A white-tailed sea eagle which was recently released by Minister for the Environment John Gormley in Killarney National Park has been sighted preying on the Skellig gannet colony off the Kerry coast.
Kenneth Roddy, a ferry company operator licensed to serve Skellig Michael, described how he saw the tagged bird this week off the rock. "It was pretty impressive, as it had a run-in with one of the pair of peregrine falcons nesting out there," he told The Irish Times.
"We witnessed an aerial battle over the monastery on Skellig Michael, and we then saw a flock of hundreds of gannets on the Little Skellig taking flight simultaneously," Mr Roddy said yesterday.
"You'd never see that, and we can only imagine the birds were trying to chase the predator away."
En route to shore, Mr Roddy and his passengers saw an injured gannet lying on the rock with blood on its chest. The Skelligs are classified as specially protected areas for birds, while Skellig Michael is a Unesco world heritage site.
The Department of the Environment, which is preparing a new management plan for Skellig Michael, confirmed that the bird's presence in the area had been reported this week.
About 15 white-tailed sea eagles were released by Mr Gormley in Killarney National Park last month after an absence of 80 years in the area. The species died out in the early part of the last century on the west coast due to excessive shooting and trapping.
The imported birds were bred in Norway, and taken to Ireland in June with Department of the Environment funding, under a partnership initiative.
Golden eagles have also been re-introduced in Donegal and red kites in Wicklow under the partnership initiatives, involving the Golden Eagle Trust, National Parks and Wildlife Service and others since the year 2000.
Gardaí have been investigating the shooting of a red kite found dead in Co Wicklow last month.
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