White-Tailed Eagle mobbed by two Red Kites

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White-Tailed Eagle mobbed by two Red Kites
White-Tailed Eagle mobbed by two Red Kites

In N Norfolk on Tuesday I was hoping to see the White-Tailed Eagle currently residing in our area. There were some sightings by others but sadly not for me on that day. I did however see some Kites (already posted). I was happy with them but thought I could do better so went out again on Wednesday, back to the same spot to try and get some more shots of them.
However.... 'what is that huge looking silhouette rising from the trees??.... It can only be one thing, surely.'
There it was, in the distance in an area where early evening the previous day a Warden from Holkham Estate told me he had seen in it 30 mins earlier. I took a few very very distant shots not knowing if I would see it again. On inspection, it was carrying 'lunch' in it's talons (a pigeon I think) and was being mobbed by Kites and Gulls were joining in too! Perhaps it had stolen the Kite's prey?
I had read somewhere that the best way to spot birds of this magnitude is to look for their shadow rather than the bird itself and sure enough you could always see the eerie sight of this very large shadow gliding across the trees even though the bird itself went in and out of view.
I decided to take my chances and took a footpath alongside the woods in the optimistic hope that it may reappear.
As if on cue it glided out still being harassed by two Kites, and presumably having devoured its prey.
By chance it circled around slowly towards me and I was able to get a good number of decent shots as it circled above me, climbing with each revolution without barely a beat of its massive wings. I even managed to record a video of it on my phone. It climbed higher and eventually headed off SW soaring above, going at its own pace.
The ring clearly shows the ID G393 which I believe is one of the IOW reintroduced birds.

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Taken on: August 5, 2020
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Camera: Canon EOS 5DS R, f/4.0, 1/1000 sec, 600mm, ISO 200 (more info) (hide info)
Camera: Canon EOS 5DS R
Lens: EF600mm f/4L IS II USM
Aperture: f/4.0
Exposure Time: 0.001 sec (1/1000)
Focal Length: 600mm
ISO: 200
Exposure Bias: +2 EV
Flash: Off, Did not fire
Exposure Program: Aperture-priority AE
Exposure Mode: Auto
Metering Mode: Partial
White Balance: Auto
Color Space: sRGB
Software: Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic 12.0.1 (Macintosh)
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