Short-Toed Eagle.
News broke on Saturday 31st May of a Short-Toed Eagle in Dorset arrangements were put into place to be on site for first light the following morning in the hope the bird would still be there having been seen roosting in a favoured tree til at least 9.15 pm .
Sunday morning soon came around and after an uneventful journey i arrived at Morden Bog NR at 4am where there were already a large number of cars parked up , looks like we all have the same idea , as soon as i get out of the car i could hear Nightjar " churring " fantastic start and on my walk to the promised land i could hear several more and i saw 2 birds at different points on the walk to the Eagle.
Light was still breaking on my walk and there was quite a mist , i heard info of roughly where the ST Eagle had roosted the previous night now all i needed was the light to fully lift and hope it is still there ,it was a bit concerning at times as the trees begun to appear from the darkness and mist begun to raise and blanket out the view.
Just look at that eye.
Eventually the trees were viewable and it wasn't long before the call went out , and we were all enjoying good scope views and although quite distant the most striking feature were the magnificent large yellow eyes , this stunning bird was causing the local resident birds some disturbance , Green and 2 Great Spotted Woodpeckers along with Coal Tit , Blackbird and Mistle Thrush all at some point came very close to the Eagle and were clearly agitated by its presence , however several Carrion Crows did mob it every so often.
Distant front view of the Short-Toed Eagle.
I watched this bird from the hill for a good 3 hours and other birds of note from here included Hobby , Meadow Pipit , Dartford Warbler and approx 25 Med Gulls . Other birders started to wander off to try and get closer views and i did the same which proved very successful as i bumped into a local birder who showed me a great vantage point which was far enough away as not to disturb the bird but give me some great views .
Short-toed Eagle.
I had some really stunning views of this bird and this was a fantastic bird to add to my British list , i also saw on this part of the reserve displaying Tree Pipit , Stonechat and Nuthatch , a really great birding session and after approx 5 hours i then headed off to have a well earned breakfast and cuppa , i will definitely visit this reserve again in the future.
Displaying Tree Pipit.
Coal Tit
One of many Med Gulls
