White-tailed sea eagles, 4 in number, were released back into the wild at Lough Derg Co. Tipperary, on Sunday last, by the National Parks and Wildlife Service. The release is part of a project to increase the sea eagle breeding population here the Irish republic.
A further two birds are expected to be released in the same area later this month, while four will be released further down close to the Shannon estuary.
The young eagles, collected from nests in the wild, were flown in from Norway last June with 6 held in purpose-built flight cages at Lough Derg.
White-tailed Sea Eagles are our largest birds of prey and one of the most impressive birds to observe in action in the wild. This release is seen as critical in helping support the existing population.
The first breeding pair took place on Lough Derg on the Co Clare side in 2012. Since then some thirty-one chicks have been fledged from a small breeding population of possibly 10 pairs, since their initial introduction; with one female bred at a nest on Lough Derg, now herself having produced chicks of her own, thus marking the birth of the first Irish-bred, white-tailed sea eagle.
This release of the birds comes under the Irish White-Tailed Sea Eagle Reintroduction Programme, which is a long-term initiative to re-establish once again the species here in the Republic of Ireland.
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