They eat mainly fish and water birds so your is probably safe. The hope is the six on the IOW will breed. Who knows they may be the new red kites - familiar to any driver on the M40 and now spreading across the southern counties. Sea eagles will stay on or near the coast (there’s a clue in the name!) so the chances seeing one round here are pretty low. Caroline, I saw one for the first time on Canna in the Inner Hebrides. I was on a cliff top and a pair of them were circling above then came in to land on their nest right below where I was standing. Unforgettable! Yes they are quite big and have formidable talons. Sheep farmers up there have been very negative about them and insist they have carried off more than a few lambs. The evidence is inconclusive but it wouldn’t be a surprise they were occasionally tempted to vary their diet. The farmers now get offered compensation to make sure they don’t start doing what grouse moor operators are doing (allegedly) and illegally wipe out any raptors over their land.
Jonathan Callaway ● 2615d