Hen Harrier Presentation Now Online

The introduction to Hen Harriers in Ireland, presented to the community of Duhallow, is now available to watch in full on "The Hen Harrier" page of this website.

Hen Harrier Day in Newmarket

Hundreds of school children from Banteer, Lyre, Kilcorney, Ballydesmond, Meelin and Donoughmore, all areas immersed in Hen Harrier habitat and territories, attended one of the most important days of the Duhallow Hen Harrier Satellite Tracking project - Hen Harrier day in Newmarket.

This gathering brought the next generation and custodians of the landscape in Duhallow closer to the Hen Harrier, and the Hen Harrier closer to the people.

Barry O'Donoghue introduced the school children to the Hen Harrier and talked about its ecology including the spectacular food passes and sky dancing! All of this is on the doorstep of  the people of Duhallow and just waiting to be enjoyed!

The schools are invited to become involved on the satellite tracking project by contributing writings and images of what the Hen Harrier means to them. By logging onto this blog, they will be able to follow the progress of the satellite-tagged young harriers as they make their way in the world from August 2012 onwards. So that we know which bird is which, the two male and two female harriers will be christened by the local school children!

The live presentation will be uploaded to the blog shortly so keep checking for updates!

The Arrivals (1)

They're here! So it begins!

Opening the boxes to reveal the state-of-the-art Microwave Telemetry Satellite Tracking Devices

The beginning almost feels like the end, given the incredible amount of hard work already completed in getting this project up and running and the PTT devices into my hands! A major thank you to all involved at the early stages, in particular Katie Crowley, Theresa Collins, Maura Walsh and the Environmental Working Group and Board of Directors of IRD Duhallow for funding the purchase of these tags. Of course the tags would not be of much use without the financial support of NPWS to download the important data that they will generate. Particular thanks are due to Dr. David Tierney and Dr. Ciaran O'Keeffe. The support of NPWS staff on the ground in Duhallow is very much appreciated, in particular Tim O'Donoghue, Dr. Tim Burkitt, Frank McMahon and Pat Dawson. Aidan O'Donoghue and Dan O'Loughlin are the dynamic duo of Duhallow in their search for Hen Harrier nests now. Please let us know if you see any Hen Harriers and it will help us in our quest.

Major thanks to Microwave Telemetry (USA), CLS (France) and Stephen Murphy (England) for technical support and advice.

Without the community of Duhallow, this project would not have been possible at all. The interest, hope and support inspired by the people there has brought this project to the fore!

Likewise, I'm sure when the birds are tagged and start moving to distant lands, we will build our community of supporters and people involved in this project. Duhallow is just the starting point...or will the tagged harriers return again?!