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| What an incredible surprise - Owen Beaumont not only spotted the eagle but managed to get a shot of the bird |
The eagles are part of a re-introduction project overseen by the Roy Dennis Foundation and Forestry England.
All have been transmitter-tagged so that their movements can be tracked, via satellite.
As expected, they have begun wandering far and wide.
The eagle - likened to a "flying barn door" - seen over Grimsby was earlier spotted over Louth where birder Owen Beaumont managed to snap a photo which he posted on Twitter.
Below is a fascinating update from Roy Dennis on the project - specifically on the Grimsby-seen bird (known as G393).
"After a winter when all four birds were extremely sedentary, often living in very small areas and proving highly elusive, the recent longer days and warmer weather has prompted a clear shift in behaviour.
"All four of the birds have started wandering away from the places on the Isle of Wight, and Oxfordshire/Buckinghamshire that they favoured in the winter.
"Their satellite transmitters have proved invaluable in monitoring these movements and understanding how young White-tailed Eagles learn the landscape.
"Perhaps unsurprisingly G393, the male eagle who spent the winter in Oxfordshire and Buckingham, was the first to make a significant move.
"On 20 March, six months after arriving in Oxfordshire, he flew 71 km west, aided by a stiff easterly breeze, into Wiltshire and roosted in an area of woodland between Swindon and Malmesbury.
"Next day he was on the move again and headed north-west, flying at altitudes of up to around 500 metres towards the Severn Estuary.
"He paused for over two hours at Slimbrdge WWT reserve and then headed across the estuary to the Forest of Dean where he was seen by a number of observers, including Ed Drewitt who photographed the bird passing over his garden.
"That night G393 roosted in a wood beside the River Wye in Herefordshire having flown another 80 km during the course of the day.
"The young flew from Oxfordshire through Wiltshire, Gloucestershire and Herefordshire between 20-22 March.
"He meandered 26 km north along the Wye and the Lugg valleys in Herefordshire on 22 March, but then made a much more concerted move the next day, flying 97 km north-east to Staffordshire, flying at relatively low altitudes for much of the day, but apparently going unseen.
"He remained in Staffordshire until the morning of 2 April, favouring an area of woodland near Keele and making only short local movements during the day, likely feeding on carrion and rabbits - behaviour much more reminiscent of how he had spent the winter.
"After a week in Staffordshire, G393 headed east on 2nd April, skirting around the north side of Derby and then the south-west of Nottingham, again flying at altitudes of less than 200 metres.
"At 15:50 he was at an altitude of 400 metres directly over Melton Mowbray in Leicestershire and half an hour later he arrived in the North Arm at Rutland Water.
"Rutland Water is a place certainly capable of supporting breeding white-tailed eagles in the future, and G393 spent all day there on 3 April, favouring a small area in the North Arm near Barnsdale, where he was seen chasing Egyptian geese.
"In the Netherlands the goslings of feral geese are a favoured food item, and the birds are also capable of catching sick or injured adults.
"After a day at Rutland Water, a stiff southerly wind encouraged G393 to head north again at 10:30 on the morning of Saturday 4 April.
"He headed north-east through south Lincolnshire, and at 13:40 was just west of Mablethorpe.
"He then followed the coast north and was photographed by super-alert birder Owen Beaumont from his garden near Louth at around 14:25.
"Eventually G393 stopped 10 km south of Grimsby in an area of scattered trees and woods, having flown 80 km since leaving Rutland Water.
"After some short local movements, where it was seen over Grimsby, G393 resumed his flight north at 09:30 on Sunday April 5, crossing the Humber from Barton-on-Humber at 10:20.
"An hour later he was perched in a wood north of Beverley.
"From here it seems certain that he caught sight of another of the Isle of Wight birds, a female (G318), who was passing to the west, because the two birds then flew north together for at least the next 17 kilometres.
"While G318 paused in an area of woodland, G393 continued north into the North Yorkshire Moors and eventually settled to roost in an area of woodland in the east of the National Park having flown 123 km."
The data shows that G318 had also headed north on a similar track through Lincolnshire and then settled to roost just 10 km north-west of G393, in a wood between Grimsby and Caistor, having flown a remarkable 263 km during the course of the day.
* More on the project at:
http://www.roydennis.org/animals/raptors/sea-eagle/
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