Tralee County Council have removed the 25 year old Hornbeams which were on The Mall in central Tralee. This was done as an overall scheme to redesign the street but, unfortunately, these trees had hosted a large roost for Pied Wagtails in recent winters.
The Mall in Tralee from a couple of years ago, showing the trees where the wagtails roosted (Google Earth).
And the tree stumps on 2nd March (M.O'Clery).
According to Tralee Today (link is HERE and the Kerry Radio article HERE), they are to be replaced with planters containing smaller trees, so it is probable these won't provided sufficient height to attract the roost back to the street.
The Pied Wagtails at the Mall this winter (Kilian Kelly).
Winter counts at the roost over the past five years had shown this was regularly frequented by around 200 Pied Wagtails. What a shame that this unique urban wildlife spectacle was needlessly removed in the name of 'progress'.
