Curlew chicks released after eggs rescued from wildfire

Four endangered curlew chicks have been released into the wild after their eggs were rescued from a wildfire on Slieve Beagh in Co Fermanagh.

The eggs were saved on 30 April after a wildfire broke out on the mountain, one of the few remaining breeding areas for the critically endangered bird on the island of Ireland.

At its height, 85 firefighters were involved in tackling the blaze, which spread across the breeding territory of a well-established curlew pair.

Slieve Beagh straddles counties Fermanagh, Tyrone and Monaghan, where a cross-border conservation project protects breeding pairs that remain.

While the curlew's call was once synonymous with the landscape, population numbers have declined by 97% since the 1980s, leaving the species on the brink.