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IT TOOK 100 years, but finally a pair of White-tailed Eagles has begun nesting in Co Clare.
It has been confirmed that they are breeding near Mountshannon, in what is the first documented nesting attempt for the species in Ireland in over 100 years.
Nest building began in recent weeks, with the birds spending time in and around the nest site before laying eggs. The breeding pair are a four year old male and three year old female who were collected on the island of Frøya off the west coast of Norway and settled in the Mounshannon area in early 2011.
The White-tailed Sea Eagle was driven to extinction from Ireland in the early 20th century.
The pair was released in Killarney National Park, Co Kerry, as part of the White-tailed Eagle reintroduction programme, which was developed and funded by the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht in partnership with Golden Eagle trust. This the first known nesting since the reintroduction programme began.
The Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Jimmy Deenihan TD said:
I am delighted with this news after years of hard work by many on this project. We are working hard in my Department to protect and enhance our natural heritage and this development is a great boost.
Dr Allan Mee, project manager for the Golden Eagle Trust, described it as “a truly momentous event for Clare and Ireland”.
It seems a long time since we collected these birds as chicks from nests in the wild in Norway and to see them now nesting in the wild themselves in Ireland is the day we have all been waiting for. To see eagles back in Irish skies and now breeding in the wild after so long is wonderful.
He said the trust had hopes that the pair might try and build a nest but because the birds are young they didn’t expect them to breed.
The odds are stacked against young first-time breeders because they have no experience of nest-building, mating and caring for eggs and young. They have to get everything right to succeed. But so far so good.
Shane Casey, Biodiversity Officer for Clare County Council, said that it is important to remember that this is a very sensitive and critical time for the birds, “and as such we need to show some patience and responsibility, and let nature take its course unhindered”.
Norumm Myklebust of the Norwegian Institute for Nature Research (NINA), one of the Norwegian partners in the reintroduction programme, said that they are “delighted” with the news.
Although people may want to see the birds, they are warned that disturbance, particularly during the early stages of nesting when the birds are on eggs, would be detrimental to the pair’s success.
Dr Mee explained:
We are very conscious of the risk of disturbing the birds especially at this stage of nesting. Disturbance could result in the birds leaving the eggs unguarded for a period during which the eggs could be predated or be chilled or the birds could desert the site. We would caution people not to approach the nest area but instead avail of the unique opportunity to watch a nesting pair of sea eagles from nearby Mountshannon pier where a telescope or binoculars will be made available for viewing by the Golden Eagle Trust. Information on the birds, their ecology and conservation will be available.
Birds can live for 25-30 years and generally mate for life with adult pairs remaining within their home range throughout the year.
Fine Gael TD for Clare, Pat Breen commented: “The fact that a pair of the eagles has nested and laid eggs gives us great hope that this beautiful species can once again become a sustainable part of our ecosystem.”
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This is great news, however if anything happens to the birds we need to full force of the law with the largest possible fines levied on any fool that poisons or shoots them.,
Well don’t be angry if they start picking off slow children
Exactly what I was about to say Barry, couldn’t agree more.
Incredible news, delighted. Magnificent creatures.
Can we reintroduce brown bears and wolves?
Its hard to believe how recently bears were here. Uptill sometime before 1000AD by some accounts.
Would love to see wolves back so much but we really don’t have the habitat for them anymore. Scotland does but can’t see them going for it. Recent coverage on TV of the Yellowstone reintroduction was fascinating. Wild habitats really need apex predators, everything benefits (unless you’re an elk reading this).
PS the last Irish wolf was only killed in 1786.
Great to read this. Hopefully more will also set up nests. A piece of good news for a change :-)
everything crossed that this works! magnificent creatures!
Exactly Barry !
How long before there is the inevitable news story about the birds being shot or poisoned?
In fairness to the people of Clare these birds have been around for a while and by all accounts the locals are delighted with them. Those who oppose reintroduction in this country are very much in the minority so fingers crossed they’ll continue to thrive.
I hope we all feel the same and are happy that these great creatures are here, and not some idiots kill them because they’re “competition” for food
Here is a case of developing a national asset (for long term tourism) while helping the environment. Double win. Lets hope there is more projects like this.
Fantastic news, these are magnificent birds and deserve all the help and protection we can give them. Lets hope this pair are successful and maybe next year there will be additional pairings in other parts of the country.
Great news,at last,a good news story for these fantastic birds
Great news ….but will someone tell them they’re also known as sea eagles and get them to feck off out to sea! It’s hard enough to get a trout out of Lough Derg at the best of times without having to keep an eye out over your shoulder!!
I would have thought losing a trout to an eagle was an honour….
My cat was nearly dinner for a red kite, does that count?? :-D
Yeah red kites are largely non predatory carrion birds. I know you’re joking and all but it’s important not to let myths of what birds of prey eat persist. If you have a pet earthworm you may want to keep him in though…
I am joking, but I dunno about that, I regularly (3 times in the past month anyway) see red kites taking shots at crows – serious air battles, to be honest I’m amazed at how well the crows handle themselves, I’ve yet to see a Kite actually take a crow from the air, but the last couple of battles I saw went on for about 5 minutes each before the crows pulled off some top gun manoeuvres to get away from the kites. Amazing birds (crows and kites).
Crows harass all birds of prey, it’s in their nature and yup, battles can be spectacular, specially in breeding season as kites are defending territory. If you’re seeing a lot of this behaviour you may have a nest nearby. Golden Eagle Trust are always looking for details of sightings on their website, specially at this time as they need to identify nest sites for tagging. if you can give them GPS all the better but don’t go looking for the nest itself as you may disturb them. Here’s a link:
http://www.goldeneagle.ie/portal.php?z=129
Awesome! but I’m in Sweden :-D
Ha! But also yay for multinational kites!
no comments?
Check out our video of the Eagles on Lough Derg on clarevirtually.ie facebook page
Great news. Been lucky enough to photograph them up close in Norway (with an authorised guide) and its something else. Hope that seeing them here becomes as common. Nothin like seeing a flying barn door over the mountains.
It’s an awful shame that so many of our indigenous fauna have gone extinct for one reason or another.
In the case of the wolves I would love to see an animal that’s supposed to be here be reintroduced but I think there would substantial opposition to that and really, it would be hard to argue in favour of it considering it would be adding a potentially dangerous animal into the Irish landscape.
Cant see that Eoin, where zactly is it?
This is brilliant news for everyone in Co. Clare and also Tipperary. There will also be a huge boost for the tourism providers around Mountshannon as people will travel from all over the world to see these chicks. Preparations are already being made for the huge influx of people that these eagle chicks will attract. Anybody who wants can view the eagles with binoculars or telescopes but only from the pier in Mountshannon. There is a 250 metre exclusion zone around the whole island and boat captains are requested to respect this. Otherwise come and join in the celebrations as the locals welcome our newest and most welcome residents. Check out what’s available for visitors to Mountshannon on youtu.be/v9xHDCYrGI
Apologies the link on my comment is wrong. Here is the correct one.
youtu.be/v9xeHDCYrGI
Hope they don’t stray into Donegal
Fantastic news
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