I have had an email back from the Golden Eagle Trust of Ireland. Some interesting stuff from them.
We only use a standard metal BTO ring (Special ring ZZ...... series). We do not use any colour rings on either leg.
Most, but not all, of our Golden Eagles have been wing tagged – one wild bred chick went untagged and some of the older eagles have lost their tags.
It does sound like a falconry bird if it has a colour ring – as I am pretty sure none of the Scottish birds were colour ringed either. The only other chance is that there is some form of colour ringing programme on the continent – the BTO might be able to verify this.
We have only had one sighting of a Golden Eagle on the South east of Ireland, near the Blackstair Mountains in 2008. We had another sighting on the east coast of Northern Ireland, in County Down also. I think it is quite unlikely for a Golden Eagle to fly across the Irish Sea, though we have had at least four records of Donegal wing tagged Golden Eagles seen in Scotland, presumably after crossing the North Channel from Antrim.
Hope this is of some help.
Best Wishes
Lorcan O Toole
Golden Eagle Trust
We only use a standard metal BTO ring (Special ring ZZ...... series). We do not use any colour rings on either leg.
Most, but not all, of our Golden Eagles have been wing tagged – one wild bred chick went untagged and some of the older eagles have lost their tags.
It does sound like a falconry bird if it has a colour ring – as I am pretty sure none of the Scottish birds were colour ringed either. The only other chance is that there is some form of colour ringing programme on the continent – the BTO might be able to verify this.
We have only had one sighting of a Golden Eagle on the South east of Ireland, near the Blackstair Mountains in 2008. We had another sighting on the east coast of Northern Ireland, in County Down also. I think it is quite unlikely for a Golden Eagle to fly across the Irish Sea, though we have had at least four records of Donegal wing tagged Golden Eagles seen in Scotland, presumably after crossing the North Channel from Antrim.
Hope this is of some help.
Best Wishes
Lorcan O Toole
Golden Eagle Trust