Tag Archives: white tailed sea eagles

TWO white-tailed sea eagles who arrived from Norway in June, were released over Lough Derg last week. The release is part of the second phase of the White Tailed Sea Eagle (WTSE) Reintroduction Program in which ten young birds were recently brought from into Ireland, managed by Dr Allan Mee of The Golden Eagle Trust) and Eamonn Meskell of The National Parks & Wildlife Services (NPWS). In total six birds were released have been released, since June, at Lough Derg and four at the Shannon Estuary close to the Limerick/Kerry border. The new release phase aims to build on the successful re-establishment of this once extinct species over a three-year period and to bolster the small existing breeding population here. Previously, 100 young white-tailed sea eagles were released in Killarney National Park in County Kerry between 2007 and 2011. Birds from these releases subsequently dispersed widely throughout Ireland with first breeding in 2012 on Lough Derg. Since then a small …

THE East Clare economy soared by an extra €500,000 last year, thanks to the lure of the first successful breeding pair of white-tailed sea eagles in the country in over a century. Clare County Council, which funds the popular White Tailed Sea Eagle Viewing and Information Point at Mountshannon Pier, confirmed the facility generated more than €500,000 for the local economy in 2014. A visitor survey conducted last year found that 43% of people reported the attraction of the sea eagles was the primary factor influencing their decision to visit Mountshannon. More than 10,000 people flocked to the shores of Lough Derg between mid-July and September 2014 to catch a glimpse of the eagles which had nested on Bushy Island, off Mountshannon Bay. A person from Northern Ireland on a sabbatical completed a visitor survey of those attending the viewing and information point. Dr Allan Mee of the Golden Eagle Trust acknowledged that some day trippers visiting Mountshannon last year …

More than 2,500 visitors have so far flocked to see the white tailed sea eagles from the newly installed viewing and information point in Mountshannon since it was officially opened on July 4. Located at Mountshannon Pier and funded by Clare County Council, the new tourism development features telescopes and information displays about Ireland’s largest and most spectacular breeding birds, including the first of the species to be born in the country in 110 years. The facility is being operated by the Mountshannon Eagle Group, Mountshannon Community Council and the Golden Eagle Trust and will remain open until the end of September. Speaking about this new facility, Congella McGuire, Clare heritage officer, said the introduction of the viewing point “has further increased public interest in the local White-Tailed Sea Eagle population, without disturbing them in their natural habitat”. She said since the birds first arrived in Mountshannon three years ago, the council has worked closely with the Golden Eagle Trust …

MORE  than 2500 visitors have so far flocked to see the White Tailed Sea Eagles viewing and information point  in Mountshannon since it was officially opened on July 4 last. Located at Mountshannon Pier and funded by Clare County Council, the new tourism development features telescopes and information and displays about Ireland’s largest and most spectacular breeding birds, including the first of the species to be born in the country in 110 years on Bushy Island in Lough Derg. The facility is being operated by the Mountshannon Eagle Group, Mountshannon Community Council and the Golden Eagle Trust, and will remain open until the end of September. Congella McGuire, Clare Heritage Officer said the introduction of the viewing point has further increased public interest in the local White Tailed Sea Eagle population without disturbing them in their natural habitat. “Since the birds first arrived in Mountshannon three years ago, the council has worked closely with the Golden Eagle Trust and the local …

LOUGH Derg could benefit if its status as a special protection area was upgraded to national park status in the future, according to a local white-tailed sea eagle conservation group. Chairman of the Mountshannon Eagle Group, Denis Minogue said he feels that Lough Derg, with its food source, has been a good attraction for the sea eagles, who have settled in Mountshannon, and have successfully bred another chick this season into the area. He said he would be encouraging the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht and the National Parks and Wildlife Service to look at upgrading Lough Derg’s status in the future, if a few more pairs of sea eagles settle in East Clare. “If we had three or four pairs, they may even make Lough Derg a national park. They know they have a food source, you could deal with nine or 10 pairs there. That would be fantastic and everyone would benefit,” he said. Dr Allan …

The Mountshannon white-tailed sea-eagle pair, Saoirse and Caimin, has welcomed a new addition to their feathered clan, as the first white-tailed sea eagle chick is born in East Clare under the national re-introduction programme this year. The Golden Eagle Trust has confirmed that the sea eagles had been minding two eggs in their Mountshannon nest for over a month and, two and a half weeks ago, they believe the eggs hatched. One of the chicks has survived and the Trust confirmed this week that the surviving chick is doing well. The pair created history in 2013, when they reared the first chicks to fly from a nest in Ireland in over 100 years. A new nesting pair at Glengarriff was the first pair to hatch chicks this year, in late April. Unfortunately, the breeding efforts of this pair and a pair nesting in Killarney National Park failed, probably due to a combination of poor weather and inexperience. The East Clare …