Vibrant Visitor

Here's some snaps of a male Chaffinch. A garden commoner but not to be overlooked none the less. Arriving to gardens usually in their numbers, particularly in Winter months, they're not the ones to start feeder scraps and brighten up our tables with peaches, reds, greens and greys.

Sika's Shore

This is a female White Tailed Sea Eagle, the very species being reintroduced in Kerry at present as part of Ireland’s raptor reintroduction programme by The Golden Eagle Trust. A White Tailed Sea Eagle pair nested in Mount Shannon last year only to have their clutch fail, which is not uncommon in young inexperienced pairs. The pair has returned to the nest site in Mount Shannon already and it is hoped they will breed successfully this year. The White Tailed Sea Eagle has also been subject to cruel and fatal poisonings of late, despite education drives by the trust. This bird photographed is Sika, a captive Eagle at The Burren Birds of Prey Centre. Sika, while being flown this year, was joined by a wild White Tailed Sea Eagle much to the shock and delight of the centre’s falconers. It just goes to show despite circumstances these birds can survive here, as they have in the past, and are successfully branching out and establishing territories. It is a dream of mine and many others to see this majestic species thriving and plentiful once more. For more information on The White Tailed Sea Eagle or any of the three Irish raptor reintroduction programmes see www.goldeneagle.ie