BirdWatching: Bird Watching a White Tailed Eagle

Getting up close and personal with a white tailed eagle, also called a sea eagle, is an awesome experience. With an average wingspan of 244cm - that's nearly 8ft - they've been dubbed "flying barn doors" by the bird watching fraternity, and at the world's only live and direct viewing site in Mull, visitors can appreciate first hand the sheer size, power and beauty of these massive raptors.

A bird of prey that size has no natural predators to worry about, but human activity involving shotguns, poison and egg-stealing, collectively saw off the last of Britain's native sea eagles around a century ago. The last recorded native white tailed eagle was shot in Shetland in 1917, and to add insult to injury, it was a rare albino.

Fortunately, sea eagles survived in areas like Scandinavia and a reintroduction programme began in the mid 1970s, when imported Norwegian birds were released along the west coast of Scotland.

...it's a beautiful thing to see...