Perched high on a tree, the eagle surveys her peaceful surroundings.

With powerful eyesight she can pick out the details of the countryside more than a mile away, along with the wildlife scurrying in the hedgerows.

A breeze ripples her feathers and the great raptor spreads her wings in flight, soaring properly for the first time in her young life as her speed reaches more than 30 miles an hour. Circling the countryside she has known as home, the white tailed eagle turns towards the sea.

Reaching the shore she wheels to follow the coast north. As her journey continues she turns away from the sea and back inland, scavenging for food. The eagle arrives at another shore. There is no salt in the water but there are plenty of fish and places to rest along its edge. She can feast all she likes and watch the boats go past on the lough. One day, as she soars above the marshland, she is torn from the air. The shock of the pain hits her and then there was nothing.

On Monday, October 12, two canoeists found the body of an eagle floating in Lough Neagh. There was blood in the surrounding water and apparent injuries to its neck. The canoeists recovered a radio transmitter attached to the bird's wing, allowing the corpse to be identified as the eagle which had left Kerry 10 days before. As there were two pellet holes in the transmitter, the belief is that the bird was shot.

On June 27, 2009, 20 eight-week-old white tailed eagles arrived at Killarney National Park in Co Kerry. The eggs had been taken under licence from nests containing at least two other eggs in Norway. They had been hatched and reared in special containers, without any human contact and at the age of two months old the chicks made the journey from Norway to Ireland.

On arrival at Killarney the birds were housed in specialised aviaries with large areas designed to give them plenty of room for the busy work of learning to fly.

By August 7 this year the birds were ready to spread their wings and soar over the Irish countryside for the first time as they were released into the national park.

One of the birds released was a female of typical size and weight. Like the other birds released in the national park at the beginning of August, she stayed close to the release site for her first few of months of freedom. As adolescent birds, in the wild their parents would have provided food for them. The Golden Eagle Trust, responsible for the reintroduction of the birds to the island, took on the role of temporary parent, leaving food for the young birds to find before they started to hunt for themselves.

After a while though, the female found her wings. The last day she was spotted at Killarney National Park was October 2: she then took flight and headed north.

This solo traveller would have soared high over the land, staying mostly close to the coastline. Not yet ready for the hunt, she would have scavenged for food, maybe feeding from dead sheep and deer around the countryside, or dead seals by the sea.

Although fitted with a radio transmitter, the eagle could only be tracked overland in the local area, so her exact route is not certain. She was sighted at Murlough National Nature Reserve in Co Down, a distance of nearly 500KM from her starting point, five days after her departure. At this point the bird was alive, fit and well.

Dr Allan Mee, project manager of the Golden Eagle Trust project, says: “When a bird dies of natural causes it's almost easy to accept. You do expect to lose a couple of birds, especially through the winter. That so many of our birds have survived the winters is fantastic. When you lose one through poisoning or shooting it's soul destroying, particularly as they're doing so well.

“It's sad to think that the level of poisoning in Ireland is as high as it is and it could put the future of the project into question. We had a bird which was released in 2007 and was one of our best travellers. It went all over Northern Ireland that winter then flew back down here in the Spring. It was found poisoned in April this year in Kerry, not far from where it was released. That was most upsetting, as the bird had a bit of character that you could get attached to.

“The project is still a work an progress though and when the birds die we can highlight the problem. Hopefully that will work to change what's happening to them.”

The white tailed eagle, also known as a species of sea eagle, became extinct in Ireland around 1910 and for the last couple of years The Golden Eagle Trust has been reintroducing them into Ireland. To date 55 birds have been released. Nine of these have died — five from poison, one from natural causes, two from causes unknown and finally the latest fatality.

The birds have not yet started to breed; to do that they need to reach maturity at three or four years old, but they have been settling in. Sightings have been coming in from all over the island. Five of them have been fitted with satellite trackers, so they can be tracked by computer wherever they go. One of these birds spent the summer on the Scottish Isles and has returned to the hills of Antrim for the winter. The rest have been tagged with radio transmitters, allowing them to be traced when they are in the local area.

