White-tailed Sea Eagle in Cumbria and SW Scotland

An immature White-tailed Sea Eagle has today spent the afternoon on the Solway Firth, being seen on both the Cumbrian and Dumfries-shire side. No one has reported it bearing any colour rings, but it does not have any wing-tags. It is most likely to be an individual from the Fife reintroduction scheme, where over two years, almost 30 have been released.

The RSPB have kindly supplied the following information relating to 2008 releases

''Due to a temporary hiccup in the licensing process, we have not been permitted to fit wing tags to any birds this year. Instead all sea eagles are fitted with a colour ring on the left leg. The colour combination shows that the bird was born in 2008, A9 is for Scottish birds and the 2-digit number below (e.g. 96) identifies the bird''