Now I'm animalexic at the best if times, (I often have trouble telling badgers from penguins), but on way home this afternoon I saw a huge bird of prey on the side of the road - it stood about 1.5ft/2ft tall, had a white/grey chest and light brown wings and a brown head etc the beak was quite straight.
The bird was happily stood there watching the traffic, I wish I had taken a picture now :/
Any ideas what it could have been? I live on the south coast if that helps...
Was it carrying a child?
buzzard
I can confirm there were no children in its talons.
Buzzard?
Most probably a Buzzard.
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It was bigger than a buzzard I think...
Did I just see a golden eagle?
No.
Didn't look like the one in the pic, the beak was yellow and quite straight.
South coast of England? Buzzard definitely most likely, [url= http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/families/hawks.aspx ]see here for some other possibilities[/url].
Harris Hawk?
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Waaaay bugger than a Harris Hawk, I'm not kidding when I say it was over 1.5ft tall!
*edit* plus the Harris Hawk is much darker?
[url= http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-18352135 ]Golden Eagle Range[/url]
Unless you're posting from AD500 it probably wasn't a golden eagle
12 responses and no mention yet... Baby Robin?
taller than they look
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Gah ! B[b]r[/b]akes ! 👿
could it have been a kite?
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I have seen the same Golden Eagle 4 times in 12 days. seems to go down from musdale towards seil and then on to Mull.
buzzard sounds right from your description
Although it's not entirely clear, it looked a little bit like the one in the bottom left of this illustration:
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Although it's not entirely clear, it looked a little bit like the one in the bottom left of this illustration:
Which is what? If it looked like that it definately wasn't a Golden Eagle.
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It's highly unlikely to be a Golden Eagle. They are very scarce and tend to stay in the wilderness (in U.K) anyway.
Going to guess at female buzzard.
I think it says rough legged hawk or similar on that poster (I found slightly bigger version!)
No, you didn't. An eagle is like a flying barn door, they're properly, crap your pants, big up close. They aren't really known for sitting at the side of roads either.
Almost certainly a Buzzard, big variations in size and colouring, but 1.5 foot high and sitting watching traffic sounds about right.
Which is what? If it looked like that it definately wasn't a Golden Eagle.
Golden Eagle was said with a degree of irony, knowing full well it wasn't actually going to be one 🙄
This.An eagle is like a flying barn door, they're properly, crap your pants, big up close.
Kes?
Deffo a Buzzard, we them here, big imposing birds, but nowhere near the size of a Golden Eagle.
I've only ever seen a couple. One at the top of Glen Clova and a pair on Lochnagar. They were unmistakeable. I doubt you'd see them on the south coast by the road.
I think a Sea Eagle is even bigger, we saw a couple over the Lomonds once, they were massive.
Hmmmm... I'll settle for buzzard, but this was the biggest bloody bird I've seen outside of an Owl Sanctuary 🙂
I'm going Buzzard, they can be pretty big. I regularly see a pair sitting on a fence post watching the traffic at a busy roundabout on the M40.
Once out on the roadie one dropped out of a tree and glided along beside me for about 100m at head height before it landed on another perch. Fantastic looking thing.
Golden Eagle was said with a degree of irony, knowing full well it wasn't actually going to be one
Aye right. 😉
Not yet 🙂
It still doesn't sit right with me, it's close but not quite right
*edit* quick edit there Spin 😛
Sorry, edited after I saw your last post.
It's always a Buzzard. Especially if its near a road sitting on something.
Buzzard or Red Kite.
When you see an eagle, you'll *know* you've seen an eagle.
I saw some Golden Eagles walking on Felskinn about four years ago. Amazing birds! I've still to see one in Scotland. One day....
EDIT - The eagles weren't walking, I was! 🙂
knowing you Dan, it was one of these:
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Millhouse: the beak is the right shape and colour, but its fins look a little odd to me 😉
Possibly, but only if its an escapee from a private collection.
However, you'd tend not to confuse a Golden Eagle with anything else - Buzzard wingspan circa 1.4m Eagle circa 2.0 and Sea Eagle 2.5m. Saw a pair of Sea Eagles up close in Loch Torridon recently and they are absolutely humungous...
Here's a Buzzard and Sea Eagle together:
I've been lucky enough to see sea eagles both on Skye and Mull, it's a sight I'll never forget.
I thought I'd spotted a heron in Tesco the other day.
Imagine my disappointment when my partner pointed out it was actually a herring.
