Hopes are high that ospreys may nest again in Ireland after a gap of some 200 years, thanks to a reintroduction programme undertaken by the National Parks and Wildlife Service.
The announcement that nine ospreys have been released so far this year, follows news that the number of recorded corncrake territories, at 233, is the highest in 25 years, thanks to a separate National Parks and Wildlife Service project.
Ospreys are fish-eating birds of prey which are thought to have become extinct as breeding birds in Ireland more than two hundred years ago.
A small number of ospreys continue to visit the island as part of their migratory pattern. The reintroduction programme, now in its second year, involves NPWS bringing fifty chicks to Ireland over a five-year period with the aim of establishing a viable breeding population here.
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The birds are fitted with satellite tags so scientists may understand their migration pattern and support wider conservation efforts.
Ospreys based in north-western European countries including Ireland generally migrate to Africa for the winter months.
Data gathered from satellite tagging of last year’s ospreys confirmed this pattern last September. One of the birds left the southeast of Ireland on September 16th and arrived in Africa on September 21st – a journey of some 2,500 kilometres. The bird, known as 63E, left Ireland and travelled over sea to Portugal, and from there on to Morocco, sometimes at a speed of 32km per hour.
The ospreys were released in Dungarvan, Co Waterford, by the Minister for Nature Malcolm Noonan who said “reintroduction programmes like this are now an established part of our overall response to the biodiversity crisis”.
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