WTS Eagle nest

swifts need our help!

I have to agree and when I first read this I was concerned about the publicity and the number of people that could/did arrive to look.

Could the birds have been spooked by the number of viewers?

I would have closed access to that area of the lake also

Mark

dodderangler

Another thing that annoyed me there was talk about catching them hunting
They won't hunt knowing humans are around
And the amount of people visiting would have some impact on the breeding

Kess73

dodderangler wrote: »

Their gettin shot poisoned etc and ya's all want to help stop it here's a hint
Don't tell the whole world were the nest is you have no idea what type of people are on this site
That's like catching a few salmon and then postin where they were caught (lambs to the slaughter)
SO use the head and don't be postin where they are pm someone that's a bird watcher the location if you trust them but not in full view of everyone

The exact location of the nest has been on the RTE news, in national newspapers, in local papers, and viewing areas were set up on the side of the lake closest the nest.

If you bothered to read my post you will have noticed that I am talking about the other side of the lake and about locations where you can see them in flight rather than going close to the nest side of the lake. The map I put up is for the Tipperary side of the lake and not the Clare side where the birds were nesting.


So I suggest you also get in touch with RTE to air your complaint about the exact location being mentioned Also you need to get in touch with the Irish Times, the Irish Independent, the Clare Champion, the Limerick Leader, Live 95FM, and Clare FM.

Oh yeah and make sure you get in touch with The Golden Eagle Trust, the folk who have managed the reintroduction of the White Tailed Sea eagles in Ireland as they also have the details of their birds on the home page of their website along with pictures of where the birds made the nest and the name of the area they were nesting in.

I look forward to you posting the replies you get from all of those organisations, because if a map of the other side of the lake offended you, then I am sure you will want to contact all those who reported on the exact location and tell them what they have done.

Kess73

swifts need our help! wrote: »

I have to agree and when I first read this I was concerned about the publicity and the number of people that could/did arrive to look.

Could the birds have been spooked by the number of viewers?

I would have closed access to that area of the lake also

Mark

The nest was on an island in the lake which is roughly 1 km from the nearest shoreline on the Clare side and a number of km from the shoreline on the Tipperary side. It is a lake that is over 40km long with a hell of a lot of traffic both on the shore and on the water, with the nest being built in an area where there would be regular on water traffic that could not be diverted without forcing lighter craft into waters that would not be safe.

I use the lake on a regular basis and can safely say that blocking off the waterways there would have been a nightmare to do, and would have potentially put people in danger.

magicbastarder

swifts need our help! wrote: »

I would have closed access to that area of the lake also

based on what powers? regardless of the logistics of this, the legality would be a very different matter...

dodderangler

The exact location of the nest has been on the RTE news, in national newspapers, in local papers, and viewing areas were set up on the side of the lake closest the nest.

If you bothered to read my post you will have noticed that I am talking about the other side of the lake and about locations where you can see them in flight rather than going close to the nest side of the lake. The map I put up is for the Tipperary side of the lake and not the Clare side where the birds were nesting.


So I suggest you also get in touch with RTE to air your complaint about the exact location being mentioned Also you need to get in touch with the Irish Times, the Irish Independent, the Clare Champion, the Limerick Leader, Live 95FM, and Clare FM.

Oh yeah and make sure you get in touch with The Golden Eagle Trust, the folk who have managed the reintroduction of the White Tailed Sea eagles in Ireland as they also have the details of their birds on the home page of their website along with pictures of where the birds made the nest and the name of the area they were nesting in.

I look forward to you posting the replies you get from all of those organisations, because if a map of the other side of the lake offended you, then I am sure you will want to contact all those who reported on the exact location and tell them what they have done.[/Quote]


So you put up directions where you can see them in flight in range of a shotgun?
Look mate not having an argument with you but you don't know what people are on this I'm sure there are people like me that have gave out to them for puttin up locations of the birds etc and last thing we need is for some wan**r out there that worried bout his fish stocks to read this on boards or golden eagle trust to go out with a shotgun or lay down poisoned salmon for the birds to be killed
That's all I was sayin cuz it does happen farmers poison buzzards and the likes thinking they'd take a young lamb which they won't and sure look what happened to the golden eagles that we're released while back they found some dead and they were poisoned by sheep farmers
So I'm not havin an argument with ya mate as a falconer myself I wouldn't want anything to happen to them

Birdnuts

There are arguements for and against the approach takin in the case of the Lough Derg eagles. Initially I wasn't too keen on the idea of having a media circus around this pair - but the situation was an unusual one in that the birds nested in a location that was easily accessed by members of the public and knowledge of the nesting attempt was already well know locally. I came to know myself of the situation prior to the trust going public via some family down there that are keen anglers on the lake. The one advantage of having so many eyes on these eagles was that any potential threats could be quickly identified and any "dodgy" looking types in the vicinity of the nest could be dealt with prior to any incidents occuring. The NPWS and the Golden-Eagle trust already had a wardening service in situ montoring the nest 24/7 which probably meant it would have been the safest raptor nest in the country. Similiar to the full-time wardens BWI employ at the Little Tern colonies on the East coast.

