 Last week two White tailed sea eagles fleged from their nest on an island on Lough Derg. This pair of juvenilles are the first sea eagels to be born in Ireland in over 100 years. I decided to head off to Mountshannon in East Clare to see if I could catch a glimpse of these majestic birds. On the quay I met with Nigel Beers-Smith who has been ensconced since mid february on the dock, monitoring, photographing and documenting the new lives of the new family. He is planning to wrtie a book about it and you can find out more about him and his efforts at www.whitetailedseaeagle.com I also met up with the charismatic wildlife photographer Michael Finn who has a huge expertease in wildlife photography. You can see some of his wonderful images at www.imagesofirishwildlife.ie. Unfortuatley I didnt catch a glimpse of the eagles after 3 hours. Nigel informed me that there is no set time or pattern to their appearance. They have been seen from 4.30 am untill 11 pm. The adult eagles have their favouite pearches, the male on the left of the island and the female on the right. The nesting location is in the middle of the island at the tallest tree. The eagles have been recorded taking 3ft pike a s prey. They also fish arounf the reed beds that surround the island. With a wingspan of 8m these birds are stunning and I hope to visit Mountshannon again to see the eagles.
3 Comments
 Dungarvin is a lovely seaside town in SE Ireland. Its tidal estuary is home to migrating populations of Brent geese in the Winter but it is a wonderful environment to catch some of nature's narratives.
Primarily I was fascinated by the Grey sea mullet at low tide who fed around the sand bars close to the quey. I photographed these fish,, allegedly hard to fish for due to their spookish nature, swimming around close to the quay.  I had a great experience this evening while trying once again to photgraph bats, this time near Kilruddery estate in Wicklow. THe bats were feeding at the tree edges and i lay in the field as they whizzed above my head. The bat is more maouervable then the bird and a few passes were inches from my prone torso. All in all very exciting
Earlier I had stumbled upon a couple of rabbits. Holding still the rabbits did not bolt and allowed me to photograph them in the dying evening light. Lovely bunnies.  Photographing bats is very difficult. A late night attempt tonight in whichI did capture a few fuzzy flying mammels but out often focus and cetainly not of a high standard. Time to get some tips, but maybe not from this guy below. i believe that these may be Dauberton bats due to a few indicators notably sighting, habitat and i could hear theirhigh pitched squeeks. Here is the lowdown on Irish bats from Bat convervation ireland Bats are mammals. This means that they are covered in fur, they have warm blood, they give birth (rather than laying eggs) and they suckle their babies with milk. There are over 1,000 species of bat worldwide, all in the Order Chiroptera. The greatest diversity of bat species is found in warm equatorial areas where there are fruit-, fish-, insect-, pollen- and even frog-eating types. In Ireland we have nine species confirmed as residents, all of which belong to the bat Sub-order Microchiroptera. All of the Irish bat species consume only insects and the nine residents belong to two Families – the Vespertilionidae (with eight species) and the Rhinolophidae (with one species). Until recently, it was thought that there were seven bat species in Ireland. The Nathusius’ Pipistrelle, a relatively common species throughout the rest of Europe, was discovered breeding in Northern Ireland in 1997. It has also been recorded by detector in the Republic. Around the same time scientists in Britain investigating the Pipistrelle (Pipistrellus pipistrellus) discovered that it was actually two different species that have since been named the Common and Soprano Pipistrelle. Both species are found in Ireland. In another new development for Ireland, a Brandt's bat (Myotis brandtii) was discovered in County Wicklow in 2003. It is still unknown, following this first discovery, whether the bat was a vagrant from the UK or Europe, or a resident. No further specimens have been confirmed since 2003. This bat is very similar to the whiskered bat (Myotis mystacinus) so it is possible that it has been mistaken for whiskered bats in the past. This brings to 9 the number of bat species confirmed resident in Ireland, with one additional species (Brandt's) possibly resident but unconfirmed.   Nestled amongst the Knockmealsown and Comeragh mountains the river Suir river overflows with wildness. The river slinks along its green weedy bed with lazy grace. The fly fisherman wade into its shallow depths, and immerses himself in this wildness to stalkrising trout. Bright twigs float by; casual journeymen Swans and signets glide across the water and run the small weir one by one like a waterpark ride. A male swan sits nonchalantly on a risen bank and preens his already immaculate feathers. A heron waits on a shallow stretch for a morsel. And then that dash of blue which is the kingfisher, a bird that waits for no man, the best dressed of the wild. The kingfisher always makes me smile. Nervous duckilings like little gold, wind up toys follow their parents to safe waters At night bats fly around your head. Small and exact in their manoevering they ingest the multitude of inse.cts from that fill the night air. The thrum of their wings fills the ear as they rush by, eager and hungry. The main prupose of a night visit is to search for the elusive river otter. As yet no signs of sprait of the otter; no trace of a holt to this eye.. So here are the fieldcraft tips for spotting otters. I hope you have some luck Fieldcraft How to detect an otter 1. Paw prints - 5 toes- teardrop shape 5cm 2. Holts in banks 3. Smell from spraint [ smells like jasmin tea ) 4. Prey marks. - Crayfish,crab single hole in it, leave tail of rat 6. Dog otter is territorial in large area. Has a number of females. 7. Otter hole in root system of tree every 200 m 8. To see an otter watch out for wind direction so they don't mell yo - wind direction off otter and blowing into your face Species identified * Grey squirrel * Kingfisher * Moorhen * Foxes { night mode!) * Heron * Swan * Trout * Dragonfly * Daddy long legs Below are what otter prints look like and what a holt could look like.
|
