Golden Eagle Project · 19th Aug 01 |
August 2001
On the 8th August all the birds were fitted with wing tags and radio transmitters. The wing tags were placed on the upperwings and they are all yellow with either black spots or black bars. The radio backpacks have batteries that should last at least four years. Detailed measurements were also taken from each eagle and the data suggests that we released three females and three males. All birds were in excellent condition prior to release and we are grateful to Roy Dennis, who came over to Donegal to supervise the fitting of the wing tags and radios.
On the 9th August the cage windows were opened and all the released birds settled within 400m of the cages. The birds were seen or radio tracked daily after release and it was a full week later, on the 16th August, when the birds were first seen to come to the food dumps in front of the cages. The birds were fed in the cages up to the day of release and may have left the cages in a relatively heavy condition.
By the 18th August two females had moved to a large cliff within the park. These two golden eagles were the most active of the released birds, but were only flying for 30 seconds to two minutes at a time. Both Peregrines and Ravens were seen to dive bomb and harry the eagles occasionally during August.
On the 20th August both birds were seen flying along the cliff and one was seen trying to land on part of the vertical rock face before falling clumsily backwards and regaining flight control as it fell. On the evening of the 20th the third female was seen roosting on a small 3-foot high rock approx 1km away from the three males it usually associated with. During mid August the birds spent most of the day sitting about with occasional bouts of short flights and feeding at the food dumps.
It was very disappointing to find one of the females, vertical bar, with serious damage to its rump and tail on the morning of the 24th. It was immediately taken to the Vet. Following veterinary advise and due to the extent of the tissue loss it was reluctantly agreed to put the bird down. The eagle was taken to the Omagh Veterinary Investigation Centre for a full post mortem examination. Though we initially thought a fox might have attacked the bird it seems it was purely a physical injury - the bird appears to have got caught in a rock cleft or in a stump or branches. Apart from the injury the bird was in very good health and had no signs of any nutritional deficiencies or diseases. We await the results of the full post mortem.
On the 30th August 3 eagles (1&2 spots and diagonal bar) were seen flying together, soaring and gliding quite comfortably. Diagonal bar, the only female of the three, was clearly the best at flying. The youngest of the released birds, 3 spots, a male, was seen perched nearby. Again on the 31st August, the eagles were seen flying and gliding at a greater height. The female, horizontal bar, even flew in to join the other eagles and practice in the breezy spells between the showers. It was a joy to watch Golden Eagles soaring and stooping over the ridges of Glenveagh once again.On the 8th August all the birds were fitted with wing tags and radio transmitters. The wing tags were placed on the upperwings and they are all yellow with either black spots or black bars. The radio backpacks have batteries that should last at least four years. Detailed measurements were also taken from each eagle and the data suggests that we released three females and three males. All birds were in excellent condition prior to release and we are grateful to Roy Dennis, who came over to Donegal to supervise the fitting of the wing tags and radios.
On the 9th August the cage windows were opened and all the released birds settled within 400m of the cages. The birds were seen or radio tracked daily after release and it was a full week later, on the 16th August, when the birds were first seen to come to the food dumps in front of the cages. The birds were fed in the cages up to the day of release and may have left the cages in a relatively heavy condition.
By the 18th August two females had moved to a large cliff within the park. These two golden eagles were the most active of the released birds, but were only flying for 30 seconds to two minutes at a time. Both Peregrines and Ravens were seen to dive bomb and harry the eagles occasionally during August.
On the 20th August both birds were seen flying along the cliff and one was seen trying to land on part of the vertical rock face before falling clumsily backwards and regaining flight control as it fell. On the evening of the 20th the third female was seen roosting on a small 3-foot high rock approx 1km away from the three males it usually associated with. During mid August the birds spent most of the day sitting about with occasional bouts of short flights and feeding at the food dumps.
It was very disappointing to find one of the females, vertical bar, with serious damage to its rump and tail on the morning of the 24th. It was immediately taken to the Vet. Following veterinary advise and due to the extent of the tissue loss it was reluctantly agreed to put the bird down. The eagle was taken to the Omagh Veterinary Investigation Centre for a full post mortem examination. Though we initially thought a fox might have attacked the bird it seems it was purely a physical injury - the bird appears to have got caught in a rock cleft or in a stump or branches. Apart from the injury the bird was in very good health and had no signs of any nutritional deficiencies or diseases. We await the results of the full post mortem.
On the 30th August 3 eagles (1&2 spots and diagonal bar) were seen flying together, soaring and gliding quite comfortably. Diagonal bar, the only female of the three, was clearly the best at flying. The youngest of the released birds, 3 spots, a male, was seen perched nearby. Again on the 31st August, the eagles were seen flying and gliding at a greater height. The female, horizontal bar, even flew in to join the other eagles and practice in the breezy spells between the showers. It was a joy to watch Golden Eagles soaring and stooping over the ridges of Glenveagh once again.
viewed : 1452 times
On the 8th August all the birds were fitted with wing tags and radio transmitters. The wing tags were placed on the upperwings and they are all yellow with either black spots or black bars. The radio backpacks have batteries that should last at least four years. Detailed measurements were also taken from each eagle and the data suggests that we released three females and three males. All birds were in excellent condition prior to release and we are grateful to Roy Dennis, who came over to Donegal to supervise the fitting of the wing tags and radios.
