Derg male eagle finds new partner and has chick
Patience and planning have paid off for the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) programme to reintroduce the White-Tailed Eagle (WTE) to Ireland as a male eagle living a lonely life on Lough Derg since his partrner died has finally bonded with another female released in 2020 and they have now produced a chick together on a site on the lake.
Nature conservation, particularly where efforts to protect an endangered species is concerned, can take quite some time to see success. The male eagle, released in Killarney in 2008, and who subsequently moved to Lough Derg, had previously partnered with a female and produced chicks. Sadly, the previous partner succumbed to Avian Flu and this male eagle had lived alone around the area of the lake for the past four years, just recently paired up with his new partner.
Eamonn Meskell, who heads up the NPWS White-Tailed Eagle Reintroduction project, said: “We have been monitoring these eagles for many years and of course we feel very familiar with their history as part of the project. The male eagle has been single for four years since his previous partner died. Of course the fact that he has now found and bred with a new partner is significant to our project but we’re also delighted to see this eagle that we know well make a new bond and start a new family.
“A story like this really brings our reintroduction programme to life, as it helps people to learn about eagle breeding behaviour and the fragility of our reintroduction efforts, all told through the story of a widowed eagle. For our project, the appearance of any new chick is a milestone and shows that the continuation of the project is proving successful.”
In addition, at another site in County Clare - eagle-eyed NPWS staff have in recent days observed and tagged three chicks reared by one of the male eagle’s offspring from his previous partner. This earlier offspring, a female eagle, has thus far reared 10 chicks which are spread around the island of Ireland, some of whom themselves are forming pairs.
Mr Meskill added: “It is also incredible that one of his offspring is now herself rearing three chicks. This is a very rare occurrence, as a very small minority of nest sites - in Ireland, Norway or anywhere else - have more than two chicks on nest. This is the second year that three chicks are on the nest at this particular nest site. This shows how suited Ireland and our lakes are from a habitat and feeding perspective for this reintroduction project.”
The male eagle who has found a new partner was originally released in Killarney National Park in 2008 and set up territory with a female from that batch, eventually making a nest in the Lough Derg area. In 2013, this pair nested successfully and fledged a pair of White Tailed Eagle chicks – the first hatching and fledging of a White Tailed Eagle chick in over 110 years in Ireland. The same pair successfully fledged White-Tailed Eagle chicks for the next four years until 2018, when the female of the pair died after contracting Avian Influenza. The male held the same territory without any mate for the next four years.
In 2020, 16 White-Tailed Eagle chicks were collected from the wild nests in Norway and sent to Ireland for the release programme that year. A female chick from this group (B for Bernadine) released at a site in Lough Derg, flew back to Scotland after her release but returned to Ireland six months later and bonded with the widowed male. They then set up a territory together, building a nest in February of this year on an island in Lough Derg. They subsequently mated and the female successfully hatched out one White-Tailed Eagle chick.