A Celtic Englishman

Forgive me but it has been too long since my last post!

Enjoying the breeding season, watching wild sky dancing displays and now food passes to females sitting tightly on eggs.

But what a note to begin blogging on once more:


It looks very much like our friend with the orange wing tag (born in England) that has spent the past few winters in Wicklow is hanging out in Wales, with a close friend of the female type!
It is a great feat to have such a good picture of an individual bird, considering he spreads across the Irish Sea! Movement across the Irish Sea is something that has become apparent through the Irish Hen Harrier Winter Survey and records of wing tagged birds from Ireland travelling to Britain and vice versa. This all adds great weight to the metapopulation concept whereby what happens here in Ireland can affect populations abroad and what happens abroad can affect Hen Harriers in Ireland.

Thanks to those who have reported him in Wicklow over the winters and our colleagues in England and Wales for reporting sightings of this fine bird. Now we know he is in breeding mode in Wales, we have gone a long way towards answering the burning question of where he spends his summers after leaving Wicklow each spring!

See a previous post on this blog dated 19 November 2013 about this particular individual, included in the post entitled "Little E - A Born Survivor"...now wouldn't it be something to also find out where Little E is!

We look forward to seeing him and hopefully some of his young ones back in Ireland this autumn/winter!
Beir Bua!

November 2010, Wicklow

November 2012, Wicklow