On the 9th August the cage windows were opened and all the released birds settled within 400m of the cages. The birds were seen or radio tracked daily after release and it was a full week later, on the 16th August, when the birds were first seen to come to the food dumps in front of the cages. The birds were fed in the cages up to the day of release and may have left the cages in a relatively heavy condition.
By the 18th August two females had moved to a large cliff within the park. These two golden eagles were the most active of the released birds, but were only flying for 30 seconds to two minutes at a time. Both Peregrines and Ravens were seen to dive bomb and harry the eagles occasionally during August.
On the 20th August both birds were seen flying along the cliff and one was seen trying to land on part of the vertical rock face before falling clumsily backwards and regaining flight control as it fell. On the evening of the 20th the third female was seen roosting on a small 3-foot high rock approx 1km away from the three males it usually associated with. During mid August the birds spent most of the day sitting about with occasional bouts of short flights and feeding at the food dumps.
It was very disappointing to find one of the females, vertical bar, with serious damage to its rump and tail on the morning of the 24th. It was immediately taken to the Vet. Following veterinary advise and due to the extent of the tissue loss it was reluctantly agreed to put the bird down. The eagle was taken to the Omagh Veterinary Investigation Centre for a full post mortem examination. Though we initially thought a fox might have attacked the bird it seems it was purely a physical injury - the bird appears to have got caught in a rock cleft or in a stump or branches. Apart from the injury the bird was in very good health and had no signs of any nutritional deficiencies or diseases. We await the results of the full post mortem.
On the 30th August 3 eagles (1&2 spots and diagonal bar) were seen flying together, soaring and gliding quite comfortably. Diagonal bar, the only female of the three, was clearly the best at flying. The youngest of the released birds, 3 spots, a male, was seen perched nearby. Again on the 31st August, the eagles were seen flying and gliding at a greater height. The female, horizontal bar, even flew in to join the other eagles and practice in the breezy spells between the showers. It was a joy to watch Golden Eagles soaring and stooping over the ridges of Glenveagh once again.On the 8th August all the birds were fitted with wing tags and radio transmitters. The wing tags were placed on the upperwings and they are all yellow with either black spots or black bars. The radio backpacks have batteries that should last at least four years. Detailed measurements were also taken from each eagle and the data suggests that we released three females and three males. All birds were in excellent condition prior to release and we are grateful to Roy Dennis, who came over to Donegal to supervise the fitting of the wing tags and radios.
On the 9th August the cage windows were opened and all the released birds settled within 400m of the cages. The birds were seen or radio tracked daily after release and it was a full week later, on the 16th August, when the birds were first seen to come to the food dumps in front of the cages. The birds were fed in the cages up to the day of release and may have left the cages in a relatively heavy condition.
By the 18th August two females had moved to a large cliff within the park. These two golden eagles were the most active of the released birds, but were only flying for 30 seconds to two minutes at a time. Both Peregrines and Ravens were seen to dive bomb and harry the eagles occasionally during August.
On the 20th August both birds were seen flying along the cliff and one was seen trying to land on part of the vertical rock face before falling clumsily backwards and regaining flight control as it fell. On the evening of the 20th the third female was seen roosting on a small 3-foot high rock approx 1km away from the three males it usually associated with. During mid August the birds spent most of the day sitting about with occasional bouts of short flights and feeding at the food dumps.
It was very disappointing to find one of the females, vertical bar, with serious damage to its rump and tail on the morning of the 24th. It was immediately taken to the Vet. Following veterinary advise and due to the extent of the tissue loss it was reluctantly agreed to put the bird down. The eagle was taken to the Omagh Veterinary Investigation Centre for a full post mortem examination. Though we initially thought a fox might have attacked the bird it seems it was purely a physical injury - the bird appears to have got caught in a rock cleft or in a stump or branches. Apart from the injury the bird was in very good health and had no signs of any nutritional deficiencies or diseases. We await the results of the full post mortem.
On the 30th August 3 eagles (1&2 spots and diagonal bar) were seen flying together, soaring and gliding quite comfortably. Diagonal bar, the only female of the three, was clearly the best at flying. The youngest of the released birds, 3 spots, a male, was seen perched nearby. Again on the 31st August, the eagles were seen flying and gliding at a greater height. The female, horizontal bar, even flew in to join the other eagles and practice in the breezy spells between the showers. It was a joy to watch Golden Eagles soaring and stooping over the ridges of Glenveagh once again.
viewed : 1452 times