Eagles

5 places to see and hear eagles in the wild, in 5 countries from Norway to The Gambia: when each one peaks, where to go on your own, what it costs and what you will hear. Wild animals only, no zoos.

Best time, place by place

Where to go, north to south

• White-tailed eagles: Smøla, Lofoten and the TrollfjordNorway · Raptors · peak 1 Mar–15 MayThe eagle's yelping 'klee-klee-klee' duet from a nest crag, wing-rush of a 2.4 m bird taking a fish 10 m from the boat, gull and tern colonies, otters whistling in the skerries.
• Lauwersmeer in winter: barnacle geese, wigeon and sea eaglesNetherlands · Wintering waterfowl · peak 1 Nov–31 JanBarnacle geese yapping in a continuous chorus on the polder and the roar of 10,000 lifting at once; greylags and white-fronts honking in the dawn flight; wigeon whistling in the dark; eagles' yelps; the Dark Sky Park is genuinely quiet at night.
• Müritz: cranes, ospreys and sea eagles in summerGermany · Dawn chorus & song · peak 20 Apr–10 Jun and 20 Sep–31 OctCrane pairs duetting at dawn from the bogs, bittern booming, osprey whistles over the lakes, eagle calls, woodlark and nightjar on the sandy heaths at dusk, marsh frogs; in autumn thousands of cranes flying into Rederangsee.
• Bearded vultures and golden eagles of the EngadinSwitzerland · Mountain mammals · peak 15 Jun–30 SepSilence and wind — the recording is of the alpine air, chough flocks, marmots and the occasional whoosh of a 2.8 m wingspan overhead; the visual spectacle is the point.
• Tendaba — Bao Bolong mangrove creeks and Kiang West savannaThe Gambia · Wintering waterfowl · peak 15 Nov–15 FebFish eagles duetting across the Gambia river, the mangrove's clicks and splashes at low water, kingfishers and bee-eaters in the creeks, and Pel's fishing owl's deep hoot from the camp at night.

More: every animal and kind · what is on in October