In contrast the approach taken by the trust towards the few Golden Eagle nesting attempts in Donegal was very different for the very fact that the birds were nesting in very remote mountainous areas where it was highly unlikely that it would come to the attention of anyone other then dedicated raptor experts, NPWS etc. Obviously in that situation it would have made no sense to make public the location as such areas would be very awkward to warden properly and the success of the nesting attempt would be imperiled. Hence these locations have never been made public and will never be in the future.

WTSE in many ways are a very different species to Goldies in that they will nest in close proximity to man(as is the case in many parts of Europe) and are not tied to wild, remote areas like their cousins. They are after all closely related to Bald Eagles in the US that are famous for nesting on specially constructed nesting plateforms next to popular lake-side resorts in places like Micheagan, Florida, Maine etc.

Kess73

dodderangler wrote: »

So you put up directions where you can see them in flight in range of a shotgun?
Look mate not having an argument with you but you don't know what people are on this I'm sure there are people like me that have gave out to them for puttin up locations of the birds etc and last thing we need is for some wan**r out there that worried bout his fish stocks to read this on boards or golden eagle trust to go out with a shotgun or lay down poisoned salmon for the birds to be killed
That's all I was sayin cuz it does happen farmers poison buzzards and the likes thinking they'd take a young lamb which they won't and sure look what happened to the golden eagles that we're released while back they found some dead and they were poisoned by sheep farmers
So I'm not havin an argument with ya mate as a falconer myself I wouldn't want anything to happen to them

Best of luck to anyone trying to bring a shotgun to any of the public spots I mentioned and best of luck to them trying to stay off camera as well.

The spots I named are public viewing areas that do get monitored and that has private (and in some cases protected) land as a buffer between the public viewing area and the actual lake.

I know the area very very well, which is why I put up very obvious and well marked public viewing areas rather than name off the beaten track areas that I would know from hiking in the area or that I know from boating on the lake for years.

There is also a monitored deer sanctuary/park that acts as a buffer between some of the vieing spots and the lake, so anyone trying to bring a gun onto that land would soon find themselves in a heap of trouble as well.

If some A-hole wanted to do harm to those birds, then the spots I named would be the last places they would try to use as they would have to be a hell of a marksman, invisible and also be relying on a huge stroke of luck for one of the birds to actually come in that close with nobody or no camera being in the area at the same time.

swifts need our help!

At work today, I'm a till operator at ASDA, a shooter came in. He was wearing his shooting club fleece. I started chatting to him about this and that and came to birds of prey. He shoots pheasants.

Birds of prey need controlled he said. They eat my pheasants! I was getting angry. Crows need controlled he said and also said without any prompting eagles shouldnt be introduced. They arent native, the eat sheep and lambs.

I said I can't continue with this conversation

Mark

Birdnuts

swifts need our help! wrote: »

At work today, I'm a till operator at ASDA, a shooter came in. He was wearing his shooting club fleece. I started chatting to him about this and that and came to birds of prey. He shoots pheasants.

Birds of prey need controlled he said. They eat my pheasants! I was getting angry. Crows need controlled he said and also said without any prompting eagles shouldnt be introduced. They arent native, the eat sheep and lambs.

I said I can't continue with this condervation

Mark

You get a certain number of ignorant gombeens in every sector of society, whether it be farming, politics, sport etc. - thankfully most hunters/shooters do not have such a backward Victorian view of raptors and are well informed about our native wildlife and their habits. BASC(British Association for Shooting and Conservation) studies have shown that only 1-2% of pen reared pheasants are lost to raptors(mainly sparrowhawks). Tiny compared to losses from foxes, disease, bad weather, road casualties etc. I remember reading a BTO study that showed for every 11.5metres of paved road in the UK, one pheasant is killed by traffic every year!!.

PS: Sorry for going off topic mods but some important points needed clarifying there since I think the thread should not run the risk of tarring any particular sector with the one brush.

swifts need our help!

swifts need our help! wrote: »

I said I can't continue with this conversation

Oops terrible but apt spelling mistake. I wrote with a typo conservation when I meant conversation

LostCovey

dodderangler wrote: »

Their gettin shot poisoned etc and ya's all want to help stop it here's a hint
Don't tell the whole world were the nest is you have no idea what type of people are on this site
That's like catching a few salmon and then postin where they were caught (lambs to the slaughter)
SO use the head and don't be postin where they are pm someone that's a bird watcher the location if you trust them but not in full view of everyone

If you saw the site you would understand.

It would be like trying to keep a breeding attempt in the Phoenix Park secret.

Publicity was the best chance, and from the eagles' point of view nothing changed (maybe a bit more activity on a pier a km away, bit less boat activity close to the island - I really don't believe they would have noticed either)

The GET made a perfect call in my book.

Desmo

LostCovey wrote: »

If you saw the site you would understand.

It would be like trying to keep a breeding attempt in the Phoenix Park secret.

Publicity was the best chance, and from the eagles' point of view nothing changed (maybe a bit more activity on a pier a km away, bit less boat activity close to the island - I really don't believe they would have noticed either)

The GET made a perfect call in my book.

In Scotland, they fly and nest close to human habitation in some areas. I saw one fly past a window of a holiday cottage; I was inside and it flew past about 30M away.