White-tailed eagles soaring in the skies over North Norfolk - perhaps in quest for breeding habitat?

                                                 

Norfolk ahoy!

THE sighting of no fewer than three white-tailed eagles over the Norfolk coast have prompted hopes that, before long,  the species could return to breed.

Because of Britain's largest raptor - with a 8ft wingspan - had become extinct, or close to it, by the mid-20th Century, but it is now on the increase after being re-introduce to islands off Scotland and, more recently, the Isle of Wight.

This month, two females and a male  have been 'prospecting' over the 25,000 Holkham estate in North Norfolk.

From satellite tags, the females are known to have been from Isle of Wight stock, with the male thought to be a wanderer from continental Europe.

With plentiful food in the freshwater marshes and an immense area of forest for roosting, much of Holkham provides ideal habitat.

A few years ago, there was plan by the Roy Dennis Foundation to reintroduce sea eagles to the Wild Ken Hill estate, also in North Norfolk, but this was scrapped in 2021 after farmers protested that their livestock, particularly piglets, might be at risk from predation.

However, research indicates that white-tailed eagles prefer natural food to farm livestock.