Happy New Year! 14 HEN HARRIERS AT ONE ROOST! Heather and Miranda in Cork and Mayo. Irish Mail on Sunday Feature. 2013 round up.

Happy New Year to all readers and followers of the Hen Harrier Ireland blog!

So - who wants to do a roost watch? Please get out there and you could be rewarded with amazing sights like that in the photo below, taken by a contributor to the Irish Hen Harrier Winter Survey

8 of the 14 Hen Harriers at roost on 27 December 2013.  Are 7 females chasing that one male?! Photo by Paul Kelly

14 Hen Harriers in the air together at this roost!! That breaks the previous record of 12 birds at another roost - wonderful stuff!! How amazing is this?! Awesome. Why not get out there and watch your local roost or look for a new roost in your locality? Contact harriers@ahg.gov.ie if you would like to contribute to the survey.

Happy to report that Heather and Miranda are well. Heather is still in North Cork and making good use of tillage fields and hedgerows along the Blackwater Valley - the very river which she was born near in Summer 2013! Miranda's tag transmitted accurate locational data for the first time in a month and she is in the very same part of Mayo as where we last had information for. It is a great joy to have seen both birds make it to the end of their first calendar year and in just another couple of days we can refer to these beauties as second calendar year females!!

The full page article by Warren Swords in yesterday's Irish Mail on Sunday (click to enlarge)

Heather and Miranda were featured prominently in yesterday's Irish Mail on Sunday, by journalist Warren Swords. The article also focussed on the conservation of Hen Harriers in Ireland and the research and dissemination of information that is helping these conservation efforts, including the Irish Hen Harrier Winter Survey and this website.

Thank you to all the readers and followers of this blog in 2013. It has been a big year. The breeding season was particularly poor, with most nests unable to rare any young despite the best efforts of the parents. However we have had some heartening days in following the progress of Heather as she travelled around Ireland and of course Miranda a most welcome addition from Scotland. We all look forward to following their progress in 2014 and that of all the other Hen Harriers throughout Ireland. Thank you for your records, effort and continued support and good will towards this, one of Ireland's most threatened and amazing birds.