Welcome to the first instalment of the
“Hen Harrier Tracker Blog” produced and maintained by IRD Duhallow Raptor
LIFE and the National Parks & Wildlife
Service. Both organisations are involved in the research and
monitoring of Ireland’s hen harriers. In 2016, and building on previous work, a
programme of attaching satellite tags to near fledged harrier chicks (circa 28
days old) was started. This research work will allow us to better monitor the
population in order that this raptor can be conserved for years to come.
Over the coming months, and hopefully years, we intend to blog the life stories of those harriers that successfully fledge and strike off from the breeding grounds. Life can be tough for young birds in an ever-changing landscape and no doubt only a proportion of those tagged chicks will survive the next 24 months or longer before they are mature enough to return to the uplands to breed themselves.
Some of the birds will be named at this stage whilst others will be identified by their tag number but all their stories will be charted here so that you can follow the fortunes of the class of 2016 as they head for their first winter.
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