Return of the Giants

Join me for episode 4 as I learn all about the return of Britain’s largest and most epic bird of prey to southern England…the White-tailed Eagle. 

This episode was recorded in front of a live audience at the launch of this podcast, at the Global Birdfair at Rutland, and I couldn’t have had a more apt guest to talk about this amazing project: Dr Tim Mackrill.

Tim was a local boy captivated by Rutland Water’s Osprey reintroduction by Roy Dennis and Tim Appleton in the mid-1990’s. Inspired and mentored by these two conservationists Tim has gone on to complete a PhD in Osprey migration and works with the Roy Dennis Wildlife Foundation on species recovery projects including Osprey translocations, and the Isle of Wight White-tailed Eagle reintroduction. 

We explore why this magnificent bird went extinct in the Middle Ages and why now is the right time to be bringing these apex predators back. We talk about the beginnings of the project back in 2019 and how the reintroduced birds have surprised everyone by breeding much sooner than expected, with six young successfully born in the wild to date.

We also talk about the fantastic work of the Osprey Leadership Foundation to empower our next generation of conservation leaders.