Thursday, January 04, 2007

Reintroducing white-tailed Sea Eagles to Kerry

One hundred years after becoming extinct in Ireland, the White-tailed Sea Eagle is set to soar again. Over a five year period starting in summer 2007, 15 chicks a year (sourced from Norway under licence) will be reintroduced to the wilds of Killarney National Park in Co. Kerry. Monitoring will take place after release. After five years it is hoped that the birds will begin to breed and spread out across the rich peninsulas, coast, windswept islands and deep bays of Kerry and West Cork.

The project takes its lead from other successful projects in Ireland and Scotland. Apart from the cultural and tourism benefits of having eagles back in Kerry, this project will help Ireland meet its commitment to maintain and enhance native wildlife under the Rio de Janeiro Convention on Biodiversity.

The project is being overseen by a specialist group coordinated by the National Parks and Wildlife Service, the Golden Eagle Trust and others.
Labels: , ,

The island of ireland

Once upon a time, and for 15000 years, ice a mile high blanketed Ireland. When the lingering Ice Age finally released and the Irish ice departed it left a landscape scoured. Across land bridges linking Ireland, Britain and mainland Europe plants and animals arrived to colonise the new lowlands, mountains and valleys. The world’s ice continued to melt, the sea levels to rise, and some 8000 years ago Ireland became the island we now know, accounting for just 0.01% of the world's total land area and the most westerly point of Europe.

Though at Alaskan latitudes, the country's climate is tempered, due partly to the neighbouring waters of the Gulf Stream and partly the prevailing southwesterlies that veering and backing make landfall on our sodden coast. These offerings from the Atlantic mean it is never too hot, never too cold. But without doubt it is wet. Rain lingers year round, never far away, though is most frequent in winter, the western counties and, inevitably, on the day of your parade.