Poison is one of the biggest man-made threats to birds of prey, simply as it is indiscriminate. Poison is normally laid out to kill a fox or some other vermin by farmers and land owners. Often the bodies of rabbits or hares are used as bait, an easy target for a raptor, particularly young eagles and red kites as they tend to scavenge for their food rather than hunt for it.

Red kites became extinct in Ireland around 200 years ago but last year the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds in Northern Ireland began a three year reintroduction programme. To date, 53 red kites have been introduced into Northern Ireland from an undisclosed location in Co Down, the most recent batch having been released in August this year.

At the beginning of October one five-month-old kite was found dead in a field near Newry, next to the body of a rabbit. The rabbit's corpse appears to have been laced with poison. This is the second kite to have succumbed to this fate in Northern Ireland.

Robert Straughan is the red kite project officer for the RSPB. Part of his daily job is to track the birds via their radio transmitters.

He says: “I get signals of the birds and then I follow them to try and get a look at them. I was tracking one bird and the signal was very weak. When I found it it seemed to have just eaten some kind of poison. I was lucky enough to be able to get it to a vet in time and they worked on the bird through the night.

“It survived and after keeping it for a couple of weeks to make sure it was OK, it was released again. A month later I found it dead from organ failure, thought to have been brought on by the poison.”

He adds: “It's a real blow when you find one of the birds dead. I've looked after them since they were babies. Although I didn't have much physical contact with them, I've fed them, watched them learn to fly and I've kept tags on them since they were released into the wild. It can also feel like a real blow to the project as we work so closely with schools and community groups to raise awareness of the birds. It feels like taking a step back.

“However the survival rates of the project are really good and we always make bird crime public to increase awareness of it. The birds started showing some flirtatious behaviour this summer which is a really good sign. They're still teenagers but next year or the year after, if we see some eggs that would be amazing.”

In total five of the birds introduced by the RSPB have died: one was electrocuted by power lines, one was shot and the other's remains were so skeletal when it was found it was impossible to determine the cause of death.

According to the RSPB, in 2008 in Northern Ireland, of 27 reports of wild bird crime, 11 involved birds of prey.

Acts such as the poisoning of birds or intentional nest destruction carry with them a penalty of up to £5,000, but no custodial sentence. However the Wildlife and Natural Environment Bill, currently under consultation, will introduce custodial sentences for those found guilty of bird crime.

Claire Ferry, senior conservation officer of the RSPB Northern Ireland, explains that in many cases bird crime is committed because of a lack of understanding of raptors.

“People think they will carry off sheep or dogs, but red kites, especially, aren't big enough,” she said. “People who race pigeons will sometimes target the birds of prey fearing that they will target their pigeons. However, we've been working closely with pigeon groups and the Countryside Alliance. They've come on board and stopped targeting birds of prey and now condemn anyone who does so.”

Recently the RSPB has been working with farmers and landowners advising them on poisons or rodenticides that can be used without harm to birds of prey.

Claire says: “People don't realise the damage that poisoning can do to birds. It is possible to do it safely and the guidelines are readily available from the RSPB. Some of the deaths of these birds of prey have been caused by good old-fashioned ignorance.”

It is only the ignorance of a few though, stressed Claire, that has caused the problems. In order to raise awareness, the RSPB is gathering signatures for a pledge to stop the needless killings of birds of prey.

The pledge will be handed to the major political parties in February next year. Anyone is welcome to sign via the RSPB website, where guidelines on safe rodenticides and use of poisons can also be found.

All of the birds are tagged with radio transmitters, but people can contact either the RSPB or The Golden Eagle Trust via their websites to record sightings.

www.rspb.org.uk. , www.goldeneagle.ie