The life, death and struggles of the White Tail Sea Eagles (on Lough Derg)

© clarevirtually.ie

The beautiful body of water that is Lough Derg on the mighty river Shannon woke up this morning to the reality that it had lost one of its treasures. One of the White Tail Eagle Chicks had been found dead on the shore of the lough in Ballinderry Co. Tipperary. If it had died naturally it would have been sad, but to hear that it had been shot was horrific. It appeared to have been at close range too as its body was peppered with several dozen lead shots from a shotgun cartridge. Bad enough that it was shot, this was compounded by the fact it was left to die. The chick had been injured but not fatally. A broken wing and leg left it unable to fly, and subsequently unable to feed it starved to death, it’s thought over 3 weeks. All that time the poor creature would have been in a lot of pain.

The story of Lough Derg’s Eagles starts in a reintroduction scheme by “The Golden Eagle Trust”which is an Irish NGO. The White Tail Sea Eagle had been extinct in Ireland for over 100 years. Hunting pressures and habitat destruction had brought an end to these magnificent raptors hunting over Irish seas and land.

The White Tail reintroduction scheme sourced Eagle chicks in Norway (where they live in abundance), in 2006/7 and brought them to Kerry where they were released into Killarney national park. The rocky and steep mountains there are ideal places for Eagles to live, breed and hunt. Being wild creatures though once they’re released they can fly anywhere. This they did, and two of them, a male and female luckily (for us), came to Lough Derg.

They built a nest in 2012 on a small island on Lough Derg near Mountshannon in Co. Clare called Bushy Island. The island is well named as it is totally over grown and covered in live and dead trees. More importantly it’s uninhabited which is important for nesting White Tail Sea Eagles. The tree that the two Eagles picked to nest in was on a part of the island that was visible from Mountshannon pier. This made it a perfect spot for people to watch, from the pier, the comings and goings at the nest. Unlike visitors to Dingle who have to go out on the sea (naturally), to get a glimpse of “Fungi” the Dolphin, in Mountshannon, you could sit in your car if it was raining, and with the aid of binoculars or a spotting scope look directly into the nest.

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There was great excitement locally, and nationally when the news broke that the two eagles may have an egg or two that might hatch Ireland’s first White Tail Eagle chick in over 100 years. People flocked (excuse the pun) to the small Co. Clare town and looked out over the 500 mts of water to see the nest, all the time hoping that a little fluffy feathered head might appear over the edge.

© clarevirtually.ie

Unfortunately it wasn’t to be and early in May the nest failed. Normally either the male or female eagle would usually be on the nest. The first sign of trouble was when both parents were off the nest for an hour. The appearance of Grey Crows near the nest at the same time heightened the fears of everyone. An investigation the next day confirmed that an egg had been in the nest but all that was left was a few fragments of shell. The disappointment was palpable around the pier in Mountshannon, and people who had been there every day for 6 weeks found it hard to believe. It was all over and as the news broke visitors stopped coming to the pier, and the interest waned.

The male and female Eagle stayed around Lough Derg even though the nest had failed. Whilst the focus was no longer fixed on the nest it was still possible to see both Eagles regularly taking fish from the lough. Many of the local fishermen and hunters who spend time on the lough told tales  of the birds “eyeing” up their catch. I heard one story from a duck hunter who shot a duck and when it hit the water an Eagle swooped down and took it. These White Tails are opportunists too and will eat any carrion but their favourite is fish.

© Nigel Beers-Smith

In March 2013 all the locals in Mountshannon waited with bated breath to see would the Eagles return to the nest on Bushy Island. Indeed they returned to the island alright, but to a different tree. Nigel Beers-Smith (a wildlife photographer and film-maker), took up station on the pier and filmed every move the Eagles made.  He filmed hours and hours of footage; Huge events like the mating of the Eagles on the top branch of a tree, the nest-building, the male and female catching fish and feeding each other, and when hatched, the first shot of a White Tail Chick raising its fluffy feathered head over the side of the nest. This event created huge excitement on the pier, and in the press as the two chicks were Ireland’s first to hatch in the wild in over 100 years.

© Nigel Beers-Smith

Things went wrong fairly quickly. Something spooked both the male and female parents, and they both abandoned the chicks in the nest and stopped bringing food to them. Panic ensued in Mountshannon and after three days when neither parent had returned to feed the chicks it was decided to go out to Bushy island and hand feed them. This continued regularly for several weeks until the male parent eventually returned with food for the chicks. The female didn’t return to Bushy though until the chicks eventually fledged and left the nest. A huge sigh of relief went around Mountshannon when both chicks were spotted out, with either the mother or father, learning how to fly, catch fish, and start to fend for themselves.

© Nigel Beers-Smith

As the Summers bright days faded to Autumn the two parents made the chicks move on and range out across the Lough and surrounding countryside themselves. The juveniles regularly visited their parents though, and one day last September one of the chicks came to Mountshannon Harbour, and perched in a tall conifer forty feet up over the car park. I managed to get some photos and video that day, and it was thrilling to see a White Tail Chick so close, and the interest it was showing at the comings and goings in the harbour. It eventually flew silently off across the lough in search of its parents or maybe on a fishing expedition.

During last winter there were reports from local, fishermen, hunters, walkers and householders, of sightings of one or more of the chicks or the parent birds. There were sightings on Lough Derg and the surrounding countryside, from Woodford in Co. Galway to O’Callaghans Mills in Co. Clare the birds had been spotted. This is no surprise because with a wingspan of 8ft in an adult, they could fly a long distance in a short length of time. The Eagles could range out for many miles, but these ones seem to like Lough Derg.

© Nigel Beers-Smith

Maybe because the fishing is so good. I wish I was as successful at catching fish as the eagles are.

© Nigel Beers-Smith

Last Tuesday morning I had some free time so I decided to go to Mountshannon and see if any of the White Tails were about. As soon as I arrived I spotted a solitary Eagle flying South along the Lough towards Ogonnelloe and maybe further towards Killaloe. Then I saw both parent Eagles flying together over Mountshannon Bay in what looked like an “aerial ballet”. It’s a spectacular sight to behold and is worth waiting on the pier to see. It was then I heard from one of the other people there about the death of one of the chicks. The wanton destruction of one of Mother Nature’s most precious gifts to Ireland.

© clarevirtually.ie

Please respect these fantastic and beautiful Eagles. They deserve a chance at life.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-RFDkgPoRj0

Thank you to Nigel Beers-Smith for allowing me to use some of his photos. Please visit his website http://www.irelandsfirst.com and buy a DVD or his beautiful book “Ireland’s First in 100 Years”

Please support the work of The Golden Eagle Trust as without their expertise and the work by project manager Dr. Allan Mee there would be no White Tail Sea Eagles in Ireland.