Birds of Prey

The reintroduction programme of some birds of prey like the Godlen Eagle to Donegal. The Red Kite to Wicklow and the Sea Eagle to Kerry have been mostly sucessfull. Our Buzzard population continues to grow and in indeed is our most common bird of prey in eastern counties, no doubt helped by the banning of some poisons. The Kestrel is suffering a decline in numbers which the reason for has not been identified yet.The Hen Harrier is the rarest of our raptors. It breeds in the uplands of the south west counties like kerry and Clare. The female can be seen overwintering on the east coast in the winter time before returning to the breeding territory in March/April. Loss of habitat is one of the resons for its scarce numbers.