A RARE EAGLE missing from Kerry has been found dead.

The bird, named Eddie, was discovered dead in the Dingle Peninsula last month. He was the first white-tailed eagle to successfully fledge in in Cork for over a century.

When discovered, he had been dead for about two or three months so it was not possible to establish the cause of death of the two-year old.

A Facebook message posted on the Glengarriff Woods Nature Reserve page said it is possible that Eddie may have died from natural causes. Dr Allan Mee said that while it’s possible he died of natural causes, “most such natural eagle mortality occurs in the first year of life but is much lower in subsequent years as individuals gain the experience and skills to survive in the wild”.

He added that human related mortality such as poisoning can equally impact all age classes.

Clare Heardman, a conservation ranger for the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) described how Eddie’s successful fledgling two years ago created great excitement in Kerry.

“There was great excitement back in 2016 when Eddie became the first wild eagle to fledge in Co Cork in over 100 years. After leaving his nest site on Garnish Island in late 2016 he was sighted at several locations on the north side of the Beara Peninsula during his first winter.

“By spring 2017 he was on the Iveragh Peninsula and last winter there were sightings of him on several of Co Kerry’s beautiful sandy beaches in Dingle Bay, Tralee Bay, Brandon Bay and on the Blaskets. The last definite sighting of him was on Fermoyle beach not far from where he was found dead several months later.

“His remains were discovered by Martin, a forestry worker from the Czech Republic, who was planting trees for Coillte in a plantation west of Cloghane village. Although it was very sad to learn of Eddie’s death we are very grateful to Martin for reporting his finding.

“Thanks also to all the people who were lucky enough to see Eddie in his full glory as he travelled around Kerry and who took the trouble to send in photographs and details of their sightings to Dr Allan Mee or NPWS. Eddie wasn’t satellite tagged so these sightings were invaluable in tracking his movements.”