Laoise (female, tag no. 159138)

Laoise is the eldest in an all-female brood of four, from a nest in tall heather on blanket bog in the Slieve Bloom Mountain Nature Reserve.

Laoise and her siblings (13/6/2016) the external ear openings are visible at this stage. Much like an owl harriers can rely heavily on their sense of hearing when hunting.

Prey delivery rates by the adult male and later the female were frequent ensuring that Laoise, like her siblings, developed to a healthy size, weight and condition.   Food items observed were mostly small birds - mainly meadow pipits. After a considerable amount of discreet monitoring, Laoise was carefully fitted with a satellite tag on the 5th of July 2016. Laoise’s juvenile plumage of chocolate coloured upper parts and her particularly striking rufous coloured breast feathers suggested, with the help of local schoolchildren, her name Laoise which, in Irish, means ‘radiant girl’. The name also denotes the county of her birth.

Laoise - note her striking chrome yellow leg with fitted identification ring

A week or so after tagging, Laoise could be seen  perching on a prominent heather hummock or tree sapling awaiting eagerly the next food delivery. She would emit high-pitched begging calls as one of the adults came into view before rushing to capture food that was being dropped further and further away from the nest. Laoise gradually began to forage the moorland around the nest herself learning skills which will be vital for her future survival. Much of Ireland is visible from this lofty position in the Irish midlands and as Laoise begins her life’s journey the question is where will she go to next?