By Pamela McGowan

Last updated at 16:21, Thursday, 12 February 2009

The sighting of a rare white-tailed eagle in Cumbria this week has prompted a campaign for the bird to be reintroduced permanently.

Roy Armstrong, lecturer at the Centre for Wildlife Conservation at the University of Cumbria, who was one of the first people to spot the eagle

The majestic creature, also known as a sea eagle, was spotted in the Solway Firth on Tuesday morning – the first sighting of the majestic bird of prey in the county for 200 years.

Birdwatchers flocked to Bowness-on-Solway and Port Carlisle to catch a glimpse before it headed across to the Scottish side.

It is not known where the bird came from, but experts hope its visit will strengthen their case for a reintroduction scheme.

Dr Roy Armstrong, a lecturer at the University of Cumbria’s Centre for Wildlife Conservation, said there are already plans to launch such a breeding programme in south-east England.

But he believes this week’s sighting shows that Cumbria would provide an ideal habitat to support the birds.

“They want to reintroduce them down in the Suffolk area,” he said. “But what I would suggest is that Cumbria is even better.

“The estuaries here are perfect for them and they do prefer to nest in mountains and cliffs rather than trees.”

The white-tailed eagle was once the most common type of eagle in Britain, but they were gradually wiped out after being persecuted.

In 1975 they were reintroduced to western Scotland. In 2007 there were 42 confirmed breeding pairs in Scotland and an estimated 200 young birds in total across the country.

Dr Armstrong and his university team are already looking at other species, such as the beaver, which could be successfully reintroduced to Cumbria in the coming years.

He said this latest sighting pushes the sea eagle to the top of the list and they will now be pushing the relevant bodies to get behind them. They are also pursuing the Northwest Regional Development Agency for funding (NWDA). If such a scheme can be agreed, Dr Armstrong said the birds would bring huge economic benefits to the area, as they have for the Isle of Mull.

“They say the ospreys at Bassenthwaite bring in £1.5 million a year from tourism and this is much more dramatic. They are very rare and really charismatic,” he said.

Terry Pickford, of the Northern England Raptor Forum, added: “With a little focused vision and support from an enlightened society, there is no doubt the sea eagle could very easily be returned as a nesting species into Cumbria.”

It was hoped the eagle that was sighted on Tuesday would return to Cumbria yesterday.

As daylight arrived, eager birdwatchers returned to the coast but it was nowhere to be seen. At around the same time there was a reported sighting of an eagle, believes to be the same bird, near Dumfries.

Dr Armstrong said although it is unlikely this particular bird will return in the near future, others from western Scotland will spread further down the coast as numbers increase.

First published at 11:29, Thursday, 12 February 2009
Published by http://www.newsandstar.co.uk