High on my wishlist was Iceland’s and Europe’s largest eagle: the white-tailed eagle.

This eagle is a sea eagle and is slightly larger than the bald or golden eagle found in North America. The white-tailed is both an apex predator and a scavenger and fills a similar niche as the bald eagle in North America.

The eagle has become rare or extinct in parts of its Eurasian range because of human and other causes.

According to a recent BBC article, white-tailed eagles has been hit hard by the avian flu. The eagle has shown declines in Scotland over the past few years. The avian flu has also caused declines in birth rates of seabirds such as gannets and skuas.

In total we saw seven individuals in the Westfjords of Iceland. Most were far off, best seen through a scope. But there was one that I first I spotted flying parallel to the road, just below us along the shore of a fjord being pursued by two territorial redshanks. It was amazing to see this sea eagle in flight with the naked eye.