Ríaghán (male, tag no. 159142)

Ríaghán was born in a nest surrounded by tall heather in the Slieve Bloom Mountains Nature Reserve. Nearly all the harrier nests in the Slieve Blooms are in heather moorland and blanket bog. The female’s speckled brown plumage blends seamlessly into the heather when she is on the nest. This camouflage is essential as the nest is extremely vulnerable to predation and disturbance and some nests unfortunately fail for these and other reasons.

Ríaghán in the nest – note the antennae extended from the tag

A nest camera was installed under NPWS license to monitor the progress of Ríaghán and his sister, and to capture any possible nest predation. Frequent food deliveries by the male and later by the female ensured that this brood grew up healthy and strong and both successfully fledged the nest. Prey items were mainly small passerines (mostly meadow pipit) and small mammals. The female was also captured on camera feeding a frog and a young rabbit to the chicks.

Dinner time!  - adult female feeding a frog to Ríaghán’s siblings

The nest was near an area of felled invasive conifers on the blanket bog (part of the NPWS conservation management of the site) and the remaining tree stumps were frequently used as perches by the females and, later, the juveniles. Bad weather in late June meant that the female had to spend long periods brooding the chicks. Luckily, they had most of their plumage at this stage to survive as she intermittently left the nest to go hunting for food. Many nests in the Slieve Blooms with younger chicks did not survive this year.

Ríaghán and his sister enduring the wet weather. The adult female returned to nest with food and brooded them moments later

Ríaghán was fitted with a satellite tag on the 5th of July 2016. He was named Ríaghán which means ‘little king ‘ in Irish as it suited the regal demeanour of this bird who almost always seemed to be surveying his surroundings when viewed through a telescope. Ríaghán also denotes the ancient territory of Ui Ríaghán which encompassed the part of the Slieve Blooms where he was born and also the medieval clan of the same name who lived here. It is hoped that he will return again to his kingdom someday but future posts will follow his journey away from his natal site.