I heard there's a pelican outside the Tescos near us
Buzzards come in a large range of colours even within the UK, from the description i'd go with buzzard
Tourist Eagle (buzzard)
Rule of thumb: If you're not [b]sure[/b] you saw an eagle then you saw a buzzard.
On honeymoon I got stuck on a rock when a bloody massive sea eagle landed on the little cliff path from the beach bar to the bungalow we were staying in. The thing was proper eyeing me up like a snack. After 5 mins or so of crapping myself the bar tender chap called it over fed it some scraps and it buggered off. It was a known regular and semi tame. Got some great photos of it the next day....
Tourist Eagle (buzzard)
Get lots of this round here (Dunoon, Argyll). I've seen a golden eagle twice around here in 10 years, the first time was riding up behind the Loch Striven refuelling base with 2 mates. It was having its dinner in the culvert at the side of the fire road, until it heard us coming.
An eagle is like a flying barn door, they're properly, crap your pants, big up close.
Oh god yes, it was like a hang glider taking off, you could feel the wash from its wing beats. We didn't say a word to each other for a few mins, although we were all keeping an eye out if it came back for us for dessert! Then a buzzard flew over, which looked like a sparrow in comparison. Then we were sure.
Ive got an eaqualy ,almost,bizzare/ridiculous sighting! An Osprey! In Litlle Lever,Bolton.
I,m 90% sure...honest.
Ok,i`m also going to confess to seeing an Otter in the Irwell river. Am i having flash backs?
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Eagle Kite?
Buzzards are still cool. Golden eagles are too big tbh, I was lucky enough to spot one near Glenshee and even at a good distance it was freaky, seemed too big to be real. ropey special effects.
Spotted a lammergeier in the alps, that was even sillier, more like watching a hang-glider than a bird.
Golden eagles are huge .they stand 3ft tall hard to mistake one of those .The only bigger eagle in Britain is the White tailed sea eagle .They feed of lambs and runty council estate children
Saw a golden eagle at a CLA show once, bloody enormous, seemed to fly in slow motion and used a landrover as its perch.
Then it cleared off into the tallest tree around for miles and watched the crowd for the rest of the day 😯
No Golden eagles live round where I am - NZ. We used to have a Haast eagle here a few hundred years ago though (sadly extinct)- now that would have been a sight on the side of the road! Well over twice the size of any known eagle and the largest living 'raptor' of its day.
Ive got an eaqualy ,almost,bizzare/ridiculous sighting! An Osprey! In Litlle Lever,Bolton.I,m 90% sure...honest.
It's possible, we've seen them in Essex. They fly south from e highlands.
As for op, red kite is significantly bigger than buzzard, depending where you live it could be that. I don't know of any bird of prey with a straight beak though.
Marsh harrier is another vague possibility depending where you are, not known them to sit by roads though. Kites and buzzards do
I've seen eagles in France, on the limestone cliffs above Sixt near Samoens and I've seen two adult and a juvenile Golden Eagles coming down a glen in Skye; we had just come down from a wet walk on the Cuillin ridge and had stopped below cloud level on the glacial lip of a hanging valley when they came down the main glen, circling on the updrafts and passing within a rope's length of us at one point. We were so awed that nobody thought to get out a camera.
I think a Sea Eagle is even bigger, we saw a couple over the Lomonds once, they were massive.
Yup, nearly hit one in the car years ago on the west coast of Scotland, wing span was significantly wider than the car. Incredible sight.
[i]An eagle is like a flying barn door, they're properly, crap your pants, big up close.[/i]
I can confirm that, when they [s]explode out of[/s]swiftly take off from a wheat field about three feet away from you as you're riding along, buzzards can also cause a near crapping of the pants.
See lots of Buzzards where I live on the Wirral. Not sure why but there are loads of them and they are fantastic to see up close. This time of year I often run around the local Golf course as the light is disappearing and see them up close a lot, as well as a Barn Owl that often seems to follow me. Priceless
Saw some African Fish Eagles while out kayaking the Nile one year, wing span of over 2 metres , beautiful but terrifying bird. Some of the Nile perch they flew off with looked small child/large dog sized. So I can imagine how awesome a Golden Eagle must look in the UK. Shame there aren't any flying around down here in the West Country
I've had 2 close encounters with Sea Eagles, one wild camping out in North Uist and one sea kayaking round Soay. On Uist I was in a small gully taking a piss when one flew over my head about only a few metres above me, nearly pooped myself then. On Soay we'd just paddled into harbour by the disused shark fishing plant (which is eerie enough on its own) in completely still conditions when one took off from the shore whilst calling and proceeded to circle the bay for a minute or so to see if we were staying before buggering off back over to Skye. Amazing birds.
A buzzard nearly took my head off over the back of Kinver Edge once. I was riding along and it was in a tree just ahead of me, it took off but before the lift of its wings could counteract the force of gravity it was at head height, I had to grab the brakes and duck to miss it
[i]Ive got an eaqualy ,almost,bizzare/ridiculous sighting! An Osprey! In Litlle Lever,Bolton.
I,m 90% sure...honest.
It's possible, we've seen them in Essex. They fly south from e highlands.[/i]
Quite often what happens is that juvenile Ospreys fly up from Africa with other adults that are heading up to breed. The juveniles spot a bit of water they like the look of & think, 'ooh, that looks nice', & stay there all summer before heading back to Africa.
There was one on a fishing pond just outside Durham a few years ago, stayed for ages.
Surly faced shitehawk?
Talking of close encounters with sea eagles...took these from a boat off Skye last easter.
Like others have said, you can feel the down-draught from the wings when they fly close. Awesome creatures...
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It depends where on the South Coast, there has been an escaped Golden Eagle flying around near Hastings for over a year now. And beleive it or not a White Tailed Sea Eagle was spotted in Sussex last year, god knows where it came from or went, but the sighteing was seen by numerous twitchers on a RSPB site near Pulborough. So it could have been.
Lot of redkites around mid and even south wales. They feed them and you can go and watch. Ecologically questionable but pretty cool all the same.
captaindanger - MemberAs for op, red kite is significantly bigger than buzzard, depending where you live it could be that. I don't know of any bird of prey with a straight beak though.
*ding ding ding ding* We have a WINNER!
Having compared google images, I'm now confident it was a Red Kite - standing at about 2ft, it had very striking features which seem to marry up, most particularly its head and body markings (i'll concede on the straight beak, I was driving at the time!).
Soooooo thanks STW ornithological experts! Your help is appreciated
I saw another (the same?) Red Kite AGAIN today! On the same patch of grass next to the roundabout. This time it was walking around.
How bizarre!
...well I think so anyway...
Red Kite seem to be expanding their range very quickly. We saw them three times last summer over central Brighton. They're also carrion feeders so hanging round by the side of the road would fit - I've seen them standing on the hard shoulder of the M40...
Red Kite seem to be expanding their range very quickly
They used to be so common they were considered vermin - Shakespear described London as a city of Red Kits and Crows, so it doesn't surprise me they are flourishing now they've been re-introduced.
As for the the animalexic OP - standing by a road, tall, yellow beak. Could it have been a [url= 
]Pelecanidae?[/url]
[quoteIve got an eaqualy ,almost,bizzare/ridiculous sighting! An Osprey! In Litlle Lever,Bolton.
To see an osprey is a real treat and bloody rare, ospreys can be mistaken for hen harriers which are a very similar size and colour. Both birds are supercool though
I saw about 20 Red Kites on a ride in the Summer, Newbury area. They're very common around here.
I just saw abput 20 bald eagles on my way to work this morning.. we had 804 counted in Squamish this Salmon spawning season!
[url= http://www.piquenewsmagazine.com/whistler/volunteers-tally-804-eagles-at-annual-squamish-count/Content?oid=2446117#.UOoqew7r-Uw.facebook ]Squamish Eagle Count[/url]
[/smug]
I just saw abput 20 bald eagles on my way to work this morning.. we had 804 counted in Squamish this Salmon spawning season!
See- thats why Americans need semi auto weapons 😆
They used to be so common they were considered vermin - Shakespear described London as a city of Red Kits and Crows, so it doesn't surprise me they are flourishing now they've been re-introduced.
Certainly if you go round Princes Risborough and see them flocking everywhere, taking food scraps etc, its not surprising they were viewed that way.
@maccruiskeen I know, I'm hoping they replace the bloody Herring Gulls that keep us awake and empty our rubbish bins. 🙂
I've a picture with my big cock in my hands I'll see if I can find it and post it up. Not sure if it would be that but you never know.
On Friday I saw a Sea Eagle, Golden Eagle, Buzzard amongst other seabirds all stuffed in The Museum of Liverpool Albert Docks 🙂
I've seen them standing on the hard shoulder of the M40...
They're renowned hitchers....
This it ?
😀
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