stated: “Thanks to our satellite tagging, we can confirm that some are beginning to venture into Northumberland and further afield and these sightings reaffirm the importance of us extending our groundbreaking work.”

The birds have additionally visited the North Pennines and the Lake District, even travelling so far as the Forest of Boland in Lancashire and Nidderdale in Yorkshire.

“While it is too early to say if they are settling in these areas, it is a potentially exciting and significant milestone,” Mr Clarke stated.

Golden eagles had been burnt up in England and Wales by means of the mid-19th Century, principally because of persecution by means of those that noticed them as a danger to farm animals or sport birds.

Despite a temporary go back following the 2 global wars, when pushed shoots in large part ceased, numbers regularly declined once more with the remaining resident golden eagle in England disappearing from the Lake District in 2015.

The UK’s ultimate inhabitants was once then in large part confined to the Scottish Highlands and Islands, in particular in faraway, mountainous areas.

Dr Cat Barlow, CEO of the charity Restoring Upland Nature, which has taken SSGEP beneath its wing, stated it’s not unexpected to the birds “exploring in England”.

“In the first few years of life, the birds will go looking for new territory, looking for a mate, looking for new feeding grounds,” she stated.

“They’ll get up high in the sky and head for the areas that look interesting to them, usually those remote upland areas.

“They create a visible map of the place they have been and once they to find what they suspect is a great position, they will settle there and check out and draw in a mate.”

Welcoming a possible move south, she said: “I’m from County Durham myself and I’d love to look them again for excellent there.”

The charity has not too long ago got the Rothbury Estate in Northumberland; 9,500 acres of land which come with the Simonside Hills.

Mr Pratt hopes someday golden eagles will likely be provide there.

“It won’t be a rushed process and we’ll be consulting carefully, but the project in the south of Scotland has been such a success, people really love them.

“I want to suppose the similar may occur right here.”