Norfolk: Sea eagle favoured county during 2021 and 2022

Released on the Isle of Wight from an ongoing conservation project, the rare sea eagle was tracked travelling around the UK and to France, the Netherlands, Denmark and Sweden in his first two years after release.

Tim Mackrill, an ornithologist at the Roy Dennis Wildlife Foundation, said that while the birds disperse a long way in their first two years, this was the first eagle he had tracked which had crossed the English Channel and gone into mainland Europe.

A sea eagle was seen to favour Norfolk on his two-year, 10,000-mile journey around the UK and Europe (Image: SWNS)

During 2021 and 2022, the eagle was almost exclusively in Norfolk, sometimes straying into Suffolk.

This is where he lost a foot, which is thought to have been due to an electric shock or getting trapped.

He would have had to adapt his hunting method to be able to catch his prey successfully.

A sea eagle was seen to favour Norfolk on his two-year, 10,000-mile journey around the UK and Europe (Image: SWNS)

After venturing further afield again in the spring, the sea eagle travelled back to Norfolk in October.

The eagle was one of 10 birds from the conservation scheme to have visited the county. 

And Mr Mackrill believes we could see more sea eagles in Norfolk as the population establishes on the south coast and numbers build up. 

A sea eagle was seen to favour Norfolk on his two-year, 10,000-mile journey around the UK and Europe (Image: SWNS)

He said: "Norfolk does appear to be a really good place for the eagles and they do really like it."

The birds, which have a wingspan of over two metres, roam around wetland and coastal areas as their preferred diet is fish, water birds and small animals.

They often settle within 50km of their release site and this sea eagle is currently believed to be in Dorset.

Conservationists are working on reintroducing the species into the wild after it was driven towards extinction by pesticide use and persecution.