The encounter occurred recently during an organised boat trip in Poole Harbour for children, which was being hosted by charity, Birds of Poole Harbour, as part of their ‘Young Birders’ club.
(Image: Mark Wright)
The young eagle known as ‘G834’ is the first white-tailed eagle to fledge from a wild nest in Dorset since the 1700’s and is a direct result of the popular reintroduction program that’s currently being carried out from the Isle of Wight by Forestry England and the Roy Dennis Wildlife Foundation.
During the boat trip, the group of budding young conservationists got to observe and study G834 eating a flatfish on the mudflats in a quiet corner of Poole Harbour and for most of them, it was the first time they’d ever seen a white-tailed eagle.
(Image: Joe Scorey)
Birds of Poole Harbour Project organiser Sam Ryde said: “This was such an important and historical moment.
“For many people here in Dorset and Poole Harbour white-tailed eagles are a new-comer due to the fate they suffered all those years ago. However, kids will now grow up in Dorset with white-tailed eagles having always been a part of their local heritage, which they’ll want to continue to protect and conserve.”
White-tailed eagles are the largest bird of prey species in the UK with a wingspan of up to 2.5m and their diet consists mostly of fish, waterbirds, carrion and small mammals.
The parents of G834 were released from the Isle of Wight in 2020 as part of the licenced reintroduction and spent the first few years of their lives exploring the UK.
The adult pair formed in spring 2023 and spent the rest of that year and the whole of 2024 establishing their territory in Dorset, before successfully breeding in the summer of 2025.
All of the eagles are fitted with small satellite trackers so the project team know exactly where they are at all times.
Young conservationist, Joe Scorey, said: “It had been a busy first hour on the boat trip with bustling mud flats of Avocet, Dunlin and black-tailed Godwits. We had been enthralled with hundreds of birds zipping past the boat.
“When all of a sudden a shout from the back of the boat broke the cold winter air, ‘white tailed eagle’.
“A mad dash to find a viewing point broke out, binoculars scrambling to find the bird then all of a sudden a hush spread around the boat all captivated by the sheer size of the bird.”
Harry Bridle, another conservationist added: “To see eagles in the wild after an absence from the region for a few hundred years and seeing them successfully thriving shows that reintroductions are great and should be encouraged more and more.”
Tim Mackrill from the Roy Dennis Wildlife Foundation concluded: “It is really encouraging that the eagles are fitting into the landscape in southern England so well, and that members of the public get such a thrill from seeing them.
“We hope that seeing these majestic birds back in southern England demonstrates to people that it is possible to restore nature and lost species.”