Booted Eagle reappears in Cornwall

A Booted Eagle has been showing to crowds of birders in Cornwall after going missing for months.

Only local birders managed to see the pale-morph immature eagle as it toured west Cornwall in mid-October 2024. Initially found in the Land's End area on 10 October, some lucky observers caught up with it the next day.

It was assumed to have left Britain after a sighting further east in Cornwall at Grumbla on 19 October, but the report of a pale-morph Booted Eagle at Marazion on 12 January this year gave keen birders another rare chance to see this mega raptor on British shores.

The pale-morph Booted Eagle has been making reliable appearances near Penzance, Cornwall, in the last few days (Adrian Lea).

Rare raptor

Photographs of the Marazion bird indicate that it is the same individual as that seen in October, so it has likely been lurking unseen in the county for several weeks. Unlike last time, the bird has proven relatively easy to see, favouring the area north of Marazion since the initial sighting, and seemingly roosting there overnight.

Booted Eagle currently resides on Category D of the BOU's British list. Birds in this category are not included in the official list total as there is reasonable doubt as to whether they have ever occurred in a natural state.

However, last year's sightings have not been formally assessed yet and are likely to see the species upgraded to Category A, which lists species that have occurred in an apparently wild state.

Booted Eagle in Britain

A partial summer migrant to southern Europe, North Africa and the Middle East, Booted Eagle primarily winters in Africa south of the Sahara Desert. However, some birds in southern Europe are resident. There have been a number of reported sightings in Britain over the years, including the widely seen bird that roamed Britain and Ireland in 1999 and 2000 and reached Category D, as well as several strong claims without photographs from lone observers.

Along with a dark morph seen in Cornwall and on the edge of the Chilterns last year, the pale morph currently in Cornwall is a strong candidate for offical acceptance as a wild bird, having arrived in the country last autumn and being seen and photographed by many observers.

• Keep up to date with the latest whereabouts of the Booted Eagle at www.birdguides.com/sightings or via the BirdGuides app. New users are entitled to a one-month free trial.