Firefighters rescue curlew eggs, hatch four chicks
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- RSPB coordinated the rescue of four curlew eggs after a wildfire threatened the nest in Brookeborough, County Fermanagh.
- NIFRS deployed 85 firefighters who kept the fire back to within a metre of the nest while the eggs were safely removed.
- Sliabh Beagh Curlew Conservation Trust incubated the four eggs for just under four weeks, producing healthy chicks ready for release.
- Róisín Normanly of the RSPB said the nest had been fenced off before the fire and described the rescue as “a very big deal”.
- Caroline Finlay of Detection Dogs NI noted that captive‑raised curlews have successfully nested on Sliabh Beagh, showing the programme’s potential.
Why it matters: Conservationists gain four new curlew chicks for a species with only ~150 breeding pairs in Northern Ireland, boosting the fragile population; the rescue shows the value of coordinated fire response and breeding programmes.
