I have been lucky to work with Forestry England and Roy Dennis Wildlife Foundation who are running the White-tailed Eagle #Recovery Project on the Isle of Wight, where they are bringing back this magnificent bird to southern England. So far, we have had mutiple graduate students earning their degrees by working on this project data 🦅
In a recent visit to the project site, something interesting was discussed, as how these eagles use specific areas more frequently, similar to terrestrial mammals using corridors for movement. Interestingly, one of their main corridors is between Dover (near us at Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology, University of Kent) and Calais in France—one of the shortest distances between the two countries.
The route, approximately 40 km, takes the eagles less than an hour to traverse. The visibility of the land on either side of the strait allows these birds to see and plan their journey.
However, this is also a route used by humans migrating across the sea to the UK in dangerous boats. Both humans and eagles recognize this as the shortest distance.
If you are keen to know more about these birds and the amazing work to monitor them, do not miss the blogs here:
https://lnkd.in/es27WZFN
White-tailed Eagles snatch fish from the surface of the water (photo by Mike Crutch)
Thanks to Stephen Egerton-Read for showing the eagles
