WHITE-TAILED SEA EAGLE

An old friend of mine, a gifted nature photographer who is often roaming in the Swedish forests, asked if I would post sightings of white-tailed sea eagles (haliaetus albicilla) around Calvesgarden. Being somewhat nearsighted and in the habit of forgetting my glasses, I can’t claim with certainty to have seen one this year but some of my neighbours have observed them many times during the winter and spring. The closest known eagle’s nest sits in an old beech tree in a wood on a neighbouring island forty kilometres from here. A couple of sea eagles have stayed there all year round for the last three years.

Big in any company with a wingspread of up to two and a half metres, it looks like the proverbial flying barn door in flight. It’s easy to spot when it flies low over the narrow Wolf sound hunting for fish and water birds. Last month, four sea eagles were seen foraging on coots and water birds down the coast. They have been busy breeding since early March when it was very cold around here, close to minus 20 C some nights. The eaglets should be fledged soon, I think. One of our fine local wildlife photographers, Bo Tureby, has taken this photograph of an old sea eagle, catching the stroke of the wings most beautifully